Thrillist Releases State Rankings For Craft Breweries
10 years ago

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Sorry, guys and gals. If you were looking for a list that bases its rankings on Budweiser, Coors, or Miller, this probably isn’t the list for you. The people over at Thrillist came up with a pretty good list, which ranks the best states for craft beers across the country.

50. Mississippi
49. West Virginia
48. Rhode Island
47. North Dakota
46. Nevada
45. South Dakota
44. Nebraska
43. Hawaii
42. New Jersey
41. New Hampshire
40. Wyoming
39. Connecticut
38. Arkansas
37. South Carolina
36. Kansas
35. Arizona
34. Iowa
33. Tennessee
32. Kentucky
31. Georgia
30. New Mexico
29. Idaho
28. Virginia
27. Louisiana
26. Oklahoma
25. Alaska
24. Maryland
23. Montana
22. Alabama
21. Utah
20. Texas
19. Delaware
18. Indiana
17. Florida
16. Minnesota
15. North Carolina
14. Maine
13. Illinois
12. Ohio
11. Missouri
10. Massachusetts
9. New York
8. Pennsylvania
7. Wisconsin
6. Vermont
5. Washington
4. Michigan
3. Colorado
2. California
1. Oregon

Most of the list makes sense. Mississippi coming in last is realistic because craft breweries have only recently become a thing there, and states like Oregon and Colorado rank toward the top because you can’t listen to a beer snob talk without hearing about those two states. The big surprise to me is Delaware–which I forget is an actual state most of the time–ranking right ahead of Texas. For a state with its own “national beer” in Lone Star, which is terrible, it’s pretty surprising that a state such as Delaware, which really only has one big brewery (Dogfish Head) beats out Texas on this list. But I guess it’s like the old saying goes, “the only things that come from Texas are steers and shitty beers,” so it does make some sense.

Check out the rest of the list and the reasoning behind it here.

h/t Z.K.

[via Thrillist]

      1. USArmy

        If you had read all the way to the end, you would’ve seen that he took a shot at all Texas beers.

        10 years ago at 7:07 pm
    2. Federal_Frat

      Don’t forget that Ziegenbock too. Every time a friend goes to Texas I make them bring me some back.

      10 years ago at 7:37 pm
      1. JohnFratYatesSommers

        Get a hold of yourself. Ziegenbock is made by anheuser-busch in ludicrous bulk to compete with shiner. It’s not some rare unicorn of a craft beer.

        10 years ago at 9:50 pm
    3. JohnFratYatesSommers

      Fuck shiner bock. It’s a 4.4% abv light lager that only looks like a dark, quality beer because they add food coloring to it. Any inclusion of shiner bock in a craft beer discussion automatically invalidates any of your opinions on beer.

      10 years ago at 10:19 pm
      1. Colonel James Beam

        When are you beer snob hipsters gonna realize that you don’t sound cool when yall talk to someone like this? Get a life.

        10 years ago at 8:34 am
      2. Tuco1855

        So it’s cooler to be naive to the fact that Shiner Bock sucks? If this was a column about high-end whiskey and somebody honestly replied that Jim Beam is top of the line shit, he would sound stupid and everyone would give him shit for it. Is being stupid frat now? I understand there is a time and place for shitty mass produced beer, but pretending you understand beer, putting Shiner Bock in the craft beer category and defending it, and then calling people beer snobs when they disagree just proves that you have no idea what you’re talking about. JohnFratYatesSommers is spot on.

        10 years ago at 12:50 pm
      3. JohnFratYatesSommers

        Lap me all you want. It only confirms my suspicions that most texans have very poor taste and will blindly latch onto anything from texas because their state pride is so out of control.

        Plus it won’t change the fact that shiner is a cheap party beer that’s only a slight step up from bud heavy.. and it uses food coloring.

        10 years ago at 9:00 am
      4. USArmy

        John, I’m from Texas and I will agree that Shiner Bock shouldn’t be included in a craft beer discussion. However, other Shiner products should be, such as Red Hare and White Wing.

        10 years ago at 3:17 pm
      5. JohnFratYatesSommers

        I’ll give you that much. I’ve had white wing and it was pretty good.

        10 years ago at 7:52 pm
    1. Blues_Ghost

      Considering Kentucky is the only place that Bourbon can be made, I would hope that theyre number one for that.

      10 years ago at 6:23 pm
      1. hutchskolf13

        While 90+% of bourbon is made in Kentucky, legally it just has to be made in the US, have a grain mix of at least 51% corn, be aged at least 2 years in a new white oak barrel and distilled at less than 160 proof with no additives other than water.

        10 years ago at 7:18 pm
  8. Carolina_deltasig

    Highland brewing, Pisgah pale ale (old crow medicine just played there), red oak, Mother Earth, and too many more to mention are from NC. They don’t know beer if NC isn’t top 5. Asheville is beer city USA, too many fucking hippies though. Get your shit together and try some real beer then write your list.

    10 years ago at 6:30 pm
  9. prex8390

    This article seems to be much more impressed by big named breweries that are micro in name only, than in how many breweries there are in a state, or how good some of the beer is. Their analysis of Delaware seems to confirm that they only care if there are big craft breweries, not if there is a scene or a bunch of small nano-breweries in a state. Its basically a Fanboy article that caters to craft beer that can be found at every 7/11 across the country, yet still has the craft beer image and name.

    10 years ago at 6:54 pm
  10. USArmy

    Steers and shitty beers? Fuck you. Shitty beer is what your parents were drinking when you were created.

    10 years ago at 7:06 pm