Three writers on Thrillist.com have painstakingly ranked all 50 American states based on the quality of their local beer scene. The process (understandably) took “weeks” but the results have been published with Oregon at the top and poor old Mississippi dead last. Here are their top five (which New Zealand Liquor News completely agrees with):
- Oregon
- California
- Colorado
- Michigan
- Washington
Three breweries from Portland in Oregon recently visited New Zealand to showcase their brews at Wellington’s Beervana festival and to lay down collaborative brews with local brewers. Several Kiwi brewers will head to Portland shortly to champion New Zealand brews in the best beer state in America.
Here are the bottom five:
- Nevada
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- West Virginia
- Mississippi
The authors dryly noted “there’s a reason that Mississippi’s the home of the blues.” Other classic comments included:
- West Virginia: “Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye. Note: the teardrop is because there isn’t enough good beer to drink here.”
- Georgia: “Georgia loses points for not requiring each and every one of its breweries to make a brew called Sweet Georgia Brown…”
- Alaska: “Hey, it’s cold there. Often. Which leaves plenty of time to stay inside and brew.”
- Colorado: “Everywhere you look in Colorado – literally everywhere – there is beer. There is no escaping the beer. This is a good thing. Everyone with a beard brews beer, and everyone has a beard.”
For more information see – http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/every-state-in-the-usa-ranked-by-its-beer
