Mapped & Ranked: The States With the Most Craft Breweries in 2023

Despite periods of uncertainty, 2023 turned out to be a solid year for the craft brewing industry.

The Brewers Association (BA) recently released its annual report detailing the state of craft brewing in the U.S. Last year, the number of craft operations reached an all-time high with a whopping 9,761 craft breweries, up from 9,552 in 2022. But despite there being over 200 more operational breweries last year, beer output shrank by about 1 million barrels year-over-year, with just 23.4 million barrels produced by small and independent brewers.

“2023 was another competitive and challenging year for small and independent brewers,” Bart Watson, vice president of strategy and chief economist of the BA, explained in the report. “Nevertheless, even as growth has downshifted, small brewers have proved quite resilient, as seen in the increase in number of breweries, relatively low closing rates, and gains in onsite sales and jobs.” While the closing rate of craft breweries increased to 4 percent (up from 3 percent in 2022) the BA remains relatively unconcerned.

When it comes to which states are the best for enjoying a pint of craft beer, Vermont wins out with 14.7 breweries per 100,000 adults over 21, or 74 in total. Not far behind is Maine, which has double the amount of craft establishments as Vermont at 156, or 14.2 breweries per capita. Rounding out the top three is Montana with a total of 106 breweries, which breaks down to 12.3 per capita.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi has the least number of craft breweries per capita, with just 0.9 per 100,000 residents of drinking age. Joining Mississippi at the bottom are Alabama and Louisiana, with 1.5 and 1.6 craft breweries per capita, respectively.

Check out our color coded maps below to learn how many craft breweries were operational in your home state in 2023.

Rank
State
Craft Breweries
Craft Breweries Per Capita

1
Vermont
74
14.70

2
Maine
156
14.20

3
Montana
106
12.30

4
Alaska
61
11.90

5
Colorado
468
10.60

6
Wyoming
45
10.50

7
New Hampshire
108
9.80

8
Oregon
318
9.80

9
Washington
459
7.80

10
New Mexico
109
7.00

11
Idaho
94
6.60

12
South Dakota
42
6.40

13
Wisconsin
266
6.00

14
Minnesota
237
5.60

15
Iowa
128
5.50

16
Michigan
418
5.50

17
Virginia
352
5.50

18
Pennsylvania
530
5.40

19
North Carolina
407
5.10

20
Rhode Island
41
4.90

21
Ohio
419
4.80

22
Delaware
37
4.70

23
Connecticut
125
4.60

24
Nebraska
64
4.60

25
North Dakota
24
4.30

26
Massachusetts
224
4.20

27
Indiana
204
4.10

28
Kansas
77
3.70

29
Missouri
165
3.60

30
New York
539
3.60

31
California
987
3.40

32
South Carolina
134
3.40

33
Illinois
305
3.30

34
Maryland
143
3.10

35
Kentucky
96
2.90

36
Tennessee
152
2.90

37
Oklahoma
80
2.80

38
Hawaii
29
2.70

39
District of Columbia
14
2.70

40
Arkansas
56
2.50

41
New Jersey
171
2.50

42
Arizona
133
2.40

43
West Virginia
32
2.40

44
Florida
404
2.30

45
Georgia
181
2.30

46
Nevada
53
2.20

47
Texas
445
2.10

48
Utah
50
2.10

49
Louisiana
53
1.60

50
Alabama
56
1.50

51
Mississippi
19
0.90 

*Image retrieved from master1305 via stock.adobe.com

The article Mapped & Ranked: The States With the Most Craft Breweries in 2023 appeared first on VinePair.