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Forget maple syrup.
Vermont is now a go-to state for craft beers, with eight breweries per 100,000 people, according to a new report from Datafiniti, an Austin, Texas, research firm. With 50 breweries overall, Vermont has a strong craft brewing tradition, the report states. That stems partially from changes in state laws in the late 1980s that allowed for more small breweries, brewpubs and microbreweries.
Other states that lead the way in breweries per capita — Montana, Colorado, Maine and Oregon — share a rugged outdoors brand with Vermont. North Dakota, with 10, and Mississippi, with 11 breweries close out the breweries per capita list. For pure breweries in total, California leads all states, with 687. Colorado is a distant second, at 348 breweries.
Florida did well in the survey — but it's not about to trade in sunshine and oranges for hops and barley. The state ranked No. 9 nationwide on total breweries, with 212, according to the report. That's seven breweries ahead of North Carolina and five behind Texas. On breweries per capita, Florida dropped to No. 41, tied with four other states at one per 100,000 people.
Within Florida, Tampa Bay is a craft beer leader: With 53 breweries, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region ranked No. 17 on the top 20 list of metropolitan statistical areas with the most breweries, tied with Riverside, Calif. Tampa is also the lone city in Florida, and the Southeast, on the list. Seattle, with 174 breweries, ranked No. 1 on that list. Chicago, Denver, Portland and New York City rounded out the top five.
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