Poll: Which is the best beer distribution state?

Michigan??? HELL NO!!!

 

Some states may have more breweries available, but how has no one mentioned Colorado. For the ratio of quality:quantity, my vote easily goes to CO. Of course, this is based on my personal experience, but I have heard many others say the same.

 

I used to think New York got great beers, until I moved to Philadelphia PA and I realized how much we were missing in NYC-NY!

 

I voted for Illinois because there are so many damn beers I can get in Chicago that I cannot here.

 

No, just the opposite ,sort-of. The breweries don't normally ship to DC without a wholesaler, but any retailer can go outside DC, buy beers not distributed in DC, and essentially "self-import" the beer back into the District by paying a small "import permit" fee, regardless if the brewery itself wants their beers sold there or not. See How Lax Import Regulations Made D.C. A Craft Beer Haven

Most breweries don't want their beers sold outside their normal wholesaler networks, where they don't have any control over storage conditions or freshness, etc.

 

Yeah, Michigan should absolutely not be a choice. No question we make a ton of good beer here, but we get skipped by out-of-state breweries in distro for some reason. I once made a list of breweries that distributed to at least two states bordering MI (counting IL) that didn't distro to Michigan. Then I made an opposite list (breweries with multi-state distro that hit MI but skip some combo of OH/IN/WI/IL.) The former was a FAR longer list. Honestly I had trouble coming up with any breweries of note for the latter.

EDIT: Maybe I'll post that list in the GL Forum. Maybe people have some theories on why it happens, and everyone likes a good gripe thread anyway.

 

Yea from what I've heard, distribution to philly is phenomenal. I'd rather have slightly worse distro than have to deal with case laws though.

 

So many toss up's...Toss up between NY and VT. Only real suck factor for NY is we don't get any distro from the elite VT breweries.

Doesnt really matter to much to me, I'm a Stone Guy. In fact, I'm trying to move as close to the Bistro & Brewery as my wallet will let me.

So, my final answer is The State of Stone

 

I see it as a three-way race among Illinois, Ohio and California. Pennsylvania is DQ'd for their crazy beer laws and because so much of the distribution is confined to the immediate area of Philadelphia, taken as an entire state they aren't in the top five. Fourth place/honorable mention probably goes to Wisconsin. Texas, Florida and Michigan aren't even in the game.

 

Chicago, aka Illinois.

 

not knocking it, however in terms of truth, i would guess the poll is going to suffer from extreme Homersimpsonism. after all, how much do i honestly know about IL & others' distribution compared to my own?? i know my own immediate pretty well but heck, i really don't know the entire, various regional distributions with-in the state enough to say unequivocally which is hands-down "best". since my own seems great, there's never a thirsty moment, i think i'd vote for it. i'm figuring 85% or more of people who live in a distribution region that does NOT suck will likely do the same.

 

NY distro is only good if you live in NYC or the surrounding area, they get stuff we never see in Buffalo

 

we're kind of a dead end being surrounded by lakes...a small curse and a huge blessing

 

Au contrare. My distribution region certainly does not suck especially since I'm in Asheville and have all the fresh locals at my fingertips but I know NC is not in the running for this poll. Looking at Vermont, they've got us beat pretty easily and Illinois blows us right out of the damn water. However, looking at NY's distribution, I feel we're about tied. Besides Firestone Walker, Jack's Abby, Pretty Things, NEBCO, Ninkasi and whatever local gems are out there I don't know about yet, we share a lot of the same distribution and there's plenty we have that they don't.

Note: I've never had anything by Captain Lawrence and, yes, we don't get Sixpoint but I've lived without them for this long that I'm no longer bothered by it.

I'd also say we're about tied with California (depending of course on exactly where you live in each respective state).

 

Went with California...

Michigan has some great breweries but some of the best ones (Short's, Odd Side) I'm not sure even distribute.

 

Liquid...

 

This. We do get a TON of great beers in Buffalo but sadly no Avery, which is a good example of NYC only distribution

 

i'd put you in the 5-10% that are have either read up & made a decision or visited a few regions & formed an opinion. the problem, & based on your own post, i would assume you have not visited every state (on a beer exclusive investigation) & then for big states like Cali... every regional distro with-in said state to form an authoritative opinion on which truly is "best". by that i mean, if you base "California" on your familiarity from a family visit to San Diego or what you've seen from their distro, that's not necessarily a perfect representation of "California".

again - not knocking the topic nor your take on it. both are valid & discussion-worthy. i tend to look at this sort of stuff from a broader perspective though.

 

vague...