Top 5 Beer Countries

Areas and populations are readily available.I worked on the basis of 2400 US and 1100 UK breweries.Perhaps these have changed since the figures were published but that will be true of both countries.It's also the case of course that it's generally possible to get hold of beer from any brewery in this country. For example,last year's Nottingham Festival offered craft cask ale from over 500 different breweries.
The craft brewers' trade association quoted output as cask 80% , bottled 18% and kegged 2%, just checked the revised figures.

 

#1. (tie) by volume of great stuff: USA
#1. (tie) by quality of product: Belgium
#2. UK
#3. Germany
#4. Denmark
#5. Canada

 

I don't disagree that most people posting here probably haven't been out of the US, or at least, not on beer country specific trips. But that is not to say those of us who have would come up with a different list. I have been everywhere on my list except the UK, and probably (with the possible exception of Italy) would have come up with the same list if my only exposure was drinking imports back in the US. I've spent a couple of weeks drinking beer in Czech and by the second week found myself ordering Belgian imports.

Also, there is clearly a bias for one's home country, if only because that is where most of one's beer is consumed. I don't think anybody is claiming anything stronger than "personal preference." Even with this bias, however, if you live in one of the 5-7 big beer countries it's pretty safe to say your country "belongs" on this list.

As far as your statistics go, you have to remember that northern and desert states in the US are composed of thousands and thousands of uninhabitated miles. I think a more accurate comparison would be cities to cities. In that accounting, I give you Portland, San Diego, etc.

 

Yes, my point was it isn't comparing like with like.I can't buy the range of styles which you can, you can't find fine crafted ales in practically any small village you find yourself in.But beer has always been about local conditions which is why for example German and British beers are so different.

 

Some of our small towns boast excellent breweries, but definitely not many, that is true. I envy you that.

Your last sentence makes for some interesting beer conversation. Beer has definitely always been about local conditions for countries like Germany, Belgium, Czech, Britain, etc.; any country with a long brewing history; and undoubtedly this has given rise to local flavors, styles, and, of course, traditions. But the reason the US has such a great range is because the golden age of US craft brewing began in a cosmopolitan world. It wasn't necessary to establish a rigid and (I think) limited tradition because beer doesn't have to be about local conditions anymore. This is also why Italy's craft beer scene is so comparable to the United States' (though of course, at this point, on a much smaller scale). I wouldn't be surprised to see UK and Belgian brewers branching out a little more in the future, and I don't think it would be harmful to the heritage they have already established. Germans are definitely more obstinate in this regard, which I suspect will have them moving farther and farther down lists like these.

 

Other countries don't have the land, don't have the climate, don't have the diversity of population, and don't have the willingness of a growing beer drinking segment of the population to demand extreme style diversity done with highest quality to be on the same level as we do.

Or if they do have any of these factors, they don't have them all.

And if they do have all these factors they have them to a degree that is limited by their tiny sizes.

It isn't a fair comparison to include USA, really. I mean, one could say a lynx fights better than a bear, and point to all the reasons it is true, but at the end of the day only one of them is capable of having the other for breakfast.

 

United States
Belgium
Canada
Germany
Czech Republic/Germany/Netherlands

 

U.S.A ( I would have ever guessed that 10-15 years ago )
Belgium ( so many different unique styles and favors )
British ( this would have been my choice 10-15 years ago)
Germany
I don't have a 5th. I am sure Canada has tons of great beer but we don't get very many in ct outside of Labatts and molson. I wish we did.

 

1. Germany
2. Belgium
3. USA
4. UK
5. Well has to be Australia, doesn't it?

 

1. California
2. Michigan
3. Vermont
4. Other US
5. Belgium

 

^^^^^
I wondered who would do this first.
1. Cascadia
2. California
I don't need/seek beer from the rest of the world.

 

Santa Barbara County is the best...I don't know what you guys are talking about.

 

Belgium
Germany
USA
UK
Canada

 

There seems to be a general assumption that European brewers are static whilst their American friends are pushing the boundaries.This is far from the truth in both cases.Brewing in the UK is unrecogniseably different from what it was only a few years ago. We do have a steadier customer base of course as we never lost our craft brewing traditions and the micro revolution built on that.Craft brewing is predicated on cask beer which requires relatively low ABV but it takes skill to make a 4% beer as tasty as most 6.5% ones.The US claims to be "pushing the envelope" but it did put the envelope there in the first place!
It's more a case of which is better, a filet mignon or a lobster thermidor ? Both excellent in their own way.

 

USA
Belgium
Italy
Germany
Sweden
Great Britain

O wait, that's six...

 

USA
Belgium
Germany
Japan
UK

 

I do understand this, but it is like arguing who has the best farm, and one farmer saying I have this great quality and diversity. The other farmer says, "Well, I invented farming, our quality is equally as good, and anyway we now have as many varieties of produce grown on our 1000 acre farm as you do on your 50,000 acre farm so we are now just as good."

 

1. USA
2. Belgium
3. Canada
4. Germany
5. Denmark

 

1. Belgium
2. Germany
3. England
4. USA
5. Denmark

Honorable mention to the Czech Republic.