Our Hops Are Tops! California Named #1 Beer State

Photo of a sampler from Bonaventure Brewing by LA Wad via the LAist Featured Photos pool

When it comes to what's on tap, turns out we're tops. Have a little Cali pride, brew lovers, because our state has been named the #1 in Beer by The Street.

The ranking comes thanks to a look at some data from the Brewers Association and Beer Institute as well as a look at four key criteria: production, consumption, breweries and breweries per capita.

Here in California, we're home to 245 breweries (that's 152,057 capita per brewery) that produced 22.2 million barrels. However, while we drank a mere18.4 gallons per capita last year (the 7th lowest amount in the country) it's really how much we make that makes our hops hop to the top of the list.

Sure, we've got some big names in beer brewing here, like MillerCoors (Irwindale) and Anheuser-Busch Inbev (Fairfield), we we also have craft beer brands that prove the little guy can still do great and go big, like Sierra Nevada and Lagunitas (just to name a couple).

Still, when it comes to drinking, we Californians have a great thing going when it comes to quality over quantity. The craft beer scene in the state--and even the city--is brewing to a refreshing head, with plenty of beer-centric bars, restaurants, events, and stores at our disposal for getting a taste of what we do so well here.