Which country makes the best beer?

Written by DJ Spiess

Friday, 04 January 2008

This is a very heated debate in which every country will claim to be the winner. There are several ways to look at it. Here's how we analyzed the question and the conclusion we came to.

You can see which country has the largest market share, and thus sells the most beer. Another way to look at the question is which country has the most breweries. You could consider which country is the most innovative – making the biggest impact.

Which country makes the best beer?

Which brand sells the most beer?

If you consider which beer sells the most beer worldwide, the answer is painfully easy. Anheuser-Busch sells the most beer in the world, and Budweiser is the best selling beer. If you use beer sales as an indicator, for this category the United States wins hands down.

Which country has the most breweries?

Germany has the most breweries of any country in the world. According to the Brewers of Europe, Germany has 1,279 as of 2004. The United States only has 376 breweries according to the 2002 census. These stats come from different years, but it is unlikely that the numbers have changed significantly by 2007.

The big question mark is do you consider micro breweries in the equation. According to BeerTown.org, there are 1,377 microbreweries in the United States as of 2006. The Brewers of Europe data notes when microbreweries are included. We are assuming that the German numbers include microbreweries. This means that the United States has more microbreweries than Germany has breweries. From this count, the United States wins again. Microbreweries are making the best new beers in the world.

Where are the new beers created?

A final consideration is which country is creating the most innovative beers. The European Beer Star awards are among the most coveted worldwide awards for the best and innovative beers. This competition hosted 575 beers from 58 countries. American breweries took home 22 medals, including 9 gold medal awards out of 40 categories. Germans took home 61 medals, almost all in German beer categories. Americans took home three medals in German beer categories. While the Germans took far more awards, their awards did not stray far from the homeland.

Most of the new and exciting beers are coming from America. Any way you look at the statistics, the argument can be made that the United States is making the best beer in the world.

Who is behind fermentarium?

My name is D.J. Spiess I've been homebrewing for many years and I hope I can help you enjoy this hobby as much as I do. If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment, share it, digg it, or stumble it using the icons to the right or the top of the page.
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