Visit The State With The Most Breweries In The Country. (Hint, It's Not Wisconsin)

These days you don't have to look far if you want to grab a drink from a brewery. Even Utah, a state historically known for its strict rules against alcohol, has several dozen breweries. Other states, like Wisconsin, are well-known for their beer production — in fact, the state is one of the top-ranked in the entire country for beer consumption.  The Badger State is home to incredibly popular beer brands (including the cheapest beer brand per ounce) and even has its own major league baseball team named after brewing, the Brewers. But while Wisconsin definitely has its fair share of breweries (262 as of 2024), and beer drinkers, for that matter, there is one state that blows it out of the water: California. 

With a whopping 946 craft breweries, the Golden State currently holds the crown for the most craft breweries in the country. That works out to 3.3 breweries per capita and comes out to an impressive 3,737,147 barrels per year, according to the Brewer's Association. California may not be home to the first Beer Mile Run — Canada gets that honor — but considering that in 2024 more breweries closed than opened in the United States, California seems to be in pretty good shape. Interestingly, the state is also the top food producer in the country, and it is also the most populous state, with about 12% of the country's population residing within its borders, so it's not too surprising to learn that it takes the top spot in breweries as well. 

While the art of brewing beer dates back thousands of years to early civilizations in places like Egypt and Mesopotamia, California's brewing history can be traced back to the 19^th century when the state's first brewery opened in 1849. During that time, the state was just beginning to enjoy the boom of the Gold Rush, which meant that people from all over were bringing their traditions and knowledge, which included brewing, to the state. Since then, the state has been at the forefront of the brewing industry. In fact, only a few decades later in 1896, the Anchor Brewery opened its doors in San Francisco, launching the modern craft beer movement.

The craft beer movement stayed relatively quiet for many years, however, with the industry focusing instead on mass production. By the 1960s and 1970s, the industry began to see a surge in popularity of smaller, flavor-focused brews, and small craft breweries began popping up everywhere. In California, nearly a hundred years after the Anchor Brewery was founded, breweries like the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company were established, which was a key move in the resurgence of craft brewing. Today, California doesn't just stand out for the hundreds of breweries around the state, but for an incredible diversity among those establishments that ranges from small, family-owned companies to large-scale operations that make a wide range of beer styles, including lagers, ales, and everything in between.