Inter-Metropolitan Location Patterns of Craft Breweries in the United States

Abstract

The number of craft breweries in the United States has increased dramatically in recent decades. In 1980 there were 8;by 2013 there were over 2,800. This growth reflects dissatisfaction, on the part of many Americans, with the bland and homogeneous beer that is brewed by the country’s two largest breweries —Anheuser Busch and Miller Coors. Consumers are demanding beer that exhibits greater variety in terms of flavor, style and strength. Despite this growth few studies have attempted to explain the spatial distribution. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that are driving inter-metropolitan differences in the number of craft breweries. Using data from 361 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) we built a series of regression models that use the number of craft breweries as a dependent variable. Our findings show that the primary driver of inter-metropolitan variation in craft breweries is the proportion of the population aged between 25 and 44. Other metropolitan characteristics that attract craft breweries are a creative population, the existence of farmers markets, total population size, educational levels and a MSA share of non-hispanic whites. One variable, income, was found to be negatively correlated with the number of craft breweries.