Tag: RateBeer

Map of the Top 100 Breweries in the World 2017 according to RateBeer

Mark SimpsonLeave a comment

Every year RateBeer publish a list of the top 100 breweries based on the reviews on their site. For those who don’t know, RateBeer is a beer review site that is generally favoured by beer geeks as an authority on great beer. While the list, like any, is subject to certain biases, in general you know that the breweries that appear on this list are going to be damned good at making beer.

So annually I create a map of these top 100 breweries, pinpointing the main location of each brewer on the list, and enabling craft beer geeks who may dream of visiting these breweries to view where they’re located around the world.

A couple of trends this year, compared to 2016:

  • London is becoming a real craft beer hub and with the addition of Beavertown and Brew by Numbers increased the number of UK breweries on the list to 9.
  • Poland got 2 breweries on the list this year. This was a surprise to me. While Poland traditionally has a strong beer culture, I didn’t realise that they were gaining acclaim in craft beer circles, will have to look into this one.
  • Pennsylvania is now up to 4 breweries. While the West of the US is still strong, the North East, and even Midwest have a lot of top breweries now too.
  • Tree House is probably one of the bigger names to enter the top 100 as one of the leaders of the hot and trending NEIPA style.

A map of the Top 100 Breweries in the World – 2015

Mark Simpson2 Comments

RateBeer published their annual list of the top 100 brewers in the world for 2015 and below is a map I’ve created pinpointing the brewers’ locations around the world.

Brewers in the USA dominate the list with 73 out of the top 100. It’s not just brewers on the West Coast either, there’s top-rated brewers all over the States including brewers in the top 10 from the states of Vermont, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan.

Outside of the US, England led the way with 6 brewers, Canada had 5, and the remarkable Danish had 4, not including a certain Danish twin brother brewer based in New York and the Danish brewer at the helm of New Zealand’s 8 Wired.

The Belgians only managed 2 spots this year, down from 7 the previous year, but there were two Polish breweries that debuted on the list. Na zdrowie!

View the full list or check out the map below to start dreaming of future trips to places with great beer.

A map of the Top 100 Brewers in the World 2014

Mark Simpson2 Comments

RateBeer has released their list of the top brewers in the world for 2014. The list features a new top brewer in the world in AleSmith from San Diego. No. 2 on the list is Hill Farmstead and no.3 Three Floyds, while rounding out the Top 5 are Russian River and Bells Brewery.

New additions to the top 100 this year came from states of the USA not well known for their brewing like Iowa, South Carolina and Arizona, showing just how widespread great craft beer is becoming there. Other interesting tidbits are that there are now 6 English breweries in the top 100, tops after Belgium and USA, while 8 Wired still flies the flag for Oceania.

UPDATE: View the map of the list of Top Brewers in the World for 2015.

USA – the home of great beer

Mark Simpson2 Comments

My recent six-week voyage to the USA earlier this year confirmed that the USA is a craft beer lover’s heaven. Here’s five things that I loved about beer in the USA:

1. The availability of good beer

Unlike Australia, you don’t have to be in the know to drink well. Most bars stock a good range, as do supermarkets and convenience stores, and it doesn’t take much effort to find a microbrewery or brewpub either (in Portland they’re pretty much everywhere). Even in regions that aren’t known for their craft beer prowess, like Texas & Louisiana, I stumbled across great bars with a wide range of great both local and interstate craft beers (Yeehaw to that!).

I was particularly impressed that I was able to buy a Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA at an NBA game in Boston. Sure, it was overpriced like any sports stadium drink, but I was more than happy to pay for this delicious beer, knowing I would have to pay the same back home at the footy for that cat’s piss they call Carlton Draught!Read More »

A Map of the Top 100 Breweries in the World

Mark Simpson1 Comment

Earlier this year, RateBeer published a Top 100 Breweries in the World list. To help out Beer Nerds planning their next trip overseas, I’ve created a Google Map of the Top Breweries, which pinpoints the locations of each of the breweries on the list (as accurately as I could anyway).

It may or may not come as a surprise that 68 of these top 100 breweries came from the United States. I read somewhere around half RateBeer reviewers come from the US, so some may see this as a case of homeland bias, but while the Belgians may still be the respected elders of great beer (sidenote: Belgium had the second highest number of breweries in the Top 100 with 9), it is clear that today those seeking the most experimental and complex beers look to the US of A.Read More »