We created a shortlist of the top 32 cities for beer production in the United States using information from openbrewerydb.org. We then researched each city based on 4 data points: the number of top-rated beer bars in each city, the number of breweries & brew pubs, the median nightly price of an accommodation and the average price of a pint of beer. After obtaining the raw data, we assigned each data point a representative numerical value between 5 and 10, with 5 representing the lowest data point and 10 representing the highest data point. The hypothetical "perfect score" would be 40 out of 40. We used the following equation in order to calculate this for every factor:
Score(i) = 5 · (x(i) - xmin ) / (xmax - xmin ) + 5
Bar Score: Represents the number of top rated beer bars in each city, according to a leading beer rating and review platform - ratebeer.com. Cities with the highest number of top rated bars were given a higher score, Accessed August 2023.
Brewery Score: To represent the quantity of local beer production, we gathered the number of craft breweries, large breweries, and brew pubs for each city from openbrewerydb.org. The city with the most local breweries were given a maximum score of 10 and the remaining locations were given a score of 5 or higher. Accessed August 2023.
Beer Price Score: To account for the affordability of beer in the area, we researched the price of a pint of domestic draught beer from numbeo.com. The city with the lowest average price for a pint of domestic draught beer was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining locations were awarded a score of 5 or higher. Accessed August 2023.
Accommodation Price: We used internal HomeToGo data to find the median price per night for a vacation rental in the area between September 1st - October 31st 2023. The area with the lowest median price per night for a vacation rental was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining locations were awarded a score of 5 or higher. Data was collected in August 2023, prices are subject to change.
Beer Fact Footnotes
*The Economy of Beer - Sourced from the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) biennial Beer Serves America report.
*Rise of the Brewmaster - Sourced from National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) - Fast facts
*Red, White, and Brew - Sourced from National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) - Fast facts