Grand Rapids, Detroit named among Top 5 beer cities in America
Grand Rapids and Detroit are two of the top destinations for brews in the United States, according to a study
You probably already knew Grand Rapids is a top American city for craft beers.
But nobody should overlook Detroit as a big-time brewery destination.
A recent study of beer and wine cities by Infogroup has concluded that Grand Rapids (No. 3) and Detroit (No. 5) are among the Top 5 metropolitan areas for beer in the United States, joining the likes of No. 1 Portland, No. 2 Denver and No. 4 Seattle.
"Known as the Motor City due to the expansion of the automobile industry, Detroit’s strong immigrant and blue collar roots are also linked to a great history of beer that has been kept alive by its locals," the website reads. "Detroit Beer Company and Motor City Brewing Works are some of the locals’ favorites."
Multiple studies and polls over the past few years have concluded Grand Rapids, home to top breweries such as Founders and Grand Rapids Brewing Co., is a top beer city. Readers of 10best.com, a travel site from USA TODAY, voted Grand Rapids as America's Best Beer Scene for 2016. In 2014, 10best.com named Grand Rapids as Best Beer Town and for two years before that it was Beer City USA.
Infogroup explains its methodology: "Infogroup ranked top beer and wine cities in the U.S., utilizing Infogroup’s verified business database of more than 15 million records. The study analyzed U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs1) of more than 1 million in population based on their concentration of beer and wine businesses per 10,000 residents. Further, each metro area was classified as a beer or wine city based on which is more prevalent in that metro area. Finally, Infogroup compared consumer demographics and interests between beer and wine cities and the top 10 of both based on Infogroup's consumer database of more than 150 million households."
Portland was also named the top wine city in America, followed by San Francisco, Seattle, Sacramento and Rochester, N.Y.
Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.
Be sure that you follow the Detroit Free Press on Twitter (@freep) and Instagram and like us on on Facebook.
