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Beer and bibles don’t mix

In America, more religious states have fewer craft breweries

By THE DATA TEAM

ANY American university student can inform you that much of the beer in the United States is utter swill. Those who graduate from the red Solo cup—the brand so synonymous with beer pong and college life—can afford to purchase better. And so they do. Craft beer, the stuff made by small and independent breweries, has exploded beyond just hipsters. Sales reached $22.3 billion in 2015, and volumes have climbed 13% over the past year, even as overall beer sales in America dipped somewhat.

Some states are craftier than others. Atop the list of craft breweries per capita is Vermont, with 44 of them crammed into one of the nation’s smallest and least populated states. In addition to being better liquored, Vermonters are a good bit more godless than the national average. This reflects a broader trend: there is a markedly negative correlation between a state’s religiosity and breweries per person.

Local regulations determine the level of production much more than demographic characteristics such as income or education, says Bart Watson, chief economist of the Brewers Association, a craft-beer trade organisation. And religious legislators may get a bit overzealous. Utah, a state populated with many teetotaling Mormons, strictly limits the strength of draught beers and cocktails. Bartenders in the state must also mix drinks behind large barriers called “Zion curtains” (for the sake of the children, of course). No surprise then that it appears not to have caught on to the craft-brewing craze.

But if the craving catches you in Salt Lake City, just head east. With 280 craft breweries, Colorado is sure to have something to sip on.

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