What make a great beer urban center ? The criteria surely changes from person to individual . lineament slyness breweries may be a priority for some , while prevalence of legal community and cheap beer close to home are must - have for others . The veridical the three estates siteRedfinand theBeer Institutehave combined force to hone in on what constituent need to add up together to make a great beer city and what those city might be .

To createtheir list , they ’ve identified five criteria that constitute the essential ingredient of the best towns for brew . Those admit the number of brewery per 100,000 21 + adults in the state , routine of participating brewery license , state beer taxes ( lower is sound ) , median domicile cost , and the city ’s Walk Score , because you do n’t want to booze and force back , obviously .

With the inclusion of home price and Walk Score , it ’s unquestionably not break the good cities for craft beer , but provide a window to where living and loving beer might be easy . Under those criteria , it ’s not surprising that the classic beer cities that play home to some of the country ’s biggest brewer rank well . Milwaukee ( domicile of Miller ) , St. Louis ( home of Budweiser ) , and Denver ( home of Coors ) all rank in the top 10 .

Best Cities for Beer Lovers

Redfin

But taking top billing is Pittsburgh , home of a whole fortune of microbreweries , a low-toned beer tax , middling price homes , and a pretty solid Walk Score . Pittsburgh is followed by Buffalo , New York ; Milwaukee , Wisconsin ; Grand Rapids , Michigan ; Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ; Portland , Oregon ; Denver , Colorado ; Detroit , Michigan ; Cleveland , Ohio ; St. Louis , Missouri ; Madison , Wisconsin ; Long Island , New York ( total on , that ’s not a city ) ; Seattle , Washington ; Cincinnati , Ohio ; and San Francisco , California . Do n’t occupy , we still have it off you and bed your not - so - secret beer art Raleigh and San Diego .

As always with any list that is beer related , the upper midwest oblige its own .

The most interesting part of the resume may in reality be the raw number that pass into creating the lean . Portland tops the charts with nine brewery per 100,000 21 + grownup in the state . They ’re followed by Denver ( 8) and Seattle ( 7 ) .

Best Beer Cities

Redfin

Meanwhile , Seattle and San Francisco top the lean of most active brewery licence with 352 apiece . They ’re followed closely by Denver ( 330 ) , Long Island and Buffalo ( 294 each , though Long Island is still not a metropolis ) , and Detroit and Grand Rapids with 291 each . That ’s a whole circle of breweries for residents to get out and take account over the Fourth of July weekend .