Beer tourism brings together travel, brewery visits, and interest in locally made beer. A Travelocity survey found that 75% of 1,003 respondents wanted a trip that included visiting craft breweries and sampling local beer. The figures below combine that traveler-interest measure with brewery-visit research and 2025 state craft beer statistics. The periods differ, so older survey results and current state data should be read as separate snapshots rather than as one continuous time series.
Contents
- Traveler interest in beer tourism
- Top U.S. beer destinations
- How brewery visits fit into drinking occasions
- Who visits breweries and how often
- Local beer preferences and take-home habits
- Craft beer markets in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New York
Traveler interest in beer tourism
The strongest direct measure of demand in the supplied research is the Travelocity Beer Tourism Index. In its survey of 1,003 people, 75% said they would like to take a trip where they visited craft breweries and sampled local beer. That result describes stated interest, not completed trips or total beer-tourism spending, but it indicates that brewery stops can be a meaningful part of a travel itinerary.
The same index reported that U.S. craft beer production reached about 24 million barrels in 2015. Craft beer production increased 13% year over year in 2015, according to CraftBeer.com / Travelocity Beer Tourism Index. At the time of the Travelocity announcement, the United States had about 4,800 craft breweries. These production and brewery counts are historical figures from the period of that index; they are not 2025 totals.
For travelers, the appeal is also geographic. The index separated destinations into large and small metro categories, creating a way to compare places with established beer identities without treating every market as the same size.
Top U.S. beer destinations
The large-metro ranking from the CraftBeer.com / Travelocity Beer Tourism Index placed these six destinations in order:
| Rank | Large metro destination | State or states |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton | Oregon-Washington |
| 2 | Denver-Aurora | Colorado |
| 3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | Washington |
| 4 | Portland-South Portland-Biddeford | Maine |
| 5 | Colorado Springs | Colorado |
| 6 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma | California |
The index ranked Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA first among large metro beer destinations. Denver-Aurora, CO ranked second, while Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ranked third. Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, ME ranked fourth; Colorado Springs, CO ranked fifth; and Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA ranked sixth. These are destination rankings from the index, not a current ranking of brewery counts, production, or tourism revenue.
The small-metro list highlights a different group of beer-travel locations:
- Bend, OR ranked first.
- Boulder, CO ranked second.
- Fort Collins-Loveland, CO ranked third.
- Corvallis, OR ranked fourth.
- Missoula, MT ranked fifth.
- Burlington-South Burlington, VT ranked sixth.
Together, the two lists show how beer tourism can be associated with both major travel markets and smaller destinations. A ranking position does not quantify visitor volume, but it identifies the places included in the index’s comparison of beer destinations.
How brewery visits fit into drinking occasions
The Brewers Association’s NCGA OPUS survey from September 2017 examined what a brewery visit represented for visitors. Forty percent said a brewery visit was a different occasion when they would not otherwise have gone to a bar. Thirty percent said they chose a brewery instead of a traditional bar or other on-premise drinking establishment. Another 24% said the brewery visit was in addition to their typical bar or on-premise occasions.
The Brewers Association summarized the result by saying that nearly two-thirds of respondents viewed brewery visits as an incremental occasion. The categories above describe different ways respondents characterized the visit; they should not be added together as a single total because the available research does not establish that they are mutually exclusive.
The figures matter for beer tourism because a brewery stop can serve a travel purpose beyond ordinary nightlife. For some visitors it replaces a conventional bar visit, while for others it adds a new activity to an existing outing. The survey does not measure how many of these occasions involved overnight travel, so it supports a broader brewery-visit picture rather than a standalone count of tourist trips.
The Brewers Association also reported in its Nielsen Craft Insight Panel from June 2017 that 12% of craft drinkers said they were drinking more craft beer because going to breweries was one reason why. In the Brewers Association white paper Who Is the Craft Beer Shopper?, 55% of brewery visitors said they purchased more beer from that brewery after the visit than before. Those results connect the in-person experience with later purchasing behavior, although the sources use different survey periods and should not be merged into one rate.
Who visits breweries and how often
The Brewers Association’s 2023 Harris Poll Data Presentation provides a more recent view of visit frequency. In that deck, 15% of all craft drinkers were classified as power visitors who took 10 or more brewery visits a year. Those power visitors represented 57% of total reported brewery visits. The two figures suggest that frequent visitors accounted for a large share of visits even though they were a smaller share of craft drinkers.
The same presentation compared local and travel-related brewery visits. Craft breweries within one to two hours of where people lived averaged 69% visited in the last 12 months in 2023, up from 61% in 2015. Craft breweries visited while traveling averaged 66% visited in the last 12 months in 2023, up from 61% in 2015. The wording reports survey averages for these two settings; it does not provide a total number of breweries visited or a number of trips.
| Brewery setting | 2015 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Within 1–2 hours of home, visited in the last 12 months | 61% | 69% |
| Visited while traveling, visited in the last 12 months | 61% | 66% |
This comparison separates nearby brewery activity from brewery visits made during travel. Both settings reached higher reported visit levels in 2023 than in 2015, while the local one-to-two-hour category had the higher 2023 figure in the presentation.
The Brewers Association’s estimate titled Brewery Visits Grow Beer applied 8% growth to 28% of beer drinkers and estimated about 4.5 million barrels of beer generated by brewery visitors who drink more beer. This is an estimate based on the stated assumptions, not a direct count of barrels sold to tourists at breweries.
Local beer preferences and take-home habits
Beer tourism is closely tied to the perceived value of small and local producers. In the Brewers Association white paper Who Is the Craft Beer Shopper?, 57% of shoppers said they preferred beer from small brewers, while 70% said they preferred beer from small local brewers. The same white paper, citing a Brewers Association Nielsen survey from June 2017, reported that 60% of craft drinkers considered “locally made” somewhat or very important.
The Brewers Association’s 2023 Harris Poll Data Presentation showed the importance score for locally made beer rising from about 2.5 in 2017 to about 3.0 in 2023 on a five-point scale. Because the source reports approximate scores, the change should be read as an approximate movement rather than a more precise calculation.
Cold storage also mattered at the point of purchase. The white paper reported that 77% of consumers considered it at least somewhat important that craft beer in a store be cold. After getting home, 46% of shoppers stored craft beer in the kitchen, 28% stored it in a refrigerator outside the kitchen, and 8% had a dedicated beer or wine fridge.
Home stock levels were distributed across several ranges. Sixty-eight percent kept between 1 and 12 cans or bottles at home, 19% kept between 12 and 24 cans or bottles, and 9% kept more than one case in stock. These figures describe reported household habits in the white paper and are not a measure of beer purchased during a specific tourism trip.
Craft beer markets in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New York
The Brewers Association’s State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 provides a current snapshot for four states connected to the destination and market figures above. Oregon includes several ranked destinations in the Travelocity index, while the other states illustrate the scale and economic weight of different craft beer markets.
| State | Craft breweries | Economic impact | Craft beer production per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 297 | $2.153 billion | 1,109,391 barrels |
| Pennsylvania | 538 | $4.887 billion | 1,917,717 barrels |
| Texas | 420 | $4.201 billion | 1,003,876 barrels |
| New York | 525 | $3.912 billion | 1,281,220 barrels |
In Oregon, the 2025 state page reported 297 craft breweries and a craft beer economic impact of $2.153 billion. Oregon ranked eighth nationwide for breweries per capita, with 9 breweries per 100,000 adults aged 21 and older. Its impact per capita ranked fourth nationally at $654. Oregon produced 1,109,391 barrels of craft beer per year and ranked second nationally at 10.4 gallons per adult aged 21 and older.
Pennsylvania had 538 craft breweries in 2025 and ranked second nationwide for total craft breweries. Its craft beer economic impact was $4.887 billion. The state ranked second nationally for craft beer production, with 1,917,717 barrels per year.
Texas had 420 craft breweries and ranked sixth nationwide for total craft breweries. Its 2025 craft beer economic impact was $4.201 billion, and the state produced 1,003,876 barrels of craft beer per year.
New York had 525 craft breweries and ranked third nationwide for total craft breweries. The state’s craft beer economic impact was $3.912 billion, with 1,281,220 barrels of craft beer produced per year.
These 2025 state figures describe breweries, production, and economic impact; they do not identify the number of beer tourists or assign a share of the impact specifically to tourism. Read alongside the destination rankings and visitor surveys, they show the different scales at which beer tourism can be understood: traveler interest, brewery-visit behavior, local preferences, and the broader craft beer economy.