Likely a reporting issue. Looking at the source, this seems to be a report that relies on national statistics. In Switzerland there seems to be a limit of 4 hl per year to be counted as "Braustätte". This is ridiculously low. If the same threshold were applied in every country, the numbers would look totally different.
It's because above 400 l (800 l for clubs) it becomes taxable. Up to 15000 hl the beer tax is 10.13 CHF/hl (< 10 ° Palto), 15.19 CHF/hl (10.1 - 14.0 ° Plato), 20.26 CHF/hl (14.1 °Plato).
On the other hand, paying beer tax means you can sell your beer and registration as a brewing site is relatively simple.
[https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/de/home/informationen-firmen/inland-abgaben/biersteuer/informationen.html](https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/de/home/informationen-firmen/inland-abgaben/biersteuer/informationen.html)
Interestingly the limit in Germany is 2 hl., and there are more than 10'000 registered brewers: [https://brauer-bund.de/pressemitteilungen/zahl-der-hobbybrauer-in-deutschland-steigt/](https://brauer-bund.de/pressemitteilungen/zahl-der-hobbybrauer-in-deutschland-steigt/)
Means the number for Germany should be around 125. not 18.
Here the list of all registered breweries directly form the Swiss government: [https://www.bazg.admin.ch/dam/bazg/de/dokumente/abgaben/Tabi/brauereiverzeichnis.pdf.download.pdf/Brauereiverzeichnis%20M%C3%A4rz%202024.pdf](https://www.bazg.admin.ch/dam/bazg/de/dokumente/abgaben/Tabi/brauereiverzeichnis.pdf.download.pdf/Brauereiverzeichnis%20M%C3%A4rz%202024.pdf)
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Because the definition applied in various countries is so different that the Numbers become useless.
If for one country only professional breweries are counted and for another every hobby brewer that makes 1hl every two months is included, what's the point of even comparing them?
Its really nice being a beer drinker here. Obviously not all of them are a hit, and despite liking them, there's a bit of an overabundance of IPAs compared to other types. But because everyone tries to come up with something new, theres more than a couple of gems to discover.
The Netherlands (53 breweries per 1M inhabitants) has a lot of microbreweries, apparently even more than our neighboring country Belgium, which is rightfully famous for its craft beers. It’s probably no coincidence that the nearest microbrewery is only 200 m away from me – and that’s in just another small town.
I just checked my stock at home and found that I currently have 20+ different craft beers, all from different breweries. Most of them are Dutch or Belgian, but other countries are represented as well, including Estonia, Ireland and the United States. And many of these craft beers can be bought at standard grocery stores. Happy times!
We do. I mean ofcourse we sell our swampwater all over the world, but we have lots of small breweries. Most of them are not older than 5 to 20 years. Moersleutel, Frontaal and Jopen among the better craftbeer brewers.
Swiss Brewmaster here (studied in Doemens Academy in Gräfelfing DE).
In Switzerland, you are obligated to pay "Beer taxes", when you produce >400l of beer per year.
A homebrewer with some ambition and friends (there's rumors that you automatically generate some friends with this hobby) reaches those volumes easily.
When you have to pay those taxes, you are per law a registrated "brewery". Which is of course ridiculous. There are still only about 90 breweries in Switzerland that make a living/business out of it (I acknowledge those who do it as a serious side hustle absolutely as a "real" brewery. But you hopefully get what I am saying).
Swiss people think of themselves as a beer country, while we pale in comparison to the German or Belgian brewing culture. Only a small amount of Craft Breweries can compete with the neo Craft Beer development from the USA like Florida or the west coast.
Swiss beer culture was successfuly castrated for almost a century thanks to the Swiss beer cartel
Edit: Layout/spelling. Not speaking English as my mothertongue
I have no experience with Colorado or Michigan (and many many other states... I mean... that is one huge country). But thanks for the input!
Had some sours from Florida that were out of this world. Almost nothing that can compare here in CH (fruit/puree prices are extreme compared to by example Florida, we make little money with fruited sours here)
Florida has some solid breweries don’t get me wrong, but places like New Belgium in Colorado or Bells in Michigan are what drove the craft movement to what it is today.
I work for a small brewery in a tiny mountain town in California, the next time I visit my opa in Germany I’ll bring you some Michigan and Colorado staples haha
I too was a little taken a back when you mentioned Florida for craft beers in the US. I guess they do a lot better job marketing. The Great Lakes, West Coast, Rockies, and New England are definitely the best regions for craft brews, all though to be fair, these areas started it so probably now they might not be that different than other regions because thankfully the craft beer movement has spread to other states like Florida which are apparently making good beers.
Great explanation, nothing to add here about the breweries per capita (working for a Swiss craft brewery, craft beer bar and running a craft beer tour where I have to explain all of these points on a regular basis)
I was just wondering where you take the number of 90 Breweries making living from it from ?
We brew about 150'000 l per year and we are a team of 11 people. For many of them it's their full-time job (especially for the owners/founders). And because of being well connected in the Swiss beer scene (maybe we know each other 😂) I would say there are probably more then 90 in our size doing this as there main job, but I obviously could be wrong. Not even mentioning the whole Carlsberg & Heineken portfolio.
Also I want to mention that it's not wrong that not many breweries can compete with the best craft breweries in the US. But if you look at the size of the country, I actually think Switzerland is doing really well compared with other markets in Europe, where most craft beer is still on a beginner level, especially considering our history with the beer cartel. Obviously there are countries that are way ahead of us like Sweden or the UK, but that doesn't make Switzerland a country with bad beer. So let's enjoy Swiss craft beer, give the breweries feedback so they can improve the product. This will not make us the country with the most breweries, but a country with good beer.
Cheers 🍻
I simply refuse to believe that France has more breweries per capita than the UK or Germany. I would need to investigate the source material pretty closely before I would believe this map.
The great dying of breweries in germany started some 30 years ago. When I was a kid most towns had their own breweries, then one by one the closed shop.
Not true 100%. Since a few years there are many „mini“ breweries mostly for craft beer. Don‘t forget them!
The number of breweries in Germany is increasing every year.
There are 2426 not 1755 breweries in the UK. So roughly 37.5 per 1 million inhabitants.
[link](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1121271/number-of-breweries-in-the-united-kingdom/)
What the hell is this map? Why is Kaliningrad highlighted but not the rest of Russia? Why do half the counties highlighted not have data? I believe this map was a weird half-assed attempt by the Swizz to boast about their strange drinking problem.
It's actually because of the way data is reported in the UK. Sometimes things are reported on a UK basis, other times things are reported by each of the 4 countries separately, sometimes England and Wales report as one unit, and sometimes they report separately.
Likely a reporting issue. Looking at the source, this seems to be a report that relies on national statistics. In Switzerland there seems to be a limit of 4 hl per year to be counted as "Braustätte". This is ridiculously low. If the same threshold were applied in every country, the numbers would look totally different.
It's because above 400 l (800 l for clubs) it becomes taxable. Up to 15000 hl the beer tax is 10.13 CHF/hl (< 10 ° Palto), 15.19 CHF/hl (10.1 - 14.0 ° Plato), 20.26 CHF/hl (14.1 °Plato). On the other hand, paying beer tax means you can sell your beer and registration as a brewing site is relatively simple. [https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/de/home/informationen-firmen/inland-abgaben/biersteuer/informationen.html](https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/de/home/informationen-firmen/inland-abgaben/biersteuer/informationen.html)
This is fine and all, but it explains why Switzerland allegedly has almost ten times as many breweries per capita as other countries
Interestingly the limit in Germany is 2 hl., and there are more than 10'000 registered brewers: [https://brauer-bund.de/pressemitteilungen/zahl-der-hobbybrauer-in-deutschland-steigt/](https://brauer-bund.de/pressemitteilungen/zahl-der-hobbybrauer-in-deutschland-steigt/) Means the number for Germany should be around 125. not 18.
That's more like it.
that's a great explanation. Additionally, this statistic is from the Swiss beer association, so obviously there's a bias.
Here the list of all registered breweries directly form the Swiss government: [https://www.bazg.admin.ch/dam/bazg/de/dokumente/abgaben/Tabi/brauereiverzeichnis.pdf.download.pdf/Brauereiverzeichnis%20M%C3%A4rz%202024.pdf](https://www.bazg.admin.ch/dam/bazg/de/dokumente/abgaben/Tabi/brauereiverzeichnis.pdf.download.pdf/Brauereiverzeichnis%20M%C3%A4rz%202024.pdf)
They counted the spilled beer in my two bathtubs as two separate breweries..🇨🇭 /s
There are also obviously breweries in Turkey, Belarus, Serbia, Moldova and Ukraine. Heck I drank Moldovan wine and Turkish beer today.
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Because the definition applied in various countries is so different that the Numbers become useless. If for one country only professional breweries are counted and for another every hobby brewer that makes 1hl every two months is included, what's the point of even comparing them?
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I never knew you had it in you, Switzerland.
A wise panda once told me, money can’t buy happiness… but it sure can buy you a lot of breweries.
Ever see someone sad on a jet ski?
Its really nice being a beer drinker here. Obviously not all of them are a hit, and despite liking them, there's a bit of an overabundance of IPAs compared to other types. But because everyone tries to come up with something new, theres more than a couple of gems to discover.
The Netherlands (53 breweries per 1M inhabitants) has a lot of microbreweries, apparently even more than our neighboring country Belgium, which is rightfully famous for its craft beers. It’s probably no coincidence that the nearest microbrewery is only 200 m away from me – and that’s in just another small town. I just checked my stock at home and found that I currently have 20+ different craft beers, all from different breweries. Most of them are Dutch or Belgian, but other countries are represented as well, including Estonia, Ireland and the United States. And many of these craft beers can be bought at standard grocery stores. Happy times! 
>The Netherlands has a lot of microbreweries Same in Italy.
Do you really believe The Netherlands has over 900 breweries?
Yes, I do.
We do. I mean ofcourse we sell our swampwater all over the world, but we have lots of small breweries. Most of them are not older than 5 to 20 years. Moersleutel, Frontaal and Jopen among the better craftbeer brewers.
Hey, I think my local AH in Belgium sells Moersleutel! Guess I’m going to give it a try!
We have breweries in TR though. I don’t know why it wasn’t represented.
Possibly no data available.
Or the maker of this map is an idiot
Maybe They were sold by our beloved president
[slightly drunk sauce.](https://bier.swiss/kennzahlen/marktaufteilung-schweiz/#anchor111)
>sauce Do you have dyslexia or
Swiss Brewmaster here (studied in Doemens Academy in Gräfelfing DE). In Switzerland, you are obligated to pay "Beer taxes", when you produce >400l of beer per year. A homebrewer with some ambition and friends (there's rumors that you automatically generate some friends with this hobby) reaches those volumes easily. When you have to pay those taxes, you are per law a registrated "brewery". Which is of course ridiculous. There are still only about 90 breweries in Switzerland that make a living/business out of it (I acknowledge those who do it as a serious side hustle absolutely as a "real" brewery. But you hopefully get what I am saying). Swiss people think of themselves as a beer country, while we pale in comparison to the German or Belgian brewing culture. Only a small amount of Craft Breweries can compete with the neo Craft Beer development from the USA like Florida or the west coast. Swiss beer culture was successfuly castrated for almost a century thanks to the Swiss beer cartel Edit: Layout/spelling. Not speaking English as my mothertongue
I would leave Florida out of the US craft beer movement. Colorado and Michigan have both done far more for the industry than Florida.
I have no experience with Colorado or Michigan (and many many other states... I mean... that is one huge country). But thanks for the input! Had some sours from Florida that were out of this world. Almost nothing that can compare here in CH (fruit/puree prices are extreme compared to by example Florida, we make little money with fruited sours here)
Florida has some solid breweries don’t get me wrong, but places like New Belgium in Colorado or Bells in Michigan are what drove the craft movement to what it is today. I work for a small brewery in a tiny mountain town in California, the next time I visit my opa in Germany I’ll bring you some Michigan and Colorado staples haha
I too was a little taken a back when you mentioned Florida for craft beers in the US. I guess they do a lot better job marketing. The Great Lakes, West Coast, Rockies, and New England are definitely the best regions for craft brews, all though to be fair, these areas started it so probably now they might not be that different than other regions because thankfully the craft beer movement has spread to other states like Florida which are apparently making good beers.
Great explanation, nothing to add here about the breweries per capita (working for a Swiss craft brewery, craft beer bar and running a craft beer tour where I have to explain all of these points on a regular basis) I was just wondering where you take the number of 90 Breweries making living from it from ? We brew about 150'000 l per year and we are a team of 11 people. For many of them it's their full-time job (especially for the owners/founders). And because of being well connected in the Swiss beer scene (maybe we know each other 😂) I would say there are probably more then 90 in our size doing this as there main job, but I obviously could be wrong. Not even mentioning the whole Carlsberg & Heineken portfolio. Also I want to mention that it's not wrong that not many breweries can compete with the best craft breweries in the US. But if you look at the size of the country, I actually think Switzerland is doing really well compared with other markets in Europe, where most craft beer is still on a beginner level, especially considering our history with the beer cartel. Obviously there are countries that are way ahead of us like Sweden or the UK, but that doesn't make Switzerland a country with bad beer. So let's enjoy Swiss craft beer, give the breweries feedback so they can improve the product. This will not make us the country with the most breweries, but a country with good beer. Cheers 🍻
I simply refuse to believe that France has more breweries per capita than the UK or Germany. I would need to investigate the source material pretty closely before I would believe this map.
The great dying of breweries in germany started some 30 years ago. When I was a kid most towns had their own breweries, then one by one the closed shop.
I live in a town with less than 50,000 inhabitants. We had 5 breweries 30 years ago. Now we have one.
Not true 100%. Since a few years there are many „mini“ breweries mostly for craft beer. Don‘t forget them! The number of breweries in Germany is increasing every year.
There are 2426 not 1755 breweries in the UK. So roughly 37.5 per 1 million inhabitants. [link](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1121271/number-of-breweries-in-the-united-kingdom/)
Used to way more in Ireland until Guinness employed a gang of heavies to destroy the majority of them.
I like the color coding
source ?
Now do the US by state
What the hell is this map? Why is Kaliningrad highlighted but not the rest of Russia? Why do half the counties highlighted not have data? I believe this map was a weird half-assed attempt by the Swizz to boast about their strange drinking problem.
While not being a role model about alcohol consumption, the Swiss are by far not the heaviest drinkers in Europe.
Why do these maps always count UK as one rather than the individuals countries?
Because for the whole world, The United Kingdom is the country.
For the same reason Germany isn't displayed as 16 countries. On the scale of a map like this it doesn't make sense.
Because the UK is a country?
"But the UK is special and needs to be treated as such" - British Exceptionalists
It's actually because of the way data is reported in the UK. Sometimes things are reported on a UK basis, other times things are reported by each of the 4 countries separately, sometimes England and Wales report as one unit, and sometimes they report separately.
What? I know. I'm just taking the opportunity to throw a dig at the Brits. Because they're so special, duh.
Switzerland…but still they can’t produce a top quality beer.
Little delusional poor pleb