Brewery tourism statistics at a glance
Brewery tourism is easiest to understand when you pair visitor behavior with state brewery footprint data. The numbers below show where brewery visits show up in travel profiles and where brewery density, output, and economic impact are strongest among the states listed in the source set.
Quick takeaways
- Oregon visitors reported going to a brewery on 17.9% of trips in the 2024-2025 visitor profile (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings).
- Oregon’s food and drink participants reported brewery visits on 24.1% of trips, compared with 12.3% among in-state visitors and 19.6% among out-of-state visitors (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings).
- Maine had 14.2 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+, ranking 2nd (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025).
- Massachusetts produced 812,974 barrels of craft beer per year in 2025, ranking 9th (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025).
- Illinois had the largest craft brewing economic impact in this source set, at $2,811 million in 2025, ranking 7th (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025).
Table of contents
- What brewery tourism statistics measure
- Oregon visitor behavior and brewery visits
- State-by-state brewery tourism indicators
- What the rankings suggest
- How to read these figures
What brewery tourism statistics measure
Brewery tourism can be viewed from two angles. One is visitor behavior, which shows whether people on trips actually include brewery visits, beer trails, distilleries, or related food-and-drink experiences. The other is market structure, which shows how many breweries exist, how concentrated they are relative to adults 21+, how much beer is produced, and how large the economic impact is.
That split matters because a destination can attract brewery visitors without necessarily leading every category in brewery count or production. It can also have a strong brewing footprint without the same level of visitor participation in brewery-related travel activities. The source data gives examples of both patterns.
Oregon visitor behavior and brewery visits
The clearest tourism-specific data in the source set comes from Oregon. Oregon visitors reported going to a brewery in 17.9% of trips in the 2024-2025 visitor profile (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings). That figure is already enough to show brewery visits are a meaningful part of the visitor mix, but the subsegments make the picture sharper.
Brewery visits by visitor segment
| Visitor group | Brewery visits | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon visitors overall | 17.9% of trips | Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings |
| Food and drink participants | 24.1% of trips | Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings |
| In-state visitors | 12.3% of trips | Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings |
| Out-of-state visitors | 19.6% of trips | Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings |
| Arts and culture participants | 25.7% of trips | Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings |
The gap between food and drink participants and in-state visitors is especially notable. Food and drink participants reported brewery visits on 24.1% of trips, versus 12.3% among in-state visitors and 19.6% among out-of-state visitors (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings). That is a 6.2 percentage-point lift above the overall 17.9% figure when looking at Oregon’s food and drink participants, and the source explicitly identifies that lift.
The arts and culture audience also stands out. Oregon’s arts and culture participants reported brewery visits on 25.7% of trips (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings). That suggests brewery tourism can sit comfortably inside a broader destination mix that includes cultural experiences, not just tasting-room visits.
Related trip behaviors in Oregon
The same profile shows that brewery tourism is part of a wider beverage-and-experience cluster. Oregon visitors reported self-guided food or beverage trails on 4.8% of trips, and food and drink participants reported self-guided food or beverage trails on 6.4% of trips (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings). Oregon visitors reported distillery visits on 6.1% of trips and visiting a cidery on 3.0% of trips (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings).
These figures suggest brewery tourism does not appear in isolation. It sits alongside other food, beverage, and trail-based activities that can be bundled into a broader visitor itinerary. For destination planning, that matters because a brewery stop can be one node in a larger day trip or multi-stop travel pattern rather than the only reason for the trip.
State-by-state brewery tourism indicators
The state data in the source set is useful because it shows the different ways brewery tourism can scale. Some states have high brewery counts. Others have stronger density per adult population. Others convert brewery activity into larger economic impact or higher production volume.
Selected state indicators
| State | Craft breweries | Breweries per 100,000 adults 21+ | Economic impact | Annual craft beer production | Source label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 186 | 2.3 | $1,936 million | 601,462 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Hawaii | 27 | 2.4 | $357 million | 179,149 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Idaho | 99 | 6.8 | $423 million | 64,945 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Illinois | 288 | 3.0 | $2,811 million | 409,589 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Indiana | 185 | 3.7 | $1,569 million | 222,089 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Iowa | 123 | 5.2 | $1,025 million | 134,108 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Kansas | 81 | 3.8 | $473 million | 35,059 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Kentucky | 96 | 2.8 | $753 million | 121,865 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Louisiana | 50 | 1.5 | $713 million | 155,643 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Maine | 157 | 14.2 | $736 million | 338,405 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Maryland | 132 | 2.8 | $954 million | 176,644 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
| Massachusetts | 212 | 3.9 | $1,888 million | 812,974 barrels | Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025 |
This table makes one thing clear: brewery tourism-relevant infrastructure does not map neatly to one ranking. Georgia had 186 craft breweries in 2025, ranking 17th, while Hawaii had just 27, ranking 48th (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). Yet Hawaii still had 2.4 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+, ranking 40th, which is a reminder that count alone is not the same as concentration.
Maine is the standout for density. Maine had 14.2 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+, ranking 2nd (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). That is the most tourism-friendly statistic in the set if your focus is on how tightly breweries are clustered for travelers to access. Maine also had 157 craft breweries and produced 338,405 barrels per year, ranking 21st and 19th respectively (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025).
Massachusetts is the strongest production story in this set. Massachusetts had 212 craft breweries in 2025, ranking 16th, and produced 812,974 barrels per year, ranking 9th (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). Its economic impact was $1,888 million, ranking 13th (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). That combination points to a state where brewery tourism may have access to both scale and volume.
Illinois leads on economic impact. Illinois had 288 craft breweries, ranking 13th, and its craft brewing economic impact was $2,811 million, ranking 7th (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). Even though its breweries per 100,000 adults 21+ were 3.0, ranking 32nd, the dollar impact is much higher than its density ranking would suggest. That kind of mismatch is useful when comparing destinations because it shows the best brewery tourism markets are not always the most brewery-dense ones.
Idaho is the opposite type of case. Idaho had 99 craft breweries, ranking 31st, but 6.8 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+, ranking 10th (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). That means the brewery network is relatively concentrated even though the raw brewery count is modest. For a traveler, that can translate into a tighter geographic experience.
What the rankings suggest
A useful way to read brewery tourism statistics is to separate three questions. How many breweries are there? How concentrated are they relative to the adult population? And how much economic activity do they generate?
The source set shows that those questions do not produce the same answer. For example, Georgia had 186 craft breweries and $1,936 million in craft brewing economic impact, but only 2.3 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+ (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). That means a state can be large in absolute terms while still being less concentrated than a smaller market.
Kentucky and Louisiana show another useful contrast. Kentucky had 96 craft breweries, 2.8 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+, and $753 million in economic impact (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). Louisiana had 50 craft breweries, 1.5 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+, and $713 million in economic impact (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025). The economic impact figures are relatively close, even though the brewery counts and density figures are quite different. That is a reminder that visitor value, production scale, distribution, and other business dynamics can all affect the impact number.
A compact ranking view
- Highest economic impact in the set: Illinois at $2,811 million in 2025 (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025).
- Highest density in the set: Maine at 14.2 breweries per 100,000 adults 21+ (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025).
- Highest production volume in the set: Massachusetts at 812,974 barrels per year (Brewers Association State Craft Beer Sales & Production Statistics, 2025).
- Strongest tourism behavior signal in the set: Oregon food and drink participants at 24.1% brewery visits, and arts and culture participants at 25.7% brewery visits (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings).
Those four points do not describe the same kind of market. Instead, they describe four different dimensions of brewery tourism. A destination researcher, travel marketer, or brewery owner should not collapse them into one metric.
How to read these figures
If you are using brewery tourism statistics for planning or analysis, the practical move is to match the metric to the question. If you are deciding whether visitors are likely to include breweries in their trip, Oregon’s visitor profile is the relevant signal. If you are assessing how easy it may be for travelers to find breweries in a state, density per 100,000 adults 21+ is more informative than raw brewery count. If you are trying to understand the scale of brewing as an industry, production barrels and economic impact are the better measures.
The source data also suggests that brewery tourism should often be treated as part of a broader experiential cluster. Oregon’s brewery visits sit next to self-guided food or beverage trails, distillery visits, and cidery visits (Travel Oregon Visitor Profile 2025 Statewide Report of Findings). That mix implies a traveler may be choosing a beverage-centered itinerary rather than a single venue type.
For comparative work, the safest reading is to avoid reducing brewery tourism to one headline number. Instead, combine visitor participation, brewery density, production volume, and economic impact. That gives you a more realistic picture of where brewery tourism is likely to be a strong travel motivator and where it may simply be one piece of a larger food-and-drink economy.