UPDATE: Check out our new 2023 Best Cities to Live in the U.S. list.
#2. Denver
By nearly every measure, from premium beer consumption to the number of breweries a city has, Denver, CO, comes out a mile above the competition, earning one the top spots as a best beer city in America.
Denver’s modern beer scene began in 1988, when the Wynkoop Brewing Company opened for business and became the city’s first brewpub. Former Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, and current Colorado Governor, was a co-founder. In the years that followed, craft breweries and brewpubs began to occupy many downtown buildings, creating what today has become, quite simply, the best beer walk in the country. Starting on Blake Street, a beer lover could easily reach 20 breweries and pubs on foot. That’s depending, of course, on how many stops you make along the way. And between these breweries lie an assortment of restaurants, many of which serve, you guessed it, local brews.
Hundreds of brewers and thousands of drinkers descend on Denver each year for the Great American Beer Festival, where many of the nation’s great beers are discovered by the masses. But the thing about living in Denver is every day is a beer fest. From Breckenridge Brewery to Great Divide Brewing Company, Euclid Hall Bar and Kitchen, Vine Street Pub and Brewery, and Denver Beer Co., there’s always a new brew waiting to be tasted.
Denver residents, as a whole, consume beer more frequently than the average American and prefer craft brews and imports over mass-produced domestics. Denver’s recreation and entertainment offerings pair well with beer. Sports fans can sip suds while watching the Denver Broncos or Colorado Rockies play. An assortment of hiking and biking trails in and around Denver all seem to somehow lead back to a pub.