Huckleberries Online

Idaho Beer Drinking Ranks 31st

Posted by DFO

March 10, 2009 12:20 p.m. • 47 comments

For those keeping score at home, Idahoans rank 31st in national beer consumption. This, according to Beer Nut blogger Patrick Orr/Idaho Statesman. Seems Patrick discovered that nugger in the state-by-state drinking list of the Beer Institute while doing research for his beer column. Idahoans drink about 30.7 gallons of beer a year, placing us in the lower half of imbibers in the U.S. Not surprisingly, Patrick continued, Utahns drink the least amount of beer in the U.S. — an average of about 21.1 gallons of beer a year. The thirstiest state is North Dakota, whose residents drink an average of 45.3 gallons a year, followed by New Hampshire, at 43 gallons per person per year, and Nevada, at 42 gallons.

Question: Do you drink more or less beer than the Idaho state average of 30.7 gallons per year?

47 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Bent on March 10 at 12:36 p.m.
You know what is strange about NorthDakota beer drinkers? They actually put those big green martini olives in their BEER!

I was in Grand Forks on business a couple of years ago and went out for a beer and nearly every person in the bar had green olives in their beer…

I have no idea why they did it. I’ve never seen anything like it…. Strange people those North Dakotans are.
moscow_minidoka on March 10 at 12:41 p.m.
More. Absolutely more.
hhuseland on March 10 at 12:45 p.m.
It isn’t a mystery why North Dakota ranks up there. Ever wintered in that state?
florined on March 10 at 1:25 p.m.
Sorry, I confess I’m not doing my share. I dedicated extensive, concerted effort to trying to like beer when I was in school in a “dry” state, but it just didn’t work. Moving to Idaho freed me of several burdens.
legaleagle on March 10 at 1:35 p.m.
Obviously I need to pick up the pace!!!!
toadman on March 10 at 1:48 p.m.
Hmmm….Texas ranks number 2. I grew up in Texas, and I like beer. Maybe there’s a correlation? Or maybe it’s just that in Texas, you can get beer at DRIVE THROUGH BEER BARNS, and you can SMOKE in a BAR (because we all know people go to bars to engage in HEALTHY activities, right?), and you can TAKE YOUR UNDER 21 KID TO A BAR OR CLUB to see a concert or something (not that most people would, mind you)!!! unlike here in WA. I know it’s not very liberal of me to think some of these WA laws are odd, but I just do…

I remember being descended upon by no less than three different employees at the Steam Plant in downtown Spokane because I carried my two year old up to the downstairs bar (OH THE HUMANITY!!!!) to get a napkin for his snotty nose. I’m sure he was damaged for life for being SO NEAR THE LEGAL SALE OF ALCOHOL, because LORD KNOWS nothing like that happens in PEOPLE’S HOMES!

heh….sorry…it’s just weird…like the whole “beer gardens” thing. In Texas, at an event similar to, say, “Pig Out In The Park” in Spokane, one could get a beer, and WALK AROUND with it…but NOOOO, not here.. one must remain safely behind the ropes until the offending beverage is consumed. I’m still not sure why. Soon after we moved here, I remember purchasing a beverage at such an event and trying to walk out of the rope, and being stopped. I had to stand on one side of the rope, while my family stood on the other and watched me drink my DEVIL DRINK! It was stooooopid. I drank half of it, and poured the rest out in disgust.

You know, you all know, I’m a dyed in the wool socialist liberal anti-corporate pig of the highest order…but I still find these laws strange, and actually somewhat naive.
Cabbage Boy on March 10 at 1:49 p.m.
Way to go ND!

Dunno about the olive thing Bent. Perhaps it is like the Idahoans putting limes in their beer. Fresh fruit is hard to come by in the likes of a ND winter, so olives may have to suffice.

Ask someone from Mexico why he uses a lime with his beer. I guarantee you, it isn’t for the taste.
KeithErickson on March 10 at 2:00 p.m.
Bent, My first newspaper job out of college in 1987 was in the tiny town of White Salmon, Washington, across the Columbia River from Hood River, Oregon. There was a bar my wife and I frequented in White Salmon that put green olives in their beer. Never seen it since. I actually grew quite fond of the practice during our short stay before moving on. Response to Dave’s question. Back in the day way, way more.
trishgannon on March 10 at 2:16 p.m.
are you sure that’s a year? not a month?
Transplanted_Texan on March 10 at 2:32 p.m.
Toad, good stuff.

I probably drink about that number - maybe a little more, but I doubt it, half a gallon a week seems right. That’s what, 3-4 bottles? But, I do prefer whiskey. And yes, mom, I’m saying that publicly.
Transplanted_Texan on March 10 at 2:34 p.m.
Yay New Hampshire.
Cindy_H on March 10 at 2:37 p.m.
((Toad)) I love you beer rant.
Front page stuff :-)

Um. CB.. a Corona without lime is well…kinda…blah…
Guess, I see your point.
cantyoureadthesigns on March 10 at 2:37 p.m.
Hmmmm, that works out about two, 40 ouncers a week, or a little more than a 6 pack per week. Since most LDSers don’t drink, the rest of ya’ll have to make up for that… Keep it up!

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
Cabbage Boy on March 10 at 2:56 p.m.
The lime is used in Mexico to clean the rim of the bottle, killing any little remnants of Montezuma from the ice.

Very important to fit in when traveling abroad.
keithincda on March 10 at 3:23 p.m.
Actually if you want to fit in Mexico and do what the natives do, you use your napkin to wipe the mouth of the bottle, then you put the lime in. There are very very few places anymore that have ice made from unfiltered water.
Cabbage Boy on March 10 at 3:59 p.m.
Keith, would be an improvement I am sure, but I was merely offering the info on why limes where served with Coronas. The crazy Gringos thought the Mexican’s had a secret regarding their beer and imitated it. Now Bud makes a lime beer….
Bent on March 10 at 4:00 p.m.
“Ask someone from Mexico why he uses a lime with his beer.”

In my extensive research into the making of beer I have come across many explainations for this. I have heard that one Cabbage, but the one most (albiet american brewers) agree upon is that the lime is used to deter flies from landing on the rim of a glass or bottle neck.

It is not intended to flavor the beer…
Cabbage Boy on March 10 at 4:17 p.m.
Hmm, I wouldn’t see that being a potential problem, but then not everyone keeps their lips pressed to the rim like I do.
hmoffsuite on March 10 at 4:30 p.m.
Keithincda >>> “There are very very few places anymore that have ice made from unfiltered water”

At least that is what they tell ya’ !
Digger on March 10 at 6:44 p.m.
I usually drink about (6), 12oz glasses of beer once every three months. It is usually in one sitting at the Korner Klub and its done while I’m at the Korner Klub discussing the politics of the day with the city council president.
Stickman on March 10 at 8:09 p.m.
I have to admit, I do enjoy a few beers from now and then. Mostly to keep me warm on these very cold nights, like tonight when I was out there for a few hours doing what I do best, making sticks, as I am every night. I love Corona, but never with any fruit. I love it just the way it is. And Stella, when I can afford it. The rest, usually Kokanee or St. Paulies Girl, if I have that right. But, for a very true taste, and one that has intrigued me of late, Bent’s brew has to take the cake. Whatever that means. If you like a delicious brew once in awhile, then you will have to come to the next little brewfest, or blogfest, at my humble abode and try Bent’s nectar of the Gods. He definitely has the taste and the passion of what it takes to make a great glass of brew. Maybe we will see you this spring, for a taste or two. I may have to find a few more chairs, as his status in the world of beer has grown considerably. I look forward to any and all visits. As always.
Escapee on March 10 at 8:39 p.m.
Now that I’m on meds (what, me worry?), I can’t drink. And other than a bottle and a half of O’Doul’s non-alcoholic beer a couple years ago, I haven’t tasted beer since about 1995…but before that, I did more than my share to see that the Beer Companies stayed in business. Plus, at karaoke, I found the More I drank, the better I sang. (yeah, rrrrright…)
Escapee on March 10 at 8:41 p.m.
This thread brings to mind an old song: “In Heaven There Is No Beer…That’s Why We Drink It Here”. Glug…
Transplanted_Texan on March 10 at 8:49 p.m.
“And when we’re gone from here, our friends will be drinking all the beer!”

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.