Where does BrewDensity get its data?

BrewDensity combines data from the Open Brewery DB (brewery locations and details, updated weekly) and US Census Bureau American Community Survey (population, income, education, and age demographics).

How often is BrewDensity updated?

Brewery data is updated weekly every Monday. Census demographics are refreshed annually. All metrics (BDI, BWS, BOS, Market Health) are recalculated after each data update.

What does the Brewery Density Index measure?

The BDI measures the number of active breweries per 100,000 residents in a ZIP code. It allows meaningful comparison between areas regardless of population size.

How is the Walkability Score calculated?

The BWS uses GPS coordinates of breweries to measure clustering (40%), average distance between locations (30%), the longest walkable chain under 0.5 miles (20%), and total brewery count (10%). No external API is used — it's calculated purely from coordinate data.

About BrewDensity & Methodology

BrewDensity provides data-driven craft beer market intelligence at the ZIP code level. We combine publicly available data from multiple sources and transform it into unique, proprietary metrics that help beer enthusiasts explore brewery scenes and entrepreneurs identify market opportunities.

Data Sources

Open Brewery DB

7,823

Active breweries tracked with name, type, location, and coordinates. Updated weekly.

US Census Bureau

4,749

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas with population, income, age, and education data from ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Brewery Density Index (BDI)

The BDI measures how concentrated breweries are relative to population in a given ZIP code.

Formula (Active Breweries ÷ Population) × 100,000

Coverage 4,672 ZIP codes

Rankings National + State + Percentile

BDI ratings range from "Low" (below 1) to "Extremely High" (50+). A BDI of 10 means approximately 1 brewery per 10,000 residents. We calculate both national and state-level rankings and percentiles for each ZIP code.

Brewery Walkability Score (BWS)

The BWS (0–100) measures how easy it is to do a brewery crawl on foot, calculated entirely from GPS coordinates.

Cluster Density (40%) % of breweries within 0.5 mi of another

Proximity (30%) Average Haversine distance between all pairs

Crawl Chain (20%) Longest greedy nearest-neighbor chain <0.5 mi

Count Bonus (10%) More breweries = better crawl potential

BWS requires at least 2 breweries with valid coordinates in a ZIP code. Currently 1,084 ZIP codes have a meaningful walkability score. The distance calculation uses the Haversine formula for accurate great-circle distances.

Brewery Opportunity Score (BOS)

The BOS (0–100) identifies underserved markets with favorable demographics for a new brewery.

Income (23%) Median household income

Demographics (23%) % population aged 25-44

Education (17%) % with bachelor's degree+

Competition (27%) Inverse of current BDI

Market verdicts: High Opportunity (BOS ≥ 60 and BDI below 1.5× state median), Moderate (BOS ≥ 45), Saturated (BDI > 3× state median), or Low. Currently 4,607 ZIP codes have opportunity analysis.

Market Health

Market health tracks active, closed, and planning-stage breweries at the state and city level. States are classified as Growing (openings exceed closures), Stable, or Contracting (closures exceed openings). Brewery status changes are monitored weekly.

Update Frequency

Brewery Data Weekly (Mondays)

Census Data Annually (January)

All Metrics Recalculated weekly

Explore the Data

📊 Brewery Density Index ZIP codes ranked by breweries per capita 🚶 Walkability Score Best brewery crawl neighborhoods 💡 Opportunity Score Where to open a new brewery 📈 Market Health State-by-state brewery trends