Visualizing Beer

I've spent all week wracking my brain trying to figure out something to blog before today. I need to focus on data visualization, and believe me...this girl loves to visualize some data. I love a great infographic. But as I browse through graphs and charts on the great, wide internets, nothing jumps out. I'm totally uninspired. I'm not wired to prattle on about population statistics or unemployment rates or incidents of infectious disease. I'm even looking through my favorite infographics on Good, and I don't want to talk about politics or environmentalism or any of that stuff either. I'm nearing defeat and ready to smack my face on my keyboard when I see this...

Image courtesy of blogs.houstonpress.com

What? Could it be? It’s an infographic about…beer.

I. Love. Beer.

Specifically, I love craft beer. I love quality ingredients and thoughtful brewing methods. Long gone are my days of swilling gallons of cheap yellow canned beer at crowded house parties. I now seek out of the way spots with a great tap selection. I don’t want behemoth national monsterbreweries. I want craft beer. So as I investigated the above map further, I wasn’t totally happy. I realize the map is supposed to represent what folks think of as iconic beers from specific regions, but some of them are downright terrible. I mean Yuengling from PA instead of Victory? Blasphemous.

Just then, the angels started singing, the sky opened up and sun shone down and I found this…

Image courtesy of www.good.is

A map of the country’s best craft beers by state. Now we’re talking. Of course some of you winos and teetotalers may be still scratching your heads thinking…what the hell is craft beer anyway? What’s she going on about? I’ll let Seth and Mike from Beer Nation explain.

So now that you’re surely ready to run out to your local watering hole to grab a craft beer or 12, you may be wondering what to order. And I’d point you to the Style Finder at craftbeer.com. You can search by beer styles and get great recommendations. Once you find a style you like, use this handy guide to branch out to related styles.

Image courtesy of popchartlab.com

Now if you'll excuse me, it's 80 degrees here in Columbus, and there's a patio somewhere with a craft beer waiting.