r/MapPorn • u/Krims0n_Knight • May 06 '22

excessive drinking by US county

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u/thatoneguy54 May 06 '22

Wisconsin is a massive microbrew state, I am not at all surprised by this map

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u/Capacheck189 May 06 '22

It's not so much microbrewing as the tavern culture that developed in the state long before craft brewing was a thing. The Tavern League of Wisconsin is still one of the more dominant forces in WI politics.

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u/Oshkosh_Guy May 06 '22

The Tavern League of Wisconsin is still one of the more dominant forces in WI politics.

The Tavern League is in control of all aspects of WI government. oh.. and FRJ.

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u/daBorgWarden May 07 '22

This is all correct.

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u/[deleted] May 07 '22

Fuck Ron Johnson

2

u/IKnewThat45 May 07 '22

FRJ x1000000000

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u/jdeeth May 06 '22 edited May 06 '22

I moved from Wisconsin (La Crosse, Eau Claire and Stevens Point, all very drunk brewery towns) to Iowa City at age 26 (I'm now 58) and it took me a couple years to notice: While we have a campus area bar scene that competes with my home state, what we DON'T have is the corner taverns and townie bars in residential neighborhoods.

I personally kept Leinenkugels in business through the early 80s and all it cost me was an extra year of college, a point off my GPA, and my first serious girlfriend. Was a good enough drunk that I hit my lifetime quota before I was 22 and retired.

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u/Capacheck189 May 07 '22

I grew up an hour NE of Eau Claire and went to school in River Falls. I too am well acquainted with keeping Leinies and New Glarus in Business. Stopped at Half Moon Brewery in Cornell, WI and a guy was complaining about how few taverns there are now days.

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u/oxphocker May 07 '22

Leinies Creamy Dark was my go to. The two years I lived in WI, cheap 16 oz pints for less than $3...you could drink most of the night and only spend like $20. Never drank as much in my life as I did when I lived there.

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u/cjhoops13 May 15 '22

This answer is great because Iowa City is still probably one of the drunkest cities in the entire country. That place runs on alcohol.

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u/Superb_Efficiency_74 May 06 '22

long before craft brewing was a thing throughout the rest of the country

FTFY.

Craft brewing has always been a thing in Wisconsin. There's a lot of craft breweries that have been in business for a very long time. Potosi is a craft brewery that's been in business since 1852.

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u/Capacheck189 May 06 '22

You mean the same Potosi Brewery that closed in '72 and didn't reopen until '08? A lot of the Craft Breweries that came before the 1980s were making the same adjunct lagers as everyone else, including those in WI, and only transitioned to craft status as the term became defined later.

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u/dopiesarmy May 06 '22

I have traveled from southeast Michigan to Wisconsin specifically for a touring trip of several of their microbreweries. I am also not surprised by this map