# What is the best beer country in the world?

> Per person the Czechs have led the world since 1993; by sheer volume nobody comes close to China. Pick which kind of winning counts.

*By YPB Team · Published September 15, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-beer-country-in-the-world*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Germany** — score 1000/1000
   Home of the 1516 purity law, Oktoberfest and more than a thousand breweries.
2. **Japan** — score 736/1000
   Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo built a precision lager culture, plus a serious craft scene in Tokyo.
3. **Denmark** — score 627/1000
   Carlsberg gave brewing its pure yeast strain and its research laboratory; Mikkeller gave it gypsy brewing.
4. **Austria** — score 579/1000
   Third in the world for beer per person, and the birthplace of the Vienna lager.
5. **Australia** — score 463/1000
   Beer is the national drink, and the cold lager was engineered for the climate.
6. **China** — score 463/1000
   Drinks more beer than any other country, and has done for 22 straight years.
7. **United States** — score 392/1000
   Second in total volume and home to more breweries than any other country, though craft is now contracting.
8. **Ireland** — score 392/1000
   Stout country, fourth in the world for beer per person, and the pub as a cultural export.
9. **United Kingdom** — score 392/1000
   Cask ale, the pub, and the bitter that most of the beer world's vocabulary came from.
10. **Poland** — score 309/1000
   One of Europe's biggest beer markets by volume, with a fast-growing craft sector.
11. **Canada** — score 309/1000
   Molson dates to 1786, and the country drinks its lager cold enough to leave a frost line.
12. **Czech Republic** — score 210/1000
   Invented the pilsner in 1842 and has led the world in beer per person every year since 1993.
13. **Belgium** — score 210/1000
   Its beer culture is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, with roughly 1,500 beers across wild and monastic traditions.
14. **Netherlands** — score 0/1000
   Small country, enormous export machine: Heineken and Amstel pour on every continent.
15. **Mexico** — score 0/1000
   Corona, Modelo and Pacifico turned a lager style borrowed from Austria into a global beach drink.

Tags: europe, drinks, travel, beers