I'm an American and I've heard multiple times that Wisconsinites drink a lot. I've also seen the statistics that indicate that the counties that consume the most alchol are mostly in Wisconsin.

I've never been so I wanted to ask, how true is this? If it is true, is there a reason?


22 comments

  2. Winter excuse of ‘keeping warm’ ; ‘being social’; ‘21 birthdays: cheaper for lower class/middle class to ‘throw’ a party than ‘give’ a new house to their child/friend.

  3. Drinking culture is just so ingrained here. Any event that can’t legally have alcohol will, and most of those that legally can’t still will. Booze is an extremely common gift especially if given to someone you don’t intimately know like a family member. It’s something too many are proud of but I’ve stopped doing the alcohol as a gift a few years ago because it’s just so much and everywhere.

  6. Of the top 50 drunkest counties in the USA, 41 of them are in Wisconsin. And those from Wisconsin are pretty proud of that fact.

  7. There’s a lot of pride in being able to drink a lot here. It’s kind of like a state full of frat boys. As others have said, it’s ingrained in our culture. Nearly every activity has alcohol – BBQs, church festivals, even toddlers’ birthday parties. Our laws are more lax than other states. A minor can legally drink in a bar when accompanied by their parent or guardian and until I was in college, your first drunk driving was basically a moving violation with a fine of like $60. Binge drinking is defined as 4 or more drinks in one sitting for women and 5 or more for men. A study found that in Wisconsin, adults who binge drink consume an average of 7 or more drinks in a sitting. We also have one of the lowest alcohol tax rates in the nation and apparently our beer tax hasn’t increased since 1969.

  9. Very true even though I never set foot there. My friend’s a fellow Hispanic/latino ,who just happened to grew up in WI when he was younger. Dude put em away like he had 2 livers! Drinking is just heavily ingrained in the culture there.

  10. 100% true. Based on what I hear about places like the UK’s drinking culture, we’re the people who could potentially keep up.

    It’s not something I’d brag about anymore. Boozing all the time is bad, no shit. I’ve had issues with overdoing it and it can fuck up your life quick.

    Our baseball team is called the Brewers. ‘Nuff said

  12. Wisconsin is the end result of a bunch of Germans and Nordics being run through the genetic blender. Combine that with the fact that it’s too cold to do anything else for half the year.

  13. My very first time in Wisconsin, I walked into my hotel lobby to find 10-12 people getting absolutely plastered while they watched the Badgers game. That was when I realized that all the rumors were true. I’ve also never seen so many bars in my life.

    I just applied for a job in Madison, so it’ll be interesting to see how that will all work out with me being a teetotaler (if I even get the job).

  14. > how true is this?

    It’s pretty true.

    Alcohol is cheap, plentiful, and socially accepted at any event.

    [Lewis Black did a bit on drinking in Wisconsin, once.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WlwumGkSec)

    > If it is true, is there a reason?

    Lots of Germans early on, bring that drink all day mentality.

    [Milwaukee was/is home to a crazy number of breweries.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Milwaukee)

    People don’t care how much you drink, typically, they just care how well you carry yourself while doing it.

    And as a social collective; we don’t bat an eye about putting away a 6-pack on a weeknight.

  15. Midwest drinking is a whole nother level from anything i experienced on the East or West coast.

  16. You know how the NRA controls our gun culture in the US? That’s the Wisconsin Tavern League when it comes to drinking.

  17. Yeah, we’re kind of brought up with it. As others have mentioned, it’s common to have alcohol present at baby showers and kids birthdays for the adults.

    South east Wisconsin we have frequent church festivals in the Summer that serve beer even.

  18. I’m not sure if this is true anymore, But if you were with a patent or guardian, you could drink at 16 years old in bars in Wisconsin.

  20. Yes, drinking is absolutely a part of our culture, but I think it is much more nuanced than you might think. As others have posted, there is little shame about drinking in this state, especially among young men. We may be OVERREPORTING our alcohol consumption while other states are underreporting. Objective measures of drunkenness don’t support a simple “Wisconsin is a bunch of drunks” situation. For example, Wisconsin is ranked 26th on this chart of drunk driving fatalities: [Worst States For Drunk Driving In 2024 – Forbes Advisor](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/worst-states-for-drunk-driving/)

    What about another expected consequence – cirrhosis of the liver? The CDC puts Wisconsin at the lowest rate: [Stats of the States – Chronic Liver Disease/Cirrhosis (cdc.gov)](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/liver_disease_mortality/liver_disease.htm)

    I think people are overlooking the CULTURE part of drinking culture. My father was a fast-pitch softball player, and I remember how much we loved going to the bar after the game. The kids ran around out back, begged their parents for money for the juke box, and pleaded with the bartender to let us operate the hose that dispensed Orange Crush. When I grew up I played on softball and volleyball teams that were sponsored by bars. I’m an old woman now and don’t have more than 5 drinks per year, but back then I was a totally normal drinker. One bar we played for sponsored over 20 softball teams, and the bar was where we hung out with friends, met guys, danced, listened to music, played cards, etc. If we had a 6:00 game we would be at the bar from 7:30 to closing time. Is having 4 drinks over that period of time really binge drinking?

    Sometimes I think Wisconsin is just the northern cousin of Louisianna – we both live by the laissez les bon temps rouler philosophy and have accepted drinking and eating unhealthy food as part of living a good life (although we can only DREAM of having Louisianna’s food).

  21. I was at a 1 year olds birthday party in Milwaukee and three different people brought coolers of beer.

    I had never seen that before.

  22. The joke answer is that the state motto should be way too cold to be sober.
    Other answers gave you the real one already, just cultural and it got large enough that the alcohol industry wields considerable influence on the state.

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