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TheFinestPotatoes t1_ivke6ao wrote

Are we sure this isn’t just Massachusetts residents buying tax free liquor?

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DameKumquat t1_ivketpl wrote

Ah! I was thinking "I've heard NH is the state most like England, but this seems extreme", but that would make more sense.

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TheFinestPotatoes t1_ivkffd3 wrote

Everyone in northern Massachusetts does their shopping in New Hampshire. There’s no toll and a ten minute drive can save you hundreds of dollars when you’re buying computers, iPhones, TVs, etc

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DameKumquat t1_ivkfnub wrote

Is that no sales tax in NH then, or lower booze taxes too?

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SkiMWV t1_ivmb3fs wrote

It's complicated.

The state of NH sells hard liquor and wine directly through state liquor outlets. And there is no sales tax. Usually this results in lower prices but less variety for liquor compared to Massachusetts.

There is no sales tax on alcohol in MA, but there is a per-gallon excise tax. NH has so sales tax at all, but does charge an 8% "mark up fee" on private beer and wine sales. Private hard alcohol sales are forbidden. Because of the differing fee structures, whether MA or NH is cheaper varies on the price and volume of the product. Sticking apples to apples, I have found the Costco in MA sells wine cheaper than the same product in their NH store.

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forrealz42 t1_ivkgtum wrote

Probably both. Also, the lengths people will go to not to pay the deposit on their bottles. There are massive liquor stores right across the state line.

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anonymous_pro_ t1_ivmqvaf wrote

Lived in northern Massachusetts. Can attest this is what's going on. There's literally liquor stores all along the border set up to capture this market.

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Accurate_Koala_4698 t1_ivlqknx wrote

First thing you see when you cross the MA->NH is the state liquor store. MA is the biggest proportion, but I know people in southern Maine who do it too. I’m sure some Vermonters do too

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bussyluv t1_ivm0d1f wrote

Mainers head down to stock up on Alan’s coffee brandy. It’s a wicked bahgan.

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snakalope t1_ivnq80r wrote

Has to be more to it than that.

DE has no sales tax either and has has Philadelphia and Washington DC pretty close.

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surreal_mash t1_ivko0vf wrote

“Utah has the lowest consumption… most likely attributed to 60% of residents being Mormons, who don’t consume any alcohol.” (FTFY)

Excluding that 60%, Utah’s average would be ~3.3 gallons per capita, which appears to be on-par with neighboring states.

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Micky__B t1_ivkuvcf wrote

As a non-Mormon person who lives in Utah, this is correct. There aren’t many of us but those of us who aren’t Mormon are pretty typical in these regards compared to our neighboring states

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Charming_Scratch_538 t1_ivk9u0s wrote

I bet if you broke the UP away from the lower peninsula of Michigan it would be a loooooot darker blue up there.

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HarleyRacist t1_ivltk46 wrote

Eat, drink, and be merry

For tomorrow, you may be in Utah

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BlisterBox t1_ivkg9n2 wrote

I was visiting Salt Lake City several years ago and I was looking for a place to meet a friend for a drink. I went in a convenience store and asked the clerk where the nearest bar was and he looked at me like I'd pulled a gun on him.

Also in Utah: I was staying at Arches National Park, and was having dinner one evening in the lodge restaurant. It was a Sunday evening and a group of German almost rioted when they found out they couldn't buy beer on Sunday.

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cic9000 t1_ivny5m9 wrote

You can’t buy beer on a Sunday? German beer riots used to be serious business btw: 20 people died in riots 1873 because beer prices were set to be raised in Frankfurt.

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Juri57 t1_ivo30k5 wrote

i life in germany and i can confirm this is exactly what germans are like

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PlagueCini t1_ivmv8vn wrote

Damn, even beer? In SC, you can’t buy liquor on Sundays, but you can consume it at a restaurant or other business. Beer and wine were fine.

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AbsentThatDay t1_ivmfz2z wrote

New Hampshire drank 4.76 gallons of alcohol...more than double the goal set for the United States.

Who sets the national alcohol goals? Is there a committee, can I be on it?

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PlagueCini t1_ivmvarl wrote

I think…the goal should be 0.5 gallons. But yknow. Good luck

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LeftSocksOnly t1_ivl97or wrote

Before I saw the comments I was really concerned for New Hampshire

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maugust09 t1_ivkaatn wrote

Go figure that alcohol consumption is higher in places with nothing to do or are fairly cold lol

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Meepzors t1_ivmsi9z wrote

I question these numbers. 4.76 gal = 18000ml of alcohol. That's like 60 45 liters of vodka a year? So 1.2 full bottles almost a bottle of vodka per capita per week? Assuming it's beer, 5% alcohol 12oz = 350ml cans, that's 1000 beers a year or about 3 a day? Per capita? That can't be right... Can it?

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snakalope t1_ivnr5i2 wrote

I highly doubt the chart is counting the content of alcohol in the drinks consumed. It's most likely just counting how large the sales of alcoholic beverages are, no matter if it's 5% beer or 98% everclear.

An average of 4.76 gallons worth of alcoholic beverages per person in NH. May make it seem low, but NH only has a population of about 1.3mil, whereas PA with lower sales per person has more than 10x the population.

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SomethingMoreToSay t1_ivnr7cr wrote

>I question these numbers. 4.76 gal = 18000ml of alcohol.

Others have pointed out that the figures for NH are distorted by residents from MA and elsewhere crossing into NH to buy alcohol.

The nationwide average of 2.35 gallons is more interesting though. That's 8.9 litres per person, and Wikipedia says that's not very much by European standards. Many European countries average over 12 litres per person.

Even 12 litres seems a lot to me. A typical bottle of wine (750ml, 12-13% abv) has ~100ml of alcohol, so that's 120 bottles of wine per year or one every 3 days. Or with your 350ml 5% beer, that's 17.5ml of alcohol per can, so that's nearly 700 cans per year, or 13 cans per week. To my mind these are high as averages. But I guess the distribution has a long, heavy tail. I imagine that if we looked at the median or the mode, the numbers would be more relatable.

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TheSwazzer t1_ivlt1td wrote

So the US alcohol capital Wisconsin was a lie the whole time

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greg1124 t1_ivmug54 wrote

There’s just less alcohol in a miller lite…

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snakysnakesnake t1_ivn7704 wrote

Okay now overlay this with the life expectancy map. Beer: it’s good for your health (Guinness)

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mooninuranus t1_ivqakjn wrote

a gallon is 4 litres, or 8 pints more or less.

So that’s 32 pints a year, which is just over 1/2 a week.
That average must mean the vast majority of the US is virtually tea total.

Either this chart is utter, utter bullshit or I am completely misunderstanding it.

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snakysnakesnake t1_ivqyf98 wrote

Oh well I hadn’t gone and actually read the chart haha. Maybe they’re counting children?

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alephnul t1_ivkaxz7 wrote

Whose goal are we talking about? Why should I care about a goal that someone else set? Fuck their goal. My goal is to drink just as much alcohol as I feel like.

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back-that-sass-up t1_ivnk7an wrote

SNHU, UNH, and Dartmouth are really doing some heavy lifting here, huh?

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rabidstatistician t1_ivknkdd wrote

Devout members of the LDS church (Mormons) don't drink alcohol. Utah having a larger population of members brings down per capita consumption

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Madd_Mo t1_ivmpcra wrote

Looking at my 5 gallon water jug and thinking someone is drinking this much ethanol every year, livers are op man lol. Thank god i dont drink a lot

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igetweird t1_ivn5x3w wrote

What’s the deal with mountain states having heavier alcohol consumption?

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97203micah t1_ivn6tb1 wrote

Live free and die - NH motto

(Yes I understand that the map uses sales and not consumption)

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Stoo_Pedassol t1_ivna2z3 wrote

Florida is a lot lower than I expected.

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tbearrrrr t1_ivnmbmm wrote

The south is brewing up their own moonshine

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broderickvonhammer t1_ivnnmjl wrote

Gallons per year is a very odd unit for reporting usage statistics.

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ScienceOverNonsense t1_ivn3va8 wrote

Also, it’s harder to buy alcohol in Utah because of restrictive sales practices. This (and a desire not to be seen buying alcohol in one’s community, creates an incentive to purchase out of state and bring it back, lowering in-state sales, the opposite of New Hampshire.

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