Iowans More Boozy This Year Than Previous Year

Iowans got more boozy this year than in the previous year. Iowa liquor sales were up 4.7 percent from July 2017 through June 2018 according to a story in the Quad City Times.

The most popular made in Iowa spirit for this past year is Templeton Rye’s 4-year-aged rye whiskey. Locally, The Mississippi River Distilling Co. of Scott County was one of the top three Iowa distilleries by market share according to sales. They brought in $700,000 in sales.

Some other interesting facts the Quad City Times mined from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division report:

• More gallons of Vodka were sold than Whiskeys. Just barely. 1.6 million gallons of vodkas were sold. 1.5 million gallons of whiskeys were sold.
• The top whiskey in the state is Black Velvet Canadian Whisky.
• Beer consumption was down two percent by gallons of beer sold, but craft beer sales increased 11 percent.
• Wine sales were more or less flat, however people bought less Iowa made wines.

What does all this mean? If you're serious about your liquor or craft beer, a trip to some of Iowas breweries and distilleries is in order. It may also mean I'm conducting a tour of some of Iowas finer distilleries and breweries with my friends Bill, Tom, Chris, Dave, David and Steve. I'm sure these Chicago boys will enjoy the adult beverages our state has to offer. Now Quad City Pizza, that may prove to be a harder sell.