Data analysts figure out each state’s most ‘sought-after’ beer. Here’s Maine’s

If you’ve spent so much as a half hour on social media over the last five years or so, you probably know that there are legions of researchers and analysts out there digging through all kinds of niche data, apparently, for the purpose of fueling quirky blog posts like this one.

According to Men’s Health magazine, Business Broker Network went through online search results, state-by-state, to figure out first which style of beer people were looking for, then which brand.

Maine came up as one of 10 states where people searched more for India Pale Ales — or IPAs — over any other kind of beer. Our state wasn’t unique in the region: All six New England states had IPAs as the top beer.

But how about our favorite brand (at least, based on our online searches)?

Mainers, who have a lot of local breweries to pick from, went with Portland-based Allagash Brewing Co.

The BDN’s Darren Fishell reported previously that the state now has 90 breweries and counting, and travel website Matador Network picked Portland as the world’s No. 1 “Beer City” because of the tremendous array of beers in Maine’s largest city.

Of course, the beers we search for online aren’t always the beers we’re reaching for at the grocery store. As Darren reported, despite gains made by Allagash and others in terms of in-state sales, Mainers are still drinking a lot of Budweiser.

About half of all the beer sold in Maine can be traced back to corporate giant Anheuser Busch InBev, maker of the aforementioned Bud, Michelob, Rolling Rock and Shock Top, among many others. Nearly 88 percent of all the beer sold in the state is still from an out-of-state producer, so not as many people are drinking the local suds as there are Googling them.

If you’re old enough to buy it, feel free to tell us which beer is your favorite — whether it’s local or not — in the comments below or on Facebook.