Wisconsin has long had a reputation as one of America’s heaviest-drinking states, and by several modern measures that reputation is at least partly deserved. Current public health data show the state remains above the national average for excessive drinking, while the culture surrounding alcohol in Wisconsin has also been unusually public, social and deeply woven into daily life.

That helps explain why the question is more complicated than whether Wisconsinites simply consume more alcohol than everyone else. The better answer is that Wisconsin built a culture in which beer, brandy, taverns, fish fries, supper clubs and public drinking spaces became normal parts of community life in ways that did not happen everywhere else.