ASHEVILLE, N.C., May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An independent beer movement is brewing. Over the past month, more than 16,000 craft beer enthusiasts from 46 countries cast votes for "Beer City USA" in an online poll posted by founder of the American Homebrewers Association Charlie Papazian on Examiner.com. With roughly 30% of the votes each, the top honor of Beer City USA was ultimately split between two cities - Portland, Oregon on the west coast (an epicenter of American brew culture with more than 30 breweries) and, unexpected underdog, Asheville, North Carolina on the east coast (a smaller, but zealous, brew culture with more breweries per capita than any U.S. city).
Hundreds of heated blog comments, campaigning via Twitter and Facebook, and multitude off-shoot blog posts fueled the best beer city debate in advance of American Craft Beer Week, May 11 - 17, a national celebration highlighting the culture and contributions of craft beer.