new hampshire beer Evan Cote and Heather Roberge are the co-owners of Barb's Beer Emporium in Londonderry, NH. (Photo by Bernice Corpuz)

LONDONDERRY, N.H. (CBS) – The state of New Hampshire has a special distinction that it may not want.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Bernice Corpuz reports

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New research from the Washington lobbying group The Beer Institute claims New Hampshire sold 43 gallons of beer for every person of legal drinking age last year.

That’s far beyond the national average of 28-gallons per person.

And this is nothing new.

The institute says New Hampshire has had the nation’s highest per capita sales rate in four of the last five years.

It’s likely pushed higher by tourists and people from Massachusetts crossing the border to buy beer.

Evan Cote and Heather Roberge, the co-owners of Barb’s Beer Emporium in Londonderry say many of their customers come from out of state.

“Especially in the warmer months for hiking, biking, camping, that sort of thing,” Cote told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.

“There’s no tax on beer and no bottle deposit, which there is in Massachusetts, so that’s very attractive to people that come to New Hampshire and they tend to come here and stock up,” Roberge said.

New Hampshire does charge a 30-cent tax for every gallon of beer sold by wholesale distributors and manufacturers.