Map of U.S. beer breweries per capita. What this graphic doesn't mention is that a vast majority of U.S. hops are grown in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. I also wonder if the northern half of the contiguous United States is more economical for fermenting lagers (and fermenting in general) and hence skews the density towards a certain climate range. Regardless, the south has some catching up to do.
Not only hops, but a majority of barley production is in the northern central and western United States:
Perhaps being close to the raw materials is what made those places the ideal birthplace of the U.S. brewing industry. That probably led to more favorable laws being put in place early on, which further aided the industry.
I'd say in today's environment, with greater ease of shipping, it's the old laws that hold the South back. Beer still has a stigma around here, and lawmakers can't see past the American Standard. Most of those people probably think a Belgian Tripel is a three-base hit by Brian Lesher.
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It was nice to see that my home turf of Vermont has the most breweries per capita. Of course with less than a million people (ranked 49th in population) that somewhat skews the data.