The US craft beer movement exploded in the 1990s and, since then, the number of breweries creating exceptional drinks has skyrocketed. There are now nearly 10,000, ranging from beautiful breweries surrounded by farmland to no-frills industrial spots and urban warehouses serving amazing food. Small-scale brewing is all about innovation, resulting in an array of styles with fruity, hoppy, smoky, and sour notes to suit all tastes – and we've hunted down the best places to try them in every state.
Click or scroll on to discover the country's greatest craft breweries for good times and delicious drinks.
Our selections are based on genuine user reviews, awards and accolades, and the first-hand experience of our team. They're also regularly checked and updated.
The first brewery on Birmingham’s now bustling craft beer scene, Good People Brewing Company has a taproom that's right in the heart of the action alongside the barrels and brew stills. The flagship IPA – refreshing, unfiltered, and hoppy – is a must-try. The brewery also serves some tasty Korean fast food from the visiting HotBox food truck, perfectly complementing the beers.
Marcy and Geoff Larson opened Alaskan Brewing Co. in 1986, making it the first brewery in Juneau since Prohibition. The beers follow the tradition of those produced during the Gold Rush, when Alaskan prospectors set up their own breweries because imports to remote Alaska weren’t possible. The destination spot is open all year round, and its Amber Ale, Smoked Porter, and IPAs have won multiple awards. Order a beer flight and you can try them all.
In an industrial estate in the Norterra area of Northern Phoenix, you’ll find unassuming, family-owned Front Pourch Brewing. Its taproom is designed to look like a cozy front porch, complete with rocking chairs. Try the Toasty Blonde Ale, the company’s first beer, with a malty sweetness and light hop profile. There's no food menu, but the brewery regularly hosts local food trucks serving everything from tacos to spicy noodles.
Named after the historic forest in Arkansas' Calhoun County, hip Lost Forty Brewing says it aims to craft beers 'as unwavering, wild, and uniquely Arkansas as the land itself.' The brewery achieves that with highly rated pours such as Love Honey Bock, a creamy, sweet, toasty tipple, and the effervescent and tart 2nd Rodeo Lemon Radler. There's also a full food menu with sandwiches, burgers, and bar snacks, as well as a range of fruity hard seltzers made in house.
Though there are hundreds of craft breweries across California, Sierra Nevada is arguably the most important, having pioneered the modern IPA movement. It's been experimenting with citrusy hops since it opened in the 1980s. The swanky premises include a bar and taproom, the latter being the place to sample its wide variety of brews from dark stouts to light, effervescent lagers. The brewery tours also come highly recommended, as does the fantastic farm-to-table food menu.
One of the most decorated breweries in America, Great Divide Brewing Co. in Downtown Denver has 19 Great American Beer Festival medals and five World Beer Cup awards for its bold but balanced brews. The most prolific winners are the crisp and hoppy Titan IPA and Yeti Imperial Stout, which has malty, caramel notes – though they're all great. Work your way through its selection in the intimate indoor tasting room, or take a growler to-go. The brewery also has several taprooms around the city, including one at Denver Airport.
Located in the picturesque Connecticut countryside, Fox Farm Brewery was a dairy farm before it became one of the most beloved breweries in the US. You can enjoy a beverage in a quiet corner of the grounds, soaking up the glorious surroundings. Customers love the half pours, which allow you to enjoy more of its German-inspired lagers, classic ales, and farmhouse beers. The draft list at this hidden jewel is constantly updated, but expect tasty brews like Quiet Life, a Czech-style pale lager, and Ashlawn, a rich and chocolatey coffee stout.
Fans of Dogfish Head absolutely need to visit its brewery in Milton. The busy spot, which was previously a cannery, has a tasting room and kitchen, indoor and outdoor seating, and tours throughout the day. Customers love that the draft options include brand classics, limited-edition flavors, and brews you can only buy at this location.
A visit to Florida Keys Brewing in Islamorada’s Arts and Cultural District is a real event. The microbrewery has a buzzing beer garden attached to the tasting room with live music, a food truck, hula hoops, and games like Giant Jenga. There are around 20 beers on tap. The Iguana Bait, an ale brewed with hibiscus and local honey, is a top choice for those who like smooth, blonde, non-bitter beers.
Within one year of its opening in 2016, Scofflaw Brewing Company tripled its fermentation capacity, making it one of the fastest growing breweries in the USA. It’s known for its Basement IPA, a juicy pale ale packed with floral citra hops. You can also get mixed cocktails and hard seltzers on tap – but beer lovers should order a flight to try as many of the wonderful brews as possible.
Founded by a father and son in 1994, Kona Brewing Co.'s easy drinking and light craft beers have achieved global recognition, with stand-out styles like Longboard Island Lager and Big Wave Golden Ale. The original Kona Brewery is still operating in Kailua-Kona, alongside a new 30,000-square-foot (2,787sqm) factory extension, and you can taste a variety of beers in the taproom next door. There's also an outpost on the island of Oahu, and all locations serve up delicious food, including poke bowls and freshly made pizzas.
The best brewery in Idaho is Daft Badger Brewing, a small-scale spot with a real neighborhood feel. It has great hot weather beers, such as Blood Orange IPA and the Hoppypotamus pale ale, and the food menu is impressive too. Check out the signature crispy bacon appetizer, served in a pint glass, and the huge helping of pulled pork nachos.
Drive into the beautiful woods and rolling hills of southern Illinois and you’ll reach Scratch Brewing Company. This gorgeous spot offers a unique selection of rotating beers brewed from foraged ingredients, such as basil ale, fennel stout, and rye saison. Take a seat at one of the outdoor tables and you’ll feel truly at one with nature.
Metazoa Brewing Co. produces highly rated traditional ales alongside experimental tipples, though it's the vibe and ethos of the place that really wins fans. People love that the taproom is pet friendly, and that the brewery donates 5% of its profits to animals and wildlife. Events such as dog breed meetups and game nights only add to the brewery's charms.
Tiny, self-proclaimed 'nano brewery' Jubeck New World Brewing loves to experiment with new and seasonal recipes. The cozy spot has 10 taps, which are in constant rotation and often include fun, floral, and fruity options like Apricot IPA and Lavender Honey Wheat Ale. To soak up all that tasty beer, the brewery serves up fantastic pizzas, hearty sandwiches, and house-made pretzel sticks.
Kansas locals know the industrial Defiance Brewing Co. is the best microbrewery around. It crafts delicious and creative renditions of pretty much every beer style you could imagine, from IPAs and coffee ales to wheat beers and fruity sours. The brewery taproom is wildly popular, while the downtown outpost has a relaxed, family-friendly vibe, with a huge food menu featuring loaded burgers, pizzas, and wraps. Look out for the alcoholic slushies in the summer too.
Braxton Brewing Company is one of the younger breweries on the list, having opened in 2015, but it quickly gained a reputation thanks to its warm atmosphere and huge range of wonderful craft beverages. As well as the original brewery taproom and its popular rooftop bar in downtown Covington, the brewery has locations in Fort Mitchell, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Cincinnati, Ohio. Storm, a light-tasting cream ale, is a favorite among customers wanting to stay for a few. The covered igloos at the Covington location are popular in winter too.
You’ll find Abita Brewing Company tucked among pine trees to the north of New Orleans, and it's been crafting full-flavored ales and lagers with Abita Spring water since 1986. Visitors say the number of draft options makes this like a beer drinker’s candy store, while favorites such as Purple Haze – a tart raspberry-flavored brew – taste fresher on tap.
Brewpub Allagash Brewing Company is famous for its signature Allagash White, a Belgian-style wheat beer infused with citrus and spice. There are also some delicious wild, sour, barrel-aged, and spontaneously fermented beers to check out as well. The brewery has won awards at the Great American Beer Festival, while its founder Rob Tod has a James Beard Award.
Nothing about Ministry of Brewing is conventional. For starters, its beautiful location is a restored Catholic church. Plus, its beer selection is always rotating – and pretty much always packs an alcoholic punch. Past favorites have included Imperial Wispy (a hazy pale ale), Boujie (a chocolate stout), and 9.9 Problems (an Imperial Stout, named for its ABV).
There’s some debate in the craft beer community over whether or not Samuel Adams counts as a true craft brewery due to its size, but the company is undeniably iconic. The place where Samuel Adams began, Samuel Adams Boston Brewery in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, is now the brand's hub for innovation, research, and development. Tour the factory (customers say it’s worth it), then stop by the taproom for a fresh pull of full-bodied Boston Lager (it goes particularly well with pretzels and beer cheese) and some limited-edition, experimental beers.
To see where the beers get bottled, canned and kegged, visit Bell’s Brewery in Comstock. However, if you’re after a leisurely afternoon tasting various craft tipples, take the short drive west to its tiny taproom in downtown Kalamazoo. It has great exclusives on tap alongside its famous fruity, spicy wheat ale, Oberon Ale.
Junkyard Brewing Co.’s graffiti-covered warehouse is a paradise for craft-beer fans – you can see all its brewing equipment and chat to the founders, brothers Dan and Aaron Juhnke. There’s not much for those who don’t like beer, as the brews here are unapologetically bold and strong. If you love IPAs, the Wicked Awesome Slurry is a wonderful medley of hazy, bitter, and tropical flavors.
Named after a chain of barrier islands off the coast of Mississippi, Chandeleur Island Brewing Company has been offering brewery tours, live music, and a stellar line-up of craft beers for around a decade. It's also just a fab place to hang out. Beer flights are popular for sampling options like the infinitely gulpable Freemason Golden Ale, the hazy Ole Buddy IPA, and the tangerine-flavored Lil’ Miss Sour.
This hip, beautifully decorated brewery in the Crossroads neighborhood of Kansas City comes complete with plants, wall art, board games, free peanuts, and outdoor decking for when the sun shines. Casual Animal Brewing Co. has plenty of choice with fruity sour beers, amber ales, wheat ales, IPAs, and porters. There’s also hard seltzer for anyone looking for an alternative to beer.
Some of the buildings that make up the huge, sleek Lewis & Clark Brewery date back to 1885. Visitors tend to be impressed by the blend of heritage and hi-tech facilities, with two floors of seating, regular music events, and a games room. Flagship beers include the light and refreshing wheat ale Miner's Gold Hefeweizen, and the smooth, hoppy Prickly Pear Pale Ale.
Nebraska residents may have spotted some of Infusion Brewing Co.’s beers in local supermarkets, restaurants, and bars. Either way, trying the infused beers at their freshest – straight from the tap – is even better. The Vanilla Bean Blonde is highly praised by fans, and you can pick up a growler of it at the brewery, housed in a former meat market in Benson. The hazy and hoppy Trip tropical IPA is another must-try.
Hop Nuts Brewing opened in Las Vegas' downtown Arts District in 2015, kicking off the area's craft beer scene. Its most talked-about beers are the Green Mamba Double IPA, Golden Knight – a light-bodied ale – and Harry Potter, a wonderfully satisfying, full-bodied porter. Customers love the laid-back vibe of the taproom too.
Smuttynose Brewing Co.’s historic Towle Farm brewery is a lovely spot to try some of New Hampshire’s best craft beers straight from the source. The tasting bar has a continuously changing menu to reflect what’s freshly brewed, so one week it might be the iconic Finestkind IPA or Old Brown Dog Ale, and the next might bring the chance to sample a new classic like Mysterious Haze. The food is also very good.
Tiny Eclipse Brewing is a dream for beer lovers. Its 18 taps pour playful small-batch brews such as sours infused with blackberry and tropical fruits, an Almond Joy porter, and Coconut Cream ale, with each sounding – and tasting – more delicious than the last. Customers can opt for full pours, half pours, flights, or growlers. The owners, husband and wife team Chris and Beth, are wonderfully friendly, adding to the brewery's charm.
Great American Beer Festival medal winner Elevated IPA is an unmissable craft beer produced by La Cumbre Brewing Co. in New Mexico. Find it on draft at the brewery and taproom in Albuquerque's Warehouse District, or at the smaller Westside neighborhood taproom. There are also other fun and experimental New Mexican beers to try and customers say it’s all top-quality stuff. Often, there’s a food truck visiting too.
Breweries are pretty commonplace in New York, but Fifth Hammer Brewing Co. is a cut above the rest. The taproom, which has hammers for tap handles, pours fantastic double IPAs, fruit-infused sours, pale pilsners, Belgian-style beers, sippable porters, and sturdy stouts. A fun place to spend an evening, it also hosts beer and cheese pairings, trivia nights, and live jazz.
Daring to be different, Burial Beer Co. specializes in sours and saisons (dry, spicy, highly carbonated pale ales), and at one point offered a stout garnished with a donut. Regulars adore it, with some claiming it's the best microbrewery in the US. With its graveyard aesthetic and existential beer names, such as Not A Thing Left To Say (a 10% triple IPA), it's certainly an immersive experience. The brewery currently has five taprooms across the state, all with a slightly different vibe.
There’s a burgeoning craft beer scene in North Dakota and Drekker Brewing Company, located in a restored 19th-century railroad repair building, is leading the way. Take a free tour to view its state-of-the-art brewing equipment and learn about how the drinks go from grain to glass. Finish up in the Brewhalla taproom, which combines a lively beer hall, boutique hotel, and food market.
Apart from the incredible IPAs (you can’t go wrong with any of them), a big draw of MadTree Brewing is its huge outdoor patio, which can seat seemingly infinite numbers of people. Customers can bring their dogs, catch up with friends, and order amazing wood-fired pizzas. On top of all that, the brewery has planted more than 1,000 trees with money it has raised.
Inside the century-old Sunshine Laundry building, Stonecloud Brewing Company brews some highly rated IPAs, porters, sours, stouts, and ales. The fan favorite is Neon Sunshine, an easy drinking, bright yellow wheat beer that’s said to taste like sweet potatoes and pecans. You can order smaller pours, which is great if you want to try a few different beers. The brewery also has a location in Stillwater with over 30 drinks on draft.
Selecting the best of Oregon's many craft breweries is a hard job, but we reckon Upright Brewing has the edge. Its basement houses a speakeasy-style taproom serving world-class craft beers made through what's described as 'unbound' recipes. Certainly not tied to tradition, the process of making Lobster Mushroom Gose includes adding lobster mushrooms to the solution before bottling. Believe us, it works. The brewery also recently opened a satellite taproom called the Beer Station, set inside a converted gas station.
Philly has a vibrant craft beer scene and Yards Brewing Company, which has been around since the 1990s, is a classic choice. The taproom has plenty of space for indoor and outdoor drinking, and a menu with ribs, wings, nachos, and cheesesteak egg rolls – all perfect options for pairing with the small-batch specials and signature ales.
The brewer at Crooked Current Brewery, Rhode Island's smallest craft brewery, is a genius according to fans of its experimental ales, stouts, porters, and all-too drinkable IPAs. Past favorites include an oatmeal raisin stout, a strawberry blonde ale, Neapolitan brown ale (inspired by the ice cream), and a mango-infused IPA.
Options for a decent craft brewery in The Palmetto State are bountiful. For many, though, the best is Low Tide Brewing, which makes beer that's intended to reflect the spirit of the Low Country. Unusual choices include the icy beer slushies, Coco-nuts For IPAs – a milkshake IPA with lactose to give it a creamy mouthfeel – and Blue Quencher, a refreshing hard seltzer.
Crow Peak Brewing Company looks a little like a hunting lodge from the outside, yet it houses a small-scale craft beer production facility that many reckon is the best in South Dakota. It was founded by brewer Jeff Drumm, whose tastes are influenced by his time living in Germany and the UK. The most famous tipple here is the 6.5% abv 11th Hour IPA, a hoppy, floral number that pairs well with the ribs and brisket served at Bunky’s BBQ, right next door.
Beer enthusiasts will love the draft options and food menu at Tennessee Brew Works. Headlining the taps is Hippies and Cowboys, a smooth and crisp IPA. Other favorites include Basil Ryeman (a silky and spicy saison) and the Southern Wit witbier. Brews also feature on the food menu; for example, the chicken wings come with State Park Blonde ale ranch dressing and the mussels are served with Southern Wit beer bread.
Texas’ oldest craft brewery, Saint Arnold Brewing Company gives off celestial vibes with its mural-covered walls and selection of freshly brewed beers. A year-round favorite is the refreshing Lawnmower, while people also praise seasonal specials like the smooth and satisfying Spring Bock and Hazy Does It, a balanced, citrus pale ale. The food menu is also heavenly, with everything from gourmet doughnuts to fried chicken sandwiches.
Kiitos Brewing is all about unusual yet delicious beers, with clever flavors like Cucumber Tart, Salt-N-Pickle, and Vanilla Nut Ale. The Finnish-inspired microbrewery, in an industrial area of Salt Lake City, is a big venue with a cool vibe. The sours are especially good, while many customers like to hang out and order Mexican food from its neighbor Rico Foods.
Boasting the most craft breweries per capita, the Green Mountain State is paradise for craft beer connoisseurs. The Alchemist is the perfect name for this small-scale brewery because it makes the most magical unfiltered IPAs. Heady Topper is the renowned hoppy option, however it isn't pulled from a tap; here, the brewers believe that cans keep the beer fresher.
A real Stafford gem, warm and welcoming Barley Naked Brewing Company is praised for its great selection of small-batch craft beers. Consistent favorites include the refreshing and malty Cream Ale, the Full Moon Hefeweizen – a German wheat beer – and the delightfully tart Lemon O’ Shandy. The service is warm and attentive too.
Family-owned Fremont Brewing opened in 2009, but has already expanded with a second facility to keep up with the demand for its epic craft ales. Named after a famous Seattle outdoor sculpture of people waiting for public transport, Interurban is a flavorsome yet balanced IPA. The taproom has shared tables and seating areas reminiscent of a school common room, which gives the place a warm community feel. People also appreciate being able to sample the brews before buying.
Big Timber Brewing Company pays homage to the local surroundings with its beers and their names. A few favorites among the many excellent beers include the light, bright, and zesty Big Timber Blonde; the bold and juicy Double Bit IP; and the seasonal, warming, and smoky Frost Notch.
An intriguing venture, Vennture Brew Co. roasts its own coffee and makes its own beer. The selection of alcoholic brews is small but mighty, with a couple of oatmeal stouts, one saison, and a selection of IPAs on tap. Each is perfect, though, and the place is particularly popular with families and groups where not everyone is drinking beer.
The Cowboy State is not necessarily known for its craft beer but, when residents of tiny mountain town Ten Sleep are craving a pint, Ten Sleep Brewing Company does the trick. Inside a family barn that's tucked into the area's red rock cliffs, it brews and serves a handful of year-round beers, plus a number of seasonal styles. Speed Goat, an easy drinking golden ale with a honey finish, is the perfect thirst quencher.
Now discover sodas America adored the decade you were born
Last updated by Natasha Lovell-Smith.