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America’s Top Brews: The Definitive Guide to U.S. Beers, Ranked

America’s Top Brews: The Definitive Guide to U.S. Beers, Ranked

Beer is not only the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world, but it ranks as one of the most popular drinks overall, coming in third to only tea and water. And it isn’t just an international favorite – it ranks as the top choice for adults in the United States. According to an August 2023 Gallup Poll, 37% of adults said it was their preferred beverage, with liquor coming in second with 31%. But not all beer is the same. This is why our definitive guide gives you plenty of options.

Beer isn’t just an enjoyable adult beverage. It also plays a significant role in the economy. According to Beer Serves America, the industry contributed 409 billion dollars to the nation’s economy, and in 2022 supported 2.4 million local jobs, from agriculture and retail to distribution and manufacturing. Old traditional favorites like Budweiser and Coors continue to dominate sales but craft beer is steadily gaining ground.

24/7 Tempo consulted numerous rankings and reviews on specialist sites, including Beer Advocate, Hop Culture, RateBeer, and Craft Beer & Brewing, and from such general-interest publications to assemble an admittedly subjective list of the definite guide to U.S. beers.

While numerical scores, where given, were factored into our choices, consideration was also given to the comments of reviewers, both amateur and professional, in describing various beers. (Here’s the best local beer from every state.)

Here is the definite guide to U.S. beers, ranked:

39. Arrowhead Red Ale

Courtesy of Montauk Brewing Company via Yelp
  • Style: Irish red ale
  • Brewery: Montauk Brewing Company
  • Location: Montauk, New York
  • Tasting notes: Traces of stone fruit, with a ribbon of butterscotch running through it and a crisp finish

38. Fresh Squeezed

Courtesy of Antonio R. via Yelp
  • Style: IPA
  • Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
  • Location: Bend, Oregon
  • Tasting notes: infinitely refreshing ale balances lemony and tropical fruit flavors against a solid malt center

37. Death and Taxes

Courtesy of Moonlight Brewing via Yelp
  • Style: European dark lager
  • Brewery: Moonlight Brewing Company
  • Location: Santa Rosa, California
  • Tasting notes: Light on the palate, smooth, crisp, and clean, with a bracing finish

36. Abner

Courtesy of Hill Farmstead Brewery via Yelp
  • Style: New England IPA
  • Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
  • Location: Greensboro Bend, Vermont
  • Tasting notes: Solid, hazy, very nicely balanced IPA, showing floral notes and plenty of hoppy flavor

35. Anabasis

Courtesy of Jaye S. via Yelp
  • Style: American barleywine
  • Brewery: Side Project Brewing
  • Location: Maplewood, Missouri
  • Tasting notes: Rich, earthy, piney, and oaky, with plenty of caramel, vanilla, and almond notes

34. Duck-Duck-Gooze

Courtesy of Paulina M. via Yelp
  • Style: Belgian-style sour ale
  • Brewery: The Lost Abbey
  • Location: San Marcos, California
  • Tasting notes: Lively and redolent of stone fruits, with some tartness and sweetness

33. A Deal With the Devil – Triple Oak-Aged

Anchorage Brewing Company Beer... by Four Brewers
fourbrewers / Flickr
  • Style: American barleywine
  • Brewery: Anchorage Brewing Company
  • Location: Anchorage, Alaska
  • Tasting notes: Dried fruit, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, brown sugar, a bit of smoke (17% ABV)

32. Monster Tones

Courtesy of Travis T. via Yelp
  • Style: American Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Modern Times Beer
  • Location: San Diego, California
  • Tasting notes: Rich, black, malty, and bittersweet, with an aroma that hints at coconut and chocolate and a mouth-coating body that mixes suggestions of caramel and coffee (13% ABV)

31. New World Geography

Courtesy of Brian M. via Yelp
  • Style: Italian-style pilsner
  • Brewery: Alma Mader Brewing
  • Location: Kansas City, Missouri
  • Tasting notes: Attractive citrus and resin notes in the background and a soft, flowers-and-herbs character in the mouth

30. Atrial Rubicite

Courtesy of Dawn H. via Yelp
  • Style: Sour ale
  • Brewery: Jester King Brewery
  • Location: Austin, Texas
  • Tasting notes: Gorgeously garnet in color, surprisingly dry and vivid on the palate, with plenty of juicy fruit

29. Daily Wages

Courtesy of Fran V. via Yelp
  • Style: Saison/farmhouse ale
  • Brewery: Brasserie Saint James
  • Location: Reno, Nevada
  • Tasting notes: Earthy, haystack-yellow ale that is herbaceous, crisp, and dry, with some bitterness and earthy flavor

28. Old Rasputin

North Coast Old Rasputin by Bernt Rostad
brostad / Flickr
  • Style: Russian imperial stout
  • Brewery: North Coast Brewing Co.
  • Location: Fort Bragg, California
  • Tasting notes: Full-bodied, malty, and chocolatey, with a hint of strong espresso bitterness

27. Qualified

Courtesy of Alden C. via Yelp
  • Style: Quadrupel
  • Brewery: Taxman Brewing Co.
  • Location: Bargeersville, Indiana
  • Tasting notes: Classic dessert-style beer, with lots of dried fruit, brown sugar, baking bread, and roasted almonds both in the nose and on the palate

26. Más Verde

Courtesy of Patricia N. via Yelp
  • Style: New England IPA
  • Brewery: River Roost Brewery
  • Location: Hartford, Vermont
  • Tasting notes: Bright golden color, with tropical fruit and pine in the aroma, and a creamy mouth-feel with tinges of citrus and spices

25. Elevated IPA

Courtesy of Carlos I. via Yelp
  • Style: American IPA
  • Brewery: La Cumbre Brewing Co.
  • Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Tasting notes: Resin, grapefruit, green grass, and more combine in the aroma and on the palate

24. Le Terroir

Courtesy of Ashton M. via Yelp
  • Style: Sour ale
  • Brewery: New Belgium Brewing
  • Location: Asheville, North Carolina (temporarily closed due to Hurricane Helene)
  • Tasting notes: Sourness and a counterpoint of sweetness, with a hint of acidic bite (barrel-aged for two years)

23. Westly

Courtesy of Katie R. via Yelp
  • Style: Saison
  • Brewery: Sainte Adairius Rustic Ales
  • Location: Capitola, California
  • Tasting notes: Apricots lend a seductive jammy character to this sour, tart, oaky, barrel-aged delight

22. Very Green

Tree House Brewery Sign (24431... by Eric Kilby from Somerville, MA, USA
Eric Kilby from Somerville, MA, USA / Wikimedia Commons
  • Style: Double IPA
  • Brewery: Tree House Brewing Co.
  • Location: Charlton, Massachusetts
  • Tasting notes: Piney, herbaceous character, and a bracing citrus bite

21. Sip of Sunshine

Courtesy of Ruth C. via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial IPA
  • Brewery: Lawson’s Finest Liquids
  • Location: Waitsfield, Vermont
  • Tasting notes: Generous aroma full of pine needles, roses, and warm biscuits

20. Maman

Courtesy of Kelly P. via Yelp
  • Style: American Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Perennial Artisan Ales
  • Location: St. Louis, Missouri
  • Tasting notes: Toasty malt and chocolate aromas and a flavor that evokes more chocolate and maybe a hint of good cigars

19. Dinner

Courtesy of Bella T. via Yelp
  • Style: Double IPA
  • Brewery: Maine Beer Co.
  • Location: Freeport, Maine
  • Tasting notes: Dry, fresh, clean double IPA, fruity and spicy, with a resiny flavor and lightly bitter finish

18. Clover

Courtesy of Retxab M. via Yelp
  • Style: Saison
  • Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
  • Location: Greensboro Bend, Vermont
  • Tasting notes: Elegant, complex beer, with honey and vanilla in the earthy nose and a faintly funky flavor with hints of tart apples, citrus fruits, and white pepper

17. O.W.K.

Courtesy of Brian M. via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Side Project Brewing
  • Location: Maplewood, Missouri
  • Tasting notes:  Jet-black vanilla-heavy stout, distinct smack of chocolate, and some toasty malt with earthy undertones

16. Very Hazy

Courtesy of Joey D. via Yelp
  • Style: New England IPA
  • Brewery: Tree House Brewing Co.
  • Location: Charlton, Massachusetts
  • Tasting notes: An abundance of fruit – orange, lemon, melon, pineapple – and a nice edge of hoppy bitterness to counterbalance the sweetness

15. CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout)

Courtesy of Cy M. via Yelp
  • Style: Stout
  • Brewery: Founders Brewing Co.
  • Location: Detroit, Michigan
  • Tasting notes: Dark, smooth, sweet, and oaky (brewers call it “a blend of coffees and imported chocolates”), and aged in bourbon barrels that had previously held Michigan maple syrup

14. Inherited Wisdom

Courtesy of Matt C. via Yelp
  • Style: English dark mild ale
  • Brewery: Westbound & Down
  • Location: Lafayette, Colorado
  • Tasting notes: Seductive dark ale that offers a flavor suggesting Anadama bread glazed with caramel and a smooth, unctuous texture

13. Fundamental Observation

Courtesy of Rich C. via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial Stout
  • Brewery: Bottle Logic Brewing
  • Location: Anaheim, California
  • Tasting notes: Stout blended with Madagascar vanilla beans and aged in bourbon barrels has a subtlety of oak and whiskey flavors

12. Zombie Dust

Courtesy of Emily H. via Yelp
  • Style: IPA
  • Brewery: 3 Floyds Brewing Co.
  • Location: Munster, Indiana
  • Tasting notes: Textbook-perfect pale ale, strongly flavored with Yakima Valley Citra hops, attractively resinous in the nose, fruity, and yeasty

11. Two-Hearted Ale

Bells Two Hearted Ale by Hungry Dudes
twohungrydudes / Flickr
  • Style: IPA
  • Brewery: Bell’s Brewery
  • Location: Galesburg, Michigan
  • Tasting notes: Well-rounded, fresh, and smooth, with plenty of malts supporting forthright hop aromas and a piney hops flavor

10. Pliny the Younger

Courtesy of John D. via Yelp
  • Style: Triple IPA
  • Brewery: Russian River Brewing Co.
  • Location: Santa Rosa, California
  • Tasting notes: Piney, floral offering, rich but suave, with a touch of smooth sweetness, is a triple (made with roughly three times the usual ration of hops)

9. King JJJuliusss

Tree House Brewery Sign by Eric Kilby
Eric Kilby / Wikimedia Commons
  • Style: Double IPA
  • Brewery: Tree House Brewing Co.
  • Location: Charlton, Massachusetts
  • Tasting notes: An immensely rich, hops-forward brew offering a whole bouquet of fruit aromas and a pronounced bitterness in the mouth

8. Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout – Double Barrel Aged

Courtesy of Naomi K via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Cigar City Brewing
  • Location: Tampa, Florida
  • Tasting notes:  Thick black stout, double barrel-aged in rum and apple brandy casks, with cacao nibs, ancho and pasilla chiles, cinnamon, and Madagascar vanilla beans (11% ABV)

7. Barrel-Aged Abraxas

Courtesy of Kevin H. via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Perennial Artisan Ales
  • Location: St. Louis, Missouri
  • Tasting notes: Spicy seasonal imperial stout is brewed with cinnamon sticks, ancho chiles, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans and aged for a year in Rittenhouse Rye barrels

6. Blessed

Courtesy of Betty M. via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Anchorage Brewing Co.
  • Location: Anchorage, Alaska
  • Tasting notes: Hearty Alaskan beer with plenty of oak from its aging in bourbon barrels, finished with coconut and vanilla beans, for an exotic confectionary character (14% ABV)

5. Mornin’ Delight

Courtesy of Scott S. via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.
  • Location: Decorah, Iowa
  • Tasting notes: Serious stout, brewed with coffee and maple syrup, is medium-rich and sweet but avoids being cloying, and closes with a long, luscious finish

4. KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)

Courtesy of Alden C. via Yelp
  • Style: Imperial stout
  • Brewery: Founders Brewing Co.
  • Location: Detroit, Michigan
  • Tasting notes: Earthy imperial stout brewed with what the founders call “a massive amount of coffee and chocolates,” richly textured and pleasingly sweet

3. Pliny the Elder

Favorite Beer by Mike McCune
mccun934 / Flickr
  • Style: Double IPA
  • Brewery: Russian River Brewing Co.
  • Location: Santa Rosa, California
  • Tasting notes: Earthy, grassy hops character in the nose (it has been described as a “hop bomb”) and plenty of malt and citrus on the harmonious palate

2. Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout

Courtesy of Craig W. via Yelp
  • Style: Stout
  • Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.
  • Location: Decorah, Iowa
  • Tasting notes: Dark, dense, sweet, complex, smooth, and memorable, combining flavors of chocolate, coffee, maple syrup, bourbon, figs, toffee, and vanilla (ranked No. 1 on the most recent Beer Advocate listing of America’s top 250 beers)

1. Heady Topper

The Alchemist Heady Topper by walknboston
walkn / Flickr
  • Style: Double IPA
  • Brewery: The Alchemist
  • Location: Waterbury, Vermont
  • Tasting notes: Forthright bitterness and complex interweaving of floral, citrusy, and piney flavors (Beer Advocate reviewer said “It might well be considered ‘the granddaddy that today’s IPAs were born from.’”
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