20 Best Craft Breweries in America
In This Article:
In this article, we are going to discuss the 20 best craft breweries in America. You can skip our detailed analysis of the rising popularity of craft beer, the domestic production of Sapporo beers, and the entrance of a beverage giant in craft, and go directly to 5 Best Craft Breweries in America.
While the U.S. toiled in beer production purgatory following the repeal of Prohibition, all of that began to change when President Jimmy Carter signed a small but groundbreaking bill, making homebrewing legal. It took a little bit of time, but that eventually led to several new craft breweries popping up in the 1980s. Many of the brewing ventures that started in this time period were done so not by professionals, but individuals ready to take their home brewing to the next level. The trend slowly grew, and by the 2000s, microbreweries had expanded throughout much of the United States.
The Rising Popularity of Craft Beer:
The United States is the country that produces the most craft beer in the world. As we mentioned in our article – 20 States with the Most Craft Breweries – there were 9,552 craft breweries, brewpubs, and taprooms in the U.S. in 2022, up almost 99% from 2015. Meanwhile, retail dollar sales of craft increased 5%, to $28.4 billion, and now account for 24.6% of the $115 billion overall U.S. beer market.
The principle strength of craft brewing lies in its vast array of beer innovations to reflect the shift of today’s consumers, as it offers its customers ‘something different’ from what they’re normally used to. Craft lovers are willing to pay a little more for beer that holds more taste, flavor, variety, and alcohol. The quality ingredients and delicious tastes that craft beers offer are not usually found in their mass-produced counterparts. Moreover, drinking craft is also a way to support your local businesses.
The Domestic Production of Sapporo Beers:
On June 23rd, Stone Brewing shocked the craft beer biz by announcing that it was being acquired by the Japanese brewing giant Sapporo, and the $165 million deal closed quickly in August.
Founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1996, Stone Brewing was one of the largest craft breweries in the United States at the time, but given that it is now owned by an international beer behemoth, it is no longer considered a true ‘craft brewery’ using the Brewers Association's definition of craft beer. With this transition, Stone's well-known founders Greg Koch and Steve Wagner are no longer in the picture.
Under Sapporo’s management, Stone continues to operate breweries in Escondido, CA, and Richmond, VA, along with seven taproom and bistro locations. The Japanese company’s goal is to not only manage Stone’s growth in the United States, but also to harness the brewery’s considerable production resources to produce more Sapporo beers in America, where it is currently the #1 selling Asian beer brand. The Richmond Stone brewery will make about 40% of the company’s total domestic output, with the remaining 60% being made out of Stone’s California operations.
The move by the company to make Sapporo beer at the Stone breweries is ironic given that Stone’s previous co-founder and co-owner, Greg Koch, famously mocked mass-produced lagers by global brewers as ‘fizzy yellow beer’.
It is worth mentioning that Sapporo also acquired San Francisco-based Anchor Brewing in 2017 for $85 million, with plans of brewing its Asian offerings at Anchor’s production facility. However, the marriage didn’t exactly go to plan and America’s oldest craft brewery ended up permanently ceasing its operations in July.
The Entrance of a Beverage Giant:
It was announced last year that the Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) had acquired the Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective, in a deal worth $330 million. The acquisition gave Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) the ownership of Canarchy’s craft breweries including Cigar City, Oskar Blues, Deep Ellum, Perrin Brewing, Squatters, and Wasatch.
The deal provided the beverage giant with a ready-made platform to join the alcohol industry, including infrastructure, people, distribution and licenses, alcoholic beverage development experience, and manufacturing capabilities. Canarchy is an interesting move for the Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) because it entered alcohol through craft beer and hard seltzer, a pair of maturing yet popular categories where consumers have countless options to choose from.
The company spent the early weeks of 2023 rolling out a line of alcoholic beverages. Called The Beast Unleashed, the drinks are made with malt alcohol and contain 6% alcohol by volume, though no caffeine or energy-inducing ingredients. The Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) announced in its Q2 Earnings Call Transcript:
“In the first half of 2023, we launched The Beast Unleashed which is now available in 28 states through a network of beer distributors. We are pleased with the early results and are continuing to expand distribution, with the goal of being national by the end of the year. According to Nielsen scan data, The Beast Unleashed is currently one of the top new brands in the beer category in 2023. We plan to launch a hot iced tea extension of The Beast Unleashed named Nasty Beast Hardcore Tea later this year or early next year, with a goal of national distribution in the first half of 2024. The brand will have full flavors Original, Half & Half, Razzleberry and Green. Nasty Beast Hardcore Tea will be available in 24 oz. single-serve cans as well as in a variety 12-pack in 12 ounce sleek cans.”
With that said, here are the Top Craft Breweries in America in 2023.
Valentyn Volkov/Shutterstock.com
Methodology:
To collect data for this article, we referred to a number of sources, such as Tasting Table, VinePair, 24/7 Wall St., Reddit etc., looking for the Best Craft Breweries in the U.S. We picked breweries that appeared at least thrice in these sources, assigned them a score based on their number of appearances, and ranked them accordingly. When two breweries had the same score, we ranked them by their average rating on Untappd.
If you’d rather have your alcohol distilled, here are the 20 Most Popular Liquor Brands in America.
20. Deschutes Brewery
Insider Monkey Score: 3
Deschutes Brewery has always been family owned and operated. An Employee Stock Ownership Program was set up in 2013, so employees now own a percentage of the company.
In its first year in operation in 1988, the public house sold 310 barrels of beer and today Deschutes is one of the Largest Craft Breweries in the US by Volume.
The Portland-based Deschutes sits among the best breweries in Oregon.
19. Toppling Goliath Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 3
Founded in 2009, the Iowa-based Toppling Goliath Brewing Co. was a runaway success and is world-renowned for its IPA and barrel-aged beers.
Rated not only as the #1 Craft Beer in America, but also the Best Beer in the World by BeerAdvocate and RateBeer, Toppling Goliath’s Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout is chocolate chip pancakes drenched with maple syrup, served with espresso and a shot of bourbon, all in one sip.
Toppling Goliath ranks among the Top 50 Craft Breweries in the United States.
18. Goose Island Beer Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 4
Anheuser-Busch acquired the Chicago-based Goose Island in 2011, in a deal worth $39 million. Since then, the beer giant has invested aggressively to establish a chain of Goose Island brewpubs in America, as well as internationally.
The Goose Island So-Lo sits among the Best Low-Alcohol Beers in America.
17. Founders Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 4
Grand Rapids-based Founders Brewing Company, once one of the city’s most recognized locally owned businesses, is now officially under the ownership of Madrid-based Mahou Group. In December 2014, Mahou purchased a 30% stake in Founders Brewing Co. By 2019, Mahou had increased its stake to 90%.
16. Bierstadt Lagerhaus
Insider Monkey Score: 4
Bierstadt Lagerhaus has been named the ‘Best Colorado Brewery’ and ‘Best Lager Brewery In The Country’ in recent years. In the American craft beer scene, the technique of slow pouring a beer can be attributed to Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye, owners of Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver. Both subsequently created the Slow Pour Pils, which ranks among the 20 Highest Rated Pilsner Beers in 2023.
15. New Belgium Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 5
New Belgium was the top-selling craft beer brand in the U.S multi-outlets in 2022, with dollar sales of $429.3 million, a 14.5% increase from the previous year. In 2019, New Belgium was acquired by the Japanese beverage group Kirin Holdings Company, in a deal estimated to be around $352.8 million.
New Belgium ranks among the Top 15 Craft Breweries in the U.S.
14. Boulevard Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 5
When John McDonald tried out some Belgian beers on his trip to Europe in 1984, he became absolutely captivated with them. So much so that one day he decided to sell his house and invest in a craft brewery that eventually became the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest.
Boulevard Brewing Company was acquired by the Duvel Moortgat Brewery in 2013, in a deal worth an estimated $100 million.
13. Bell’s Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 5
The Michigan-based Bell’s Brewery was acquired by Kirin-owned Lion World Beverages for an undisclosed amount in 2021. The deal brought Bell's into the same portfolio of fellow craft beer pioneer New Belgium Brewing Co.
12. The Alchemist
Insider Monkey Score: 5
The Alchemist is a Vermont-based family-run brewery specializing in fresh, unfiltered IPAs.
Today, The Alchemist operates two breweries in Waterbury and Stowe and distributes Heady Topper and Focal Banger throughout the state, with the occasional out-of-state shipment.
Heady Topper is an American Double IPA that ranks among the 60 Highest Rated Beers in America.
11. Lagunitas Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 6
The Chicago-based Lagunitas boasted $162.1 million in dollar sales in 2022, a 10.9% decrease from 2021. Lagunitas Brewing Co. and Alvarado Street Bakery, both from Petaluma, have recently joined for a neighborly collaboration to prevent waste and produce a beer made from leftover bread. The results are on tap as a limited-edition lager – The Toast of Petaluma.
Lagunitas was acquired by Heineken N.V. in 2017.
10. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Insider Monkey Score: 6
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery was acquired by The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) in 2019, in a deal that paid the founder Sam Calagione and his family $127.7 million in shares of the Samuel Adams maker, and $173 million in cash to its shareholders. Both, The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) and Dogfish Head have each maintained their status as independent craft breweries.
At the end of Q2, The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE:SAM) was held by 30 hedge funds in the Insider Monkey database, with Southeastern Asset Management boasting the largest stake of 127,274 shares, valued at around $39.25 million.
9. Stone Brewing
Insider Monkey Score: 6
Stone Brewing was founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1996 in San Marcos, California. Their mission was to create flavorful, amazing beers and provide an alternative choice for those who were unsatisfied with the industrialized beers dominating the market at the time.
Stone Brewing counts among the Top 10 Craft Breweries in America.
8. Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 6
Known for its best-selling beers like 805 and Mind Haze, this California-based brewery was named the World Beer Cup Champion Brewery in 2004, 2006, 2010, and 2012. Firestone Walker merged with Duvel Moortgat USA in 2015, in a deal worth an estimated $250 million.
7. 3 Floyds Brewing
Insider Monkey Score: 6
The 3 Floyds brewery is known for making some of the best craft beers in the U.S. and for commissioning artists to design bizarre labels for their beers. The Zombie Dust ‘Undead Pale Ale’ is a medium-bodied single hop beer that ranks among the Best Craft Beer Brands in the U.S.
3 Floyds ranks 7th in our List of the Best Craft Breweries.
6. Tree House Brewing Co.
Insider Monkey Score: 6
Tree House has eight of the 30 highest rated beers in the world on Beer Advocate and eight of the 40 highest rated beers on Untappd. Considering the sheer number of breweries in the world it is crazy to believe that so many of the top-rated beers could be made by a single establishment. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Charlton-based beer maker is among the top breweries in the world.
Tree House produced 48,400 BBLs of beer in 2018 and had an estimated revenue of $48 million.
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Disclosure: None. 20 Best Craft Breweries in America is originally published on Insider Monkey.