These are unofficially the 50 Best Craft Breweries in America

Colin Joliat

Picking the 50 Best Craft Breweries in America is a futile task when there are more than 3000 breweries operating, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to be done. Here are the best of the best of the best, sir! With honors.

The full collection of breweries was pared down to 118 by a panel of experts which included me and thereby eliminates any credibility. This at least gave small breweries a fighting chance though so it seems like the ideal method. After that, TheDailyMeal opened up voting to all their readers. Unfortunately that obviously favors breweries with a big distribution footprint. There’s a decent chance that several of the greatest breweries in the universe (like 18th Street Brewery and Solemn Oath) have been overlooked so don’t take this as a buying guide. All that does is hurt the little guys.

Feel free to click on any of the breweries below to see on which of my personal lists they’ve landed!

#20 Brewery Ommegang — Cooperstown, New York

#19 Allagash Brewing Company — Portland, Maine

#18 Great Divide Brewing Company — Denver, Colorado

#17 Victory Brewing Company — Downingtown, Pennsylvania

#16 Epic Brewing Company — Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado

#15 Prairie Artisan Ales — Tulsa, Oklahoma

#14 Southern Tier Brewing Company — Lakewood, New York

#13 Deschutes Brewery — Bend, Oregon

#12 Avery Brewing Company — Boulder, Colorado

#11 Firestone Walker Brewing Company — Paso Robles and Buelton, California

#10 Three Floyds Brewing Company — Munster, Indiana

#9 Oskar Blues Brewery — Longmont, Colorado

#8 Cigar City Brewing — Tampa, Florida

#7 New Belgium Brewing — Fort Collins, Colorado

#6 Lagunitas Brewing Company — Petaluma, California

#5 Bell’s Brewery — Kalamazoo, Michigan

#4 Dogfish Head Brewery — Milton, Delaware

#3 Russian River Brewing Company — Santa Rosa, California

#2 Stone Brewing Company — Escondido, California

Colin Joliat

#1 Founders Brewing — Grand Rapids, Michigan

Head over to The Daily Meal for the full list and to get some background on the 50 best craft breweries in America. Of course you should also be sure to raise hell because Johnny’s IPA Emporium (your friend’s garage bar) didn’t make the cut.