Map of Best Breweries in America, 2018

RateBeer puts out a list every year for top 100 breweries in the world. The rankings are based on reviews, range across styles, and historical performance (and maybe a bit of subjectivity). RateBeer just published the list for 2018. Here’s a map of the 73 U.S.-based breweries.

Top Brewery States

Here are the U.S. breweries that landed in the RateBeer top 100 this year.

# THAT MADE THE LIST PER 100 BREWERIES

None

0+

1

1.5

2

2.5

3+

20.De Garde

51.Hair of the Dog

1.Hill Farmstead

79.Heater Allen

87.Rogue

26.Maine Beer

80. Lawson’s

32.Allagash

42.Deschutes

85 Smuttynose

3.Trillium

53.Kuhnhenn

19.Surly

46.Ommegang

33.Schramm’s

43.Jack’s Abby

12.Founders

5.Tree House

84.Suarez Family

31.Bell’s

15.Toppling Goliath

94.Bullfrog

8.New Glarus

63.Evil Twin

64.Pipeworks

55.Hoppin’ Frog

27. Other Half

25.Sierra Nevada

78.Half Acre

13.Tired Hands

76.Jolly Pumpkin

2.Russian River

56.Goose Island

54.Victory

59. Stillwater

70.Avery

100.Lagunitas

7.Three Floyds

86.Dogfish Head

49.Cellarmaker

92.Drakes

99.Jackie O’s

75.Crooked Stave

77.Almanac

60.Casey

9.Side Project

69.Boulevard

10.Sante Adairius

67.Perennial

16.Firestone Walker

98.Wicked Weed

82.Prairie

68.Bottle Logic

97.Monkish

29.Bruery

35.Superstition

11.Port/The Lost Abbey

22.Stone

65.Mikkeller

45.Alpine

58.Westbrook

6.AleSmith

23.Modern Times Beer

61.Ballast Point

95.Jester King

For the number of breweries in the state, Alaska is killing it. You go, Alaska.

72.Angry Chair

4.Cigar City

24.Cycle

36.Funky Buddha

48. Midnight Sun

81.3 Sons

89.J. Wakefield

73. Anchorage

# THAT MADE THE LIST PER 100 BREWERIES

None

0+

1

1.5

2

2.5

3+

1.Hill Farmstead

3.Trillium

5.Tree House

8.New Glarus

2.Russian River

7.Three Floyds

9.Side Project

10.Sante Adairius

6.AleSmith

4.Cigar City

# THAT MADE THE LIST PER 100 BREWERIES

None

0+

1

1.5

2

2.5

3+

1.Hill Farmstead

3.Trillium

5.Tree House

8.New Glarus

2.Russian River

7.Three Floyds

9.Side Project

10.Sante Adairius

6.AleSmith

4.Cigar City

There are a couple of breweries, BrewDog and Mikkeller, that aren’t based in the United States, but they have physical tap rooms or headquarters in the U.S., so they’re also in there.

Then there are Evil Twin and Stillwater, who are gypsy brewers. Their beer is made at other breweries. I just used the addresses listed on their sites.

Bottom line: If you want good beer, head west or northeast. It’s a bit bare in the middle.

Brewery Road Trip, Optimized With Genetic Algorithm

Now that we know where they are, let’s find out how to visit all of them in one go.

Notes

  • The list of best breweries comes from RateBeer. I got brewery counts per state from BreweryDB.
  • Made using R and Adobe Illustrator.

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