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A year of focused tasting panels plus two full days of blind judging and lively discussion among our editorial panel—including Kate Bernot and Stan Hieronymus—culminates in this: the roll of honor. Here are the 20 beers that awed, delighted, and inspired us the most, representing the pinnacle of the craft today.

• Best in Beer
• Editors’ Picks

You voted, and we tallied. Here are your favorite breweries broken down in categories by beer barrels brewed.

The diversity of styles is one thing that makes craft beer great. Here are your favorite brewers in eight different craft beer niches. 2023 rank is noted in parentheses.

• Who Brews it Best in 2024

Which beers do you love the most? We polled thousands of our magazine and newsletter subscribers on their favorites, and here are the results.

• Best in Beer
• Readers’ Choice

Oklahoma City’s Big Friendly is a two-time Brewery of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival, in 2022 and 2023. Here’s a recipe for the imperial stout—no adjuncts, not yet barrel-aged—that serves as the base for Vanilla Boom, one of our Best 20 Beers in 2024.

• Beer Recipe
• Imperial Stout
• Stout

This crisp and dry Japanese-inspired lager is brewed with rice and hopped with Perle, Tettnanger, and Saphir. pFriem Family Brewers describes it as having aromas of “Shiso plum, fresh bread, and violet” with “sparkling notes of fresh green tea and wildflowers.”

• Beer Recipe
• International Lager
• Japanese-Style Lager

While the aromas aren't qualitatively the same, a relatively tiny amount of HyperBoost can effectively replace a large amount of hop pellets—with none of the wort loss. Paul Schneider, cofounder and head brewer of Cinderlands Beer in Pittsburgh, explains.

• Video
• Video Tip
• IPA

We’ve tested plenty of gear over the past 10 years, but which among them have taken a licking and kept on ticking? Which ones do we find ourselves still using frequently, after all this time? Here’s a look back at our favorite products over the years that still bring us joy.

• Gear
• Coolers
• Editors’ Picks

As NA beers grow as a category, specialized yeasts can be an accessible way for smaller breweries to jump into the fray. But which strain should you try first? Recent research aims to help you narrow it down.

• Industry
• Yeast
• Nonalcoholic

One of the great things about this beer is its stability: The roast continues to shine even after a few months in the keg or bottle. Some sweetness can build over time—but by then, we may be deep into winter, and that sweetness may be just the thing.

• Beer Recipe
• Stout
• Foreign Extra Stout

In this direct fire Q&A with audience questions, recorded live at the Brewer’s Retreat at Dogfish Head in Delaware, Steve Parker of Fidens, Scott Janish of Sapwood Cellars, and Kelsey McNair of North Park discuss hazy IPA and ways to promote haze stability, balance high finishing gravity, reduce metals in finished beer for longevity, and more.

• Podcast

2025 can be the year you take your homebrew to new heights. From the American Homebrewers Association, here are three ways to level up your brew game.

• Sponsored