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Craft Beer & Brewing

Best in Beer Readers’ Choice: Your Favorite Breweries in 2026

You voted, we tallied. Here are your favorite breweries right now, broken down into four size categories based on volume brewed.

Best in Beer Readers’ Choice: Your Favorite Breweries in 2026

Small

(fewer than 5,000 barrels per year)

1. Highland Park (Los Angeles)
2. Goldfinger (Downers Grove, Illinois)
3. Alma Mader (Kansas City, Missouri)
4. Green Cheek (Orange, California)
5. Brujos (Portland, Oregon)
6. North Park (San Diego)
7. Triptych (Savoy, Illinois)
8. BKS Artisan Ales (Kansas City, Missouri)
9. Lumen (Omaha, Nebraska)
10. de Garde (Tillamook, Oregon)
11. Side Project (Maplewood, Missouri)
12. Original Pattern (Oakland, California)
13. Wondrous (Emeryville, California)
14. Bierstadt Lagerhaus (Denver)
15. Wayfinder (Portland, Oregon)
16. Geisthaus (Sacramento, California)
17. Hill Farmstead (Greensboro Bend, Vermont)
18. Fair Isle (Seattle)
19. Cloudburst (Seattle)
20. Holy Mountain (Seattle)

Small Regional

(5,000–25,000 barrels per year)

1. Ghost Town (Oakland, California)
2. Pinthouse (Austin)
3. Hop Butcher for the World (Chicago)
4. Cellarmaker (Oakland, California)
5. Alvarado Street (Monterey, California)
6. Burial (Asheville, North Carolina)
7. Humble Sea (Santa Cruz, California)
8. Outer Range (Frisco, Colorado)
9. Cerebral (Denver)
10. WeldWerks (Greeley, Colorado)
11. Meanwhile (Austin)
12. Block 15 (Corvallis, Oregon)
13. Phase Three (Lake Zurich, Illinois)
14. Sunriver (Sunriver, Oregon)
15. Fieldwork (Berkeley, California)
16. Westbound & Down (Erie, Colorado)
17. The Alchemist (Stowe, Vermont)
18. Pure Project (San Diego)
19. Altstadt (Fredericksburg, Texas)
20. Burgeon (Carlsbad, California)

Midsize Regional

(25,000–100,000 barrels per year)

1. Russian River (Windsor, California)
2. Tree House (Charlton, Massachusetts)
3. pFriem (Hood River, Oregon)
4. Fort George (Astoria, Oregon)
5. Breakside (Portland, Oregon)
6. Toppling Goliath (Decorah, Iowa)
7. Half Acre (Chicago)
8. Other Half (Brooklyn, New York)
9. Revolution (Chicago)
10. Pizza Port (Carlsbad, California)
11. Maine Beer (Freeport, Maine)
12. Odell (Fort Collins, Colorado)
13. North Coast (Fort Bragg, California)
14. Fat Head’s (Middleburg Heights, Ohio)
15. AleSmith (San Diego)
16. Surly (Minneapolis)
17. Ballast Point (San Diego)
18. Pelican (Tillamook, Oregon)
19. Real Ale (Blanco, Texas)
20. Lawson’s Finest (Waitsfield, Vermont)

Large

(100,000+ barrels per year)

1. Sierra Nevada (Chico, California)
2. New Glarus (New Glarus, Wisconsin)
3. Firestone Walker (Paso Robles, California)
4. Bell’s (Comstock, Michigan)
5. Allagash (Portland, Maine)
6. Stone (Escondido, California)
7. Deschutes (Bend, Oregon)
8. Three Floyds (Munster, Indiana)
9. Founders (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
10. Karl Strauss (San Diego)
11. Georgetown (Seattle)
12. New Belgium (Fort Collins, Colorado)
13. Boulevard (Kansas City, Missouri)
14. Dogfish Head (Milton, Delaware)
15. Lagunitas (Petaluma, California)
16. Goose Island (Chicago)
17. Avery (Boulder, Colorado)
18. Ommegang (Cooperstown, New York)
19. Great Lakes (Cleveland)
20. Guinness (Dublin)