We would all like to think of alcohol as something that brings us together, but the beer world can prove pretty divisive at times. How do you define craft? Is it ever OK for breweries to sell out? And are exploding cans a humorous or harmful trend? These are all questions that promise to inspire heated debate when raised on certain corners of the internet.
Thankfully, other topics can be put to bed with cold, hard data. Last week, BeerAdvocate published a list highlighting the 50 most-rated breweries on its platform for 2020. As noted in the piece, the ranking is not a reflection of the best-rated breweries and was instead compiled using only the total number of ratings each brewery received for its beers.
All but one of the breweries listed are based in the U.S. (which is likely due to where BeerAdvocate’s audience is mainly based), and there was a strong showing from producers in the Northeast, particularly in the top five. West Coast drinkers needn’t feel slighted, though. California had the most breweries on the list with eight producers, while New York came in second place with five.
Here are the top 50 most-rated breweries on BeerAdvocate for 2020.
- Tree House Brewing Co., Charlton, Mass.
- Other Half Brewing Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif.
- Trillium Brewing Co., Boston, Mass.
- Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, Mich.
- Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., Decorah, Iowa
- Stone Brewing, Escondido, Calif.
- Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, Ill.
- New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo.
- Prairie Artisan Ales, Tulsa, Okla.
- Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, Calif.
- Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Del.
- Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, Fla.
- Hill Farmstead Brewery, Greensboro Bend, Vt.
- Modern Times Beer, San Diego, Calif.
- Equilibrium Brewery, Middletown, N.Y.
- 3 Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, Ind.
- Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, Calif.
- The Bruery, Placentia, Calif.
- Aslin Beer Co., Herndon, Va.
- Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo.
- Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, Lyons, Colo.
- Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Ore.
- Surly Brewing Co., Brooklyn Center, Minn.
- Phase Three Brewing, Lake Zurich, Ill.
- Anchorage Brewing Co., Anchorage, Alaska
- Anheuser-Busch, Saint Louis, Mo.
- Bottle Logic Brewing, Anaheim, Calif.
- Fremont Brewing Co., Seattle, Wash.
- Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, Vt.
- Pipeworks Brewing Co., Chicago, Ill.
- Collective Arts Brewing, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Boston Beer Co., Jamaica Plain, Mass.
- Tröegs Brewing Co., Hershey, Pa.
- Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, Calif.
- Revolution Brewing, Chicago, Ill.
- Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood, N.Y.
- Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, Maine
- Clown Shoes, Boston, Mass.
- Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, N.Y.
- WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, Colo.
- Side Project Brewing, Maplewood, Mo.
- Untitled Art, Waunakee, Wis.
- Kane Brewing Co., Ocean, N.J.
- Tired Hands Brewing Co., Ardmore, Pa.
- Victory Brewing Co., Downingtown, Pa.
- Hop Butcher For The World, Darien, Ill.
- SingleCut Beersmiths, Queens, N.Y.
- The Veil Brewing Co., Richmond, Va.