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Top 50 Most Rated Breweries on BeerAdvocate for 2020

By The Numbers by | April 2, 2021

In the past, we’ve published best and top rated brewery lists in BeerAdvocate magazine and online, but this one is loosely inspired by the Brewers Association’s Top 50 U.S. Breweries by Sales Volume for 2020.

The focus of this inaugural list is the most rated breweries, not the highest rated or best breweries of the world based on their beers. It’s simply a ranking of breweries by total number of ratings, that’s not restricted to the United States or whatever your definition of “craft beer” currently is, and all ratings posted on BeerAdvocate in 2020 were considered.

I’m not going to group breweries by ownership, but I’ll note all of that below. I’ve also included the brewery’s rank from 2019 for comparison and “new” simply denotes that the brewery is new to the top 50 for 2020.

Top 50 Most Rated Breweries on BeerAdvocate for 2020

  1. Tree House Brewing Co., Charlton, MA | 1
  2. Other Half Brewing Co., Brooklyn, NY | 2
  3. Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI | 4
  4. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA | 5
  5. Trillium Brewing Co., Boston, MA | 3
  6. Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI | 6
  7. Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., Decorah, IA | 7
  8. Stone Brewing, Escondido, CA | 10
  9. Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL | 12
  10. New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO | 14
  11. Prairie Artisan Ales, Tulsa, OK | 15
  12. Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA | 8
  13. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE | 11
  14. Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, FL | 16
  15. Hill Farmstead Brewery, Greensboro Bend, VT | 9
  16. Modern Times Beer, San Diego, CA | 17
  17. Equilibrium Brewery, Middletown, NY | new
  18. 3 Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, IN | 20
  19. Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, CA | 13
  20. The Bruery, Placentia, CA | 18
  21. Aslin Beer Co., Herndon, VA | 32
  22. Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO | 29
  23. Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, Lyons, CO | 22
  24. Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR | 21
  25. Surly Brewing Co., Brooklyn Center, MN | 34
  26. Phase Three Brewing, Lake Zurich, IL | new
  27. Anchorage Brewing Co., Anchorage, AK | new
  28. Anheuser-Busch, Saint Louis, MO | 27
  29. Bottle Logic Brewing, Anaheim, CA | 31
  30. Fremont Brewing Co., Seattle, WA | 44
  31. Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Waitsfield, VT | 26
  32. Pipeworks Brewing Co., Chicago, IL | 24
  33. Collective Arts Brewing, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | 40
  34. Boston Beer Co., Jamaica Plain, MA | 25
  35. Tröegs Brewing Co., Hershey, PA | 43
  36. Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA | 46
  37. Revolution Brewing, Chicago, IL | 36
  38. Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood, NY | 30
  39. Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME | 41
  40. Clown Shoes, Boston, MA | 49
  41. Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY | 37
  42. WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, CO | 50
  43. Side Project Brewing, Maplewood, MO | 38
  44. Untitled Art, Waunakee, WI | new
  45. Kane Brewing Co., Ocean, NJ | new
  46. Tired Hands Brewing Co., Ardmore, PA | 28
  47. Victory Brewing Co., Downingtown, PA | 45
  48. Hop Butcher For The World, Darien, IL | 48
  49. SingleCut Beersmiths, Queens, NY | 19
  50. The Veil Brewing Co., Richmond, VA | 33

Highlights

  • Tree House and Other Half held their top spots with some of the most sought after and widely traded beers.
  • Founders, Sierra Nevada, and Trillium remained in the top 5, but danced around with each other a bit.
  • Bell’s, Stone, and Toppling Goliath stayed strong in the top 10.
  • Goose Island and and New Belgium pushed Firestone Walker and Hill Farmstead out of the top 10.
  • Equilibrium was added to the site in November 2016, but their strong social media presence, and the fact that they’re shipping direct-to-consumers in PA, OH, DC, ND, NE, KY, NH, NV, VT, and VA, no doubt helped them to debut on the list at number 17. Most impressive.
  • Anchorage, Kane, Phase Three, and Untitled Art also made their debut. Congrats to them.
  • And once again, Collective Arts stood as the only brewery outside of the U.S. on the list. (Looking at everyone reading this who doesn’t live in the U.S. and doesn’t rate or review on BeerAdvocate.)

Ownership Notes

  • Anheuser-Busch and Goose Island are owned by AB InBev.
  • Boulevard, Firestone Walker, and Ommegang are owned by Duvel Moortgat.
  • Cigar City and Oskar Blues (along with Wasatch, Squatters, Perrin, Deep Ellum, and Three Weavers; not on the list) are owned by CANarchy.
  • Clown Shoes is owned by Mass Bay Brewing Co. (Harpoon Brewery).
  • Dogfish Head is owned by Boston Beer Co. (Samuel Adams).
  • Founders is 90 percent owned by Mahou San Miguel.
  • Lagunitas is owned by Heineken.
  • New Belgium is owned by Little World Beverages, a subsidiary of Kirin Holdings Company Limited.
  • Southern Tier and Victory (along with Sixpoint; not on the list) are owned by Artisanal Brewing Ventures.

Number of Breweries by Country

  • Canada = 1
  • United States = 49

Number of Breweries by State

  • Alaska = 1
  • California = 8
  • Colorado = 3
  • Delaware = 1
  • Florida = 1
  • Iowa = 1
  • Illinois = 5
  • Indiana = 1
  • Massachusetts = 4
  • Maine = 1
  • Michigan = 2
  • Minnesota = 1
  • Missouri = 3
  • New Jersey = 1
  • New York = 5
  • Oklahoma = 1
  • Oregon = 1
  • Pennsylvania = 3
  • Virginia = 2
  • Vermont = 2
  • Washington = 1
  • Wisconsin = 1

Previously in the Top 50 Most Rated Breweries on BeerAdvocate

We had five new breweries hit the top 50, so here are the five that dropped along with their 2019 ranking.

Like the Brewers Association’s Top 50 U.S. Craft and Overall Breweries by Sales Volume for 2020 lists, our Top 50 Most Rated Breweries is more or less a nonsubjective list. It doesn’t consider opinions, individual ratings, or overall scores. It simply gives us some insights into what our community purchased (or traded), consumed, and rated in 2020 the most. ■