The Best Breweries To Visit Across The US

If you're a fan of craft beers and refreshing brews, these are the best breweries to visit across the United States that absolutely need to be on your bucket list pronto. Whether you're situated on the East Coast, the West Coast, or anywhere in between, there are so many awesome breweries to check out, each with its own special qualities, tastes, and stories you'll fall in love with. And, of course, there will be excellent beer.

So pick out one or more of your favorite destinations, grab your buds, and head out for a cold brew. We here at Tasting Table did all of the research for you, and you will be more than pleased with any one of the locales we have listed. Whether you choose one of the breweries close to home or one in a state that you've never been to before, you are surely in for a real treat.

If you love good beer, the beach, and beautiful sunsets, you will absolutely fall in love with Pelican Brewing Company, situated steps away from the surf in Pacific City, Oregon. As a matter of fact, Pelican Brewing was "born at the beach," according to the brewery. Featured as a bucket list brewery you should "at least visit once" by Cool Material, this spot that's filled with good vibes and sips will not disappoint.

Imagine tasting some of Pelican Brewing's Kreamsicle IPA — which highlights flavors of vanilla and tangerine, in addition to Eldorado and Lotus hops — or ordering some Updrift to enjoy while watching the sunset with your favorite person. And it's sure to be great-tasting, too. Pelican won a silver medal for their Updrift IPA at the Great American Beer Festival, going up against some of the top brewers across the globe in 2020. So, you know it's a must-try.

You can also join Pelican Brewing Company's Mug Club, where you'll receive a handcrafted mug that you can bring to each and every visit to a Pelican Brewing location. In addition to Pacific City, the brewery also has locations in Cannon Beach and Tillamook.

Real talk: If you've never been to Martha's Vineyard, visiting Bad Martha in Edgartown is one pretty awesome reason to plan a vacay as soon as possible. Not only is the beer at Bat Martha thirst-quenching and delicious, but Martha's Vineyard is breathtakingly picturesque. The brewery itself is surrounded by flowers, plantings, and beautiful grasses, further amping up the stunning visuals of the area. As a matter of fact, the brewery is part of an actual nursery. 

While you're at Bad Martha, there are outdoor games to be played, live music to be listened to on weekends, and an amazing menu that'll make your mouth water. If you're hungry, you can order charcuterie, cheese platters, crudités, and other goodies. Order up a flight of beer to taste, and pick up some growlers to enjoy on your own the next day.

Bad Martha claims they believe in three things: great beer, getting bad, and doing good. Makes perfect sense, right? In addition to earning tons of five-star Yelp reviews for being awesome, Bad Martha Farmer's Brewery was featured in a list of 35 top breweries in the United States by USA Today. So, take an island vacation to visit Martha. Word on the street is she's the coolest.

Brooklyn Brewery, located in the one and only Brooklyn, New York, opened its doors in the Williamsburg section of the borough in 1996. At that time, it was an affordable area for artists to live, and the trendy brewery is known to have revamped the neighborhood (via VinePair). Brewmaster Garrett Oliver is always brewing something awesome and he and his team are super creative with the brews. You can check out their fun tasting room for a tour or simply grab a beer with friends and relax. Another fun fact about Brooklyn Brewery has to do with its iconic label that's low-key bursting with New York and American pride. According to VinePair, the artist behind the label is Milton Glaser, who also happens to be the designer of the ultra-famous "I [Heart] New York" logo (via Museum of the City of New York). 

Once you're there, be sure to check out Brooklyn Brewery's year-round brews, like its Brooklyn Lager, Bel Air Sour, Stonewall Inn IPA, or Pulp Art Hazy IPA. Or, sip Brooklyn Brewery's seasonal brews, which often include its Brooklyn Summer Ale, Brooklyn Oktoberfest, Post Road Pumpkin Ale, or Brooklyn Winter Lager. Brooklyn Beer also offers limited selections, such as Brooklyn Black Ops, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Black Is Beautiful, and Brooklyn To Tokyo Yuzu Sour.

If you're going to be in the Fort Collins, Colorado area, you'll definitely want to make a brewery stop at New Belgium Brewing. There always seems to be something fun going on at New Belgium, like getting your brunch on at their Sunday brunch series or jamming out to the venue's Friday night music series. Be sure to grab something to pair with your brew from the food trucks that serve up delicious eats just outside the brewery. Examples include Corndoggies (aka an artisan corndog food truck), Mac'n (a mac and cheese food truck), Fat Tomato (a taco, nachos, Cubanos, and burritos food truck), and Rollin' Stone (a pizza truck). 

Of course, you have to check out what's on tap at New Belgium where the great brews are always flowing. Their Summer Bliss is a tropical wheat ale made with lemon and mango, while the Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA is packed with bright tropical aromas and has a refreshing citrus flavor. If this isn't enough to convince you about how much you'll love this brewery, friendly leashed pups are welcome to join in on the brewery fun on the patio and inside the taproom. New Belgium is one of the "25 Most Important American Beers Of All Time," according to VinePair, while their Sour IPA won a 2020 bronze award at the Great American Beer Festival. 

Jester King Brewery, located in the picturesque hills of Austin, Texas, has some really cool brews, like their 10 Year Anniversary Dry-Hopped Farmhouse Ale with Oats and Triticale, and their New Clear Fishin'. They're serving up seriously delectable menu items such as smoked chicken, homemade pizzas, and Bavarian pretzels. Or how about grabbing some sweet strawberry peanut butter and jelly cookies to pair with your sips? 

One of the best features of this brewery is its nature trail. You can buy your favorite brew and then enjoy all of the natural grandeur that surrounds the brewery. Jester King's nature trail is open every day from eight until dark. The next best thing about Jester King is how much they value their community. Every month, they pick a local nonprofit and volunteer for the cause, like helping to sort food at a local food bank. Frankly, we love everything about this brewery, and you will, too.

Voted 2020 small brewpub of the year at the Great American Beer Festival (via The Seattle Times), The Good Society is a small brewery located in West Seattle, Washington. They believe "together is better," and so they clearly believe in their community and enjoy doing good things for it. In fact, with every pint that they sell, they donate part of the purchase to a local nonprofit organization. 

They have a really epic beer and cider tap list, too, where you can order their Hausbier, a refreshing and crisp German ale. You could also go for their Dark Days Oat Stout with notes of roasted malt, dried fruit, and chocolate. While you're sippin' and soaking up the good times, you can share a brewer's board of tasty snacks with your best mates, complete with rosemary crisps, salami, cheeses, and olives. Or why not a white basil pizza with goat cheese, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil?

If you need any more convincing to check out The Good Society in person, the brewery was included in USA Today 10Best's list of best new breweries of 2021.

The family-operated The Alchemist brewery is located in the charming New England ski town of Stowe, Vermont. It is the perfect treat to visit as you're in town on a snowy weekend or enjoying a summer getaway. If you're an Alchemist fan, you've likely tasted their flagship IPA Heady Topper. If you haven't tried it yet, you absolutely must give it a go, along with their Focal Banger, its unfiltered and refreshing IPA. This brewery is also well known for its fun labels. The Heady Topper artwork, for example, was created by musical artist Dan Blakeslee (via Burlington Free Press). The brewery also features original artwork throughout its taproom.

Not only is The Alchemist popular for its awesome brews, but the brewery was also the recipient of the Spirit of ADA award for being "an inspiration and role model to all Vermont employers," according to Rose Lucenti, chairperson of the Vermont Governor's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities (via NECN). The Alchemist was given kudos for creatively working with employees who have physical or intellectual disabilities to help them perform their job. It just makes us love this brewery even more.

Dogfish Head Brewery is a pretty big deal. In fact, it's the 12th biggest brewery in the U.S. (via VinePair). Starting out in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Dogfish Head also has a campus, distillery, tasting room, and kitchen to check out in Milton, Delaware, while the tasting room is open a full seven days a week. You can find Dogfish Head in all 50 states of the U.S., too. As a matter of fact, on their website, you should check out their interactive "Fish Finder," where you can enter your fave brew, spirit, or cocktail, and they will let you know where you can find one within a certain number of miles. Now, how convenient is that?

This brand's brews have earned a ton of widespread love, which will certainly entice you even more to visit the next time you're in town. Dogfish Head's 75 Minute IPA was dubbed as one of the "21 beers to drink in 2021" by MassLive.com, their SeaQuench Ale Session Sour Beer was named as one of the best sour beers to drink by The Spruce Eats, and the brewery's 120 Minute IPA was listed as one of the "best triple IPAs recommended by brewers" via VinePair. That's nothing to sneeze at.

On the West Coast in Eureka, California, you can and absolutely should seek to find Lost Coast Brewery. This award-winning brewery was started by a former Avon representative, Barbara Groom, who traded in her makeup samples for making beer. In six years' time, she turned her love of brewing beer into a business that has become so popular, it became too big for its first two locations (via Brewbound). Their Eureka, California location is now serving up refreshing brews, and it's an awesome spot to kick back and relax while you're sipping.

Their website claims that "home is where the beer is brewed," and you will definitely feel right at home checking out Lost Coast Brewery. They even have nonalcoholic Lost Coast Root Beer on tap for anyone who's underage, in addition to root beer floats and ice cream in an array of delicious flavors. From their Madagascar vanilla oak-aged bourbon imperial stout to their hazy IPA, this brewery stop is full of fun for everyone.

There's so much to love about this hip brewery. And if you're a Robert Frost fan, you'll love this story. "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference," wrote Frost somewhere around 1916, and that's where the name for the Two Roads brewery came from (via VinePair).

Besides the great beer, Two Roads Brewing in Stratford, Connecticut holds some pretty awesome events, including an Ok2berfest every fall, where each ticket holder receives a celebratory beer stein. As if this event couldn't get any sweeter, they give you your first brew for free. Get ready to post with an inflatable pretzel and your stein and say próst!

This brewery was given a thumbs up from plenty of TripAdvisor reviews as well as being voted one of the best breweries in Connecticut by Bison Brew. They also received the honor of joining the best of Connecticut's breweries, as granted by newstimes. In addition to an extensive line of brews, you can check out their food truck schedule or go right across the street to PizzaCo to grab an amazingly cheesy, "garage fired" pie. And if you're feeling like brewery hopping, check out their Area Two Experimental Brewing project for their sour beers, conveniently situated right next door.

If you love "great beer, great music, and all things Southern," well, then you're totally going to love Lazy Magnolia. This brewery is the oldest packaging brewery in Mississippi and the very first to exist after Prohibition came about in the state in 1907. Lazy Magnolia has quite a lot of fun going on, including trivia nights, wings and karaoke, live music, and even a Saturday brunch event dubbed "Eggs & Kegs." 

When you're there, be sure to visit the brewery's Back Porch, their taproom. It's surrounded by gorgeous magnolia trees, of course, which is how Lazy Magnolia got its name. Kick back and order yourself a bratwurst served on a pretzel bun alongside chips and a pickle. Of course, we can't forget about the beer! Be sure to check out the brewery's Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale, which pairs well with chocolate, burgers, or steak, or a Cream Stout, which Magnolia recommends pairing with oysters or BBQ.

This brewery has received a plethora of rave reviews on TripAdvisor. As one reviewer wrote, "This is a great place to sample some of the best craft brews in Mississippi, grab a sausage and cheese plate, find some great conversation and walk away feeling like family. And you can bring your dog!"