Highest-rated beer in California

After more than a decade of massive growth, the beer industry is experiencing a slowdown. According to the Brewers Association, in 2024, nationwide closings of brewpubs and taprooms outpaced openings for the first time in 14 years, and overall beer production volume decreased by 1.2%.

Changing consumer preferences factor into this decline. The convenience of ready-to-drink cocktails has increased spirits sales, but many people are simply opting to drink less. A January 2025 survey from NCSolutions found that almost half of Americans plan to cut back on their drinking in 2025.

To achieve this goal, some people are shifting to non-alcoholic drinks, including NA beers. This has created demand for higher-quality NA beers, including non-alcoholic IPAs and stouts. Other consumers are opting for moderation, looking for session beers and light beers that are still full of flavor.

That said, hop-forward beers are still popular—for example, hazy IPAs were the most popular entrant in the 2025 World Beer Cup. Fruit beers are also having a moment, with cherry and raspberry leading the pack in a 2024 report from Research and Markets, while drinkers looking for sweeter options can find brewers experimenting with candy-infused beers. Many beer makers are revisiting regional flavors on traditional styles, such as Czech pilsners, Mexican lagers, and Vienna lagers. At the same time, craft brewers continue to push the envelope to find new ways to excite beer lovers, often using unusual ingredients like sage, peppercorn, watermelon, and garlic.

Among all these different options, certain beers still appeal to hopheads more than others. Stacker compiled a list of the best beers from California using data from BeerAdvocate and sorted them according to their weighted ranking. Beers without images were excluded. Only beers that made BeerAdvocate's top 100 list by state were included.