Best beers from every state

- Score: 4.51
- Ratings: 137
- Brewing company: Good People Brewing Company
- Style: Russian Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 13.9%

Since locals and Good People Brewing owners Jason Malone and Michael Sellers tapped their first keg in 2008 and began canning in 2011, the Birmingham duo created the state's best beer with El Gordo. Branded as a "muscular" 13.9% imperial stout, the beer birthed Di­a del Gordo, aka El Gordo Day, an annual release party every December that draws locals together for the cult beer, along with music and food.

- Score: 4.38
- Ratings: 1,096
- Brewing company: Anchorage Brewing Company
- Style: American Barleywine
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 17.3%

"A Deal with the Devil," the 12-ounce bottle of the notoriously named ale, is manufactured by the Anchorage Brewing Company. When the six separate barley wine ale series was released in 2017, it was suggested the company's owner might have sealed a deal with Satan in order to produce the pleasurably sinful pint.

- Score: 4.37
- Ratings: 104
- Brewing company: Sun Up Brewing Co.
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.2%

The Phoenix SunUp Brewing Co. saw the light when it produced the 9.2% White Russian Imperial Stout, causing the country to take notice," and name it the best beer in the Grand Canyon State. The U.S. company reached back into European history to name the type of brew enjoyed by the Russian imperial court. Today, the beer sells out within days of being tapped.

- Score: 4.52
- Ratings: 497
- Brewing company: Ozark Beer Co.
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.2%

A bottle of BDCS proves there is a lot of power in just four letters. Men's Journal boasts that the aged vanilla and charred-oak bourbon beer "is amongst the most true to its spirited roots," which was proven true at the sold-out 2018 release party. Like the national magazine, the local paper the Fayetteville Flier calls the brew the most sought-after beer.

- Score: 4.75
- Ratings: 3,265
- Brewing company: Russian River Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.25%

The sister suds to Russian River's breakthrough double IPA, Pliny The Elder, the triple IPA Pliny the Younger ups the ABV value to double digits. Unsurprisingly from a triple IPA, it's very hops-forward with reviewers praising its "Aggressive hops, aggressive maltiness" and saying it's "absolute perfection!"

- Score: 4.48
- Ratings: 2,123
- Brewing company: Oskar Blues Grill & Brew
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 12.5%

Enjoy beer but want the ABV of wine? Then Oskar Blues' barrel-aged Ten FIDY is for you. Reviewers report the beer is "sweet and powerful" and "smooth and rich." However, this beer isn't for the taste-adverse, the complex flavor includes "espresso, burnt sugar, rich chocolate, caramel...vanilla, oak, bourbon," a dizzying combination by any measure.

- Score: 4.5
- Ratings: 1,080
- Brewing company: New England Brewing Co.
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 6.2%

It's all about branding for this #1 rated beer named after a band of yellow furry birds. Brewer and owner Robert Leonard decided the Citra hops, blended with mango and papaya, should have a silly moniker that would make men feel self-conscious when ordering it. "If [a name or design] makes us laugh, that's the common line," Leonard said of the naming process.

- Score: 4.3
- Ratings: 16,214
- Brewing company: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9%

Named after Dogfish Head Road in Maine, the East Coast brewer cornered the market when it became the first to add hops throughout the entire fermenting process. To perfect the 90-minute boil by adding just the right amount of hops throughout, the brew crew used a vibrating tabletop football game duct-taped to a ladder above the cauldron. The game would drop pellets of hops into the beer intermittently over the course of the 90-minute boil, concocting a less bitter brew.

- Score: 4.34
- Ratings: 2,085
- Brewing company: DC Brau Brewing Co.
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.2%

This single-mal, red-copper-colored imperial lager is rated for its fine taste. The double IPA blend utilizes utilizing Falconers Flight hops and serves as an homage to Mayan and Hopi calendars' prediction of transitioning worlds.

- Score: 4.79
- Ratings: 1,618
- Brewing company: Cigar City Brewing
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11%

Double rum barrel-aged beer from 50% rum and 50% apple brandy containers is the best way to describe Florida's spicy stout out of Tampa. The pitch-black stout features a variety notes from cinnamon and dark chocolate to toasted nuts.

- Score: 4.38
- Ratings: 1,365
- Brewing company: Creature Comforts
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 6.6%

Bragging about its balance of fruit and hops, Creature Comforts claims the perfect Peach State brew in Tropicália for good reason, as Atlanta Magazine notes. "Literally 15 people will come in every single day and ask for it," Eddie Holley, beer boutique owner, said of the beer that accounts for 60% of the brewery's sales in its shiny blue and orange can.

- Score: 4.26
- Ratings: 251
- Brewing company: Maui Brewing Co.
- Style: American Imperial Porter
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.4%

Seven different malts make up Hawaii's #1 dark body and creamy head ale. The combination of raw and toasted coconut, along with dark chocolate malt, set the suds apart from all other island beers made by the Maui Brewing Co., Hawaii's largest craft beer distributor. The beer has been taking home awards since 2016, winning a gold medal at the 35th annual Great American Beer Festival.

- Score: 4.18
- Ratings: 156
- Brewing company: Grand Teton Brewing Co.
- Style: German Doppelbock
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8%

As part of the 2016 Cellar Reserve series, Double Vision Doppelbock's "slightly burnt caramel flavor and malt sweetness" could very well double one's vision if not consumed responsibly. Add Reader's Digest #1 rank and opinion that the double-moose labeled lager is a "good any season beer," to BeerAdvocate's rating of the Idaho lager," and it is pretty clear Grand Teton Brewing nailed it after 30 years in the business.

- Score: 4.66
- Ratings: 13,013
- Brewing company: Goose Island Beer Co.
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 14.7%

This ink-black, smoky stout doesn't mess around: One reviewer says, "The blackness of the beer is like the inside of a coffin on a moonless night." The ABV hovers around 15% and emits notes of caramel, chocolate, and toffee-like a true stout. Goose Island brewed a winner here.

- Score: 4.81
- Ratings: 1,703
- Brewing company: 3 Floyds Brewing Co.
- Style: Russian Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 15%

When Hoosiers imagine beer, they come up with marshmallows soaked in bourbon at 15% ABV. It is that thought that made the Midwest locals malt, "brewed in vanilla barrel-aged containers," one of the most coveted cocktails far beyond its state borders. The Marshmallow Handjee, a version of 3 Floyds Brewing Dark Lord beer has been spotted on eBay with a $450 price tag.

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- Score: 4.9
- Ratings: 794
- Brewing company: Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 12%

Branded "best beer" in the world by RateBeer in 2015, four years later and the Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout remains at the top of the best beer lists. But don't let the name fool you. The Iowa brewery named with Biblical connotations saw its own battle with company owner Clark Lewey and brewmaster Mike Saboe, who alleged his former partner stole some of his craft beer formulas.

- Score: 4.24
- Ratings: 256
- Brewing company: Free State Brewing Co.
- Style: American Barleywine
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.5%

When Men's Journal alleges "it wouldn't be a stretch to call the crew at Free State the godfathers of Kansas craft beer," it would be wise to take notice. After all, the barleywine has been called the Al Pacino of the Midwest.

- Score: 4.32
- Ratings: 367
- Brewing company: Against The Grain Brewery & Smokehouse
- Style: English Sweet / Milk Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 13%

It's a whole lot of money and Kentucky's #1 beer. As the 2018 Great American Beer Festival Gold Winner, 70K is notably known for a "deep maltiness that leans into toast, raisins, dark fruits, and toffee." The brewery is soon to be opening up a sister shop in Japan for its foreign fans.

- Score: 4.63
- Ratings: 266
- Brewing company: Parish Brewing Company
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8%

Thrillist goes as far to say that Parish Brewing Company's Ghost in The Machine is one of the seven southern beers to try before you die. Between the strong mortal promotion and the slightly scary name, many travelers have found a reason to swing by the Louisiana liquor lounge.

- Score: 4.66
- Ratings: 2,546
- Brewing company: Maine Beer Company
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.2%

Oh boy, it's Dinner time. The double IPA from New England deviates from traditional beers in the area, excelling "at balance and drinkability, something that has been somewhat forgotten" by other brewers, according to Hop Culture.

- Score: 4.26
- Ratings: 610
- Brewing company: Union Craft Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.5%

As last year's runner-up in the Baltimore Sun's Maryland Beer Battle and rated #1 by BeerAdvocate, the tangerine- and grapefruit-flavored beer is making a name for itself, as is Union Craft Brewing Company. Making the malt even more interesting is one of the brewer's recent launches, Divine IPA, named after a local and legendary drag queen.

- Score: 4.77
- Ratings: 1,126
- Brewing company: Tree House Brewing Company
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.3%

King Julius reigns over the competition in the Bay State for the best brewski. Crowned as the state's best beer for its papaya, pineapple, and mango flavors, it's just one of Tree House Brewings winning ales, suggesting there just must be something special in the soil of the 70-acre brewery that has hiking and biking pathways.

- Score: 4.7
- Ratings: 6,354
- Brewing company: Founders Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11.3%

In the annual Founders Brewing Company's "Barrel-Aged Series" is where the best Michigan beer was born. As one of five run beers, Mlive.com reported "the highly anticipated beer was first brewed after Brewmaster Jeremy Kosmicki stumbled upon bourbon barrels that had previously housed maple syrup."

- Score: 4.52
- Ratings: 4,706
- Brewing company: Surly Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.2%

There's ale and there's Abrasive Ale. "An unreasonable amount of Citra hops, and their attendant citrus, tropical notes (grapefruit, melon, lime, pineapple, and passion fruit), provide this imperial IPA's foundation," is how Brewbound details Minnesota's #1 malt. Meanwhile, BeerAdvocate reports how the gold Oatmeal Double IPA's "malted oats greatly enhance the body and the high level of bitterness is balanced by this sweetness."

- Score: 4.24
- Ratings: 179
- Brewing company: Southern Prohibition Brewing
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8%

For many people, the words "crowd control" evoke squashed concert halls and parades,"but for Mississippi hopheads, it's all about the imperial India pale. The combination of citrus and pineapple in the dry-hopping draft made this malt, manufactured in 2013, the favorite of the state.

- Score: 4.79
- Ratings: 1,537
- Brewing company: Perennial Artisan Ales
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11%

If you start with ancho chilies and cocoa nibs, and then add vanilla and cinnamon, sweet heat is born from this rye whiskey barrel brewed ale. Abraxas was Missouri's #1 malt as far back as 2014, according to Business Insider and RateBeer, proving the Show-Me state remains serious about succulent suds.

- Score: 4.28
- Ratings: 888
- Brewing company: Big Sky Brewing Company
- Style: Russian Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11.6%

Don't let the malt's moniker deceive, because there is nothing terrible about it. As a matter of fact, let the name be a reminder of the Grand Prince of Moscow in the 1500s. Like the rule of the Russian czar, Ivan The Terrible Imperial Stout has been unpredictable, varying its high alcohol volume yearly and constantly keeping its court of followers under its chocolate and molasses malt full-bodied reign.

- Score: 4.16
- Ratings: 406
- Brewing company: Nebraska Brewing Company
- Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11.3%

As part of Nebraska Brewing's Reserve Series of 10 barrel-aged brews, the Belgian-style blonde ale is aged for six months. In 2015, Men's Journal rated this beer as the state's best by the brewer. It's clearly not alone.

- Score: 4.21
- Ratings: 105
- Brewing company: Revision Brewing Company
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7%

You don't have to love this IPA, but there's no denying it has the best name in craft beer. The Disco Ninja results from a collaboration between Revision and Shoe Tree breweries, reinforcing the idea that cooperation trumps competition. And beer drinkers are the winner of this collaboration. Reviewers report, "Sweet orange citrus hoppy nose on this one! Taste follows well with a nice kick of citrus bitterness."

- Score: 4.38
- Ratings: 232
- Brewing company: Stoneface Brewing Co.
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.9%

The name of the beer sounds like a new craze, which is what it has started over the chill since named the best brew in the Granite State. Reportedly a "certifiable juice bomb," of Galaxy and Calypso hops, the lower alcohol volume may not necessarily get one hopped up, but that doesn't mean the medium-bodied beer doesn't digest just right.

- Score: 4.58
- Ratings: 794
- Brewing company: Kane Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial Porter
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.2%

Hold the mimosa, there's a new Sunday recovery beverage in town. And it's aptly called Sunday Brunch. Fans say it's "Sweet, creamy, and rich on the palate—not unlike egg nog." But go easy on the refills; Kane Brewing's creation clocks in at over 9% ABV.

- Score: 4.42
- Ratings: 891
- Brewing company: La Cumbre Brewing Co.
- Style: American IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7.5%

There is nothing unpleasantly moist about Project Dank. As a matter of fact, LaCumbre Brewing's #1 craft beer is excitedly hot, gaining accolades from the Albuquerque Journal for the series of experimental beers.

- Score: 4.56
- Ratings: 559
- Brewing company: Other Half Brewing Co.
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.5%

If this is how the other half drinks, then sign me up. The Double Mosaic Dream from Other Half Brewing worked in lupulin powder, which is a potent hops concentrate with none of the plant filler but all the robust bitterness you expect from Pacific Northwest hops.

- Score: 4.54
- Ratings: 288
- Brewing company: Heist Brewery
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7.1%

Heist Brewery stole the loot with the state's top-rated beer in Citraquench'l. Add the brewers' new-ish facility in the North End complete with a taproom, and it just keeps getting better.

- Score: 4.29
- Ratings: 95
- Brewing company: Drekker Brewing Company
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.2%

A brew after Hunter S. Thompson's heart, the Freak Parade leverages a matrix of hops—Vic Secret, El Dorado, and Mosaic—to brew this citrusy IPA. One reviewer sums it up: "So delicious."

- Score: 4.48
- Ratings: 1,706
- Brewing company: Columbus Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.5%

The famed American hops variety, Citra, takes center stage in this production by Columbus Brewing, which promises imbibers an "awakening of the senses." This flagship double IPA pours a pale golden with light head that reviewers described as a "wonderful[ly] full flavor, earthy, multi-layered beer."

- Score: 4.6
- Ratings: 565
- Brewing company: Prairie Artisan Ales
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 15.9%

At $16 per bottle or can on Prairie Brewpub's website, the Imperial stout, "deliciously brewed in bourbon barrels with coconut and vanilla," is almost 16% alcohol by volume. Milwaukee Magazine rated it as #9 in the Top 10 Non-Milwaukee Beers of 2017.

- Score: 4.65
- Ratings: 347
- Brewing company: de Garde Brewing
- Style: Belgian Saison
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7.1%

Though the Northwest beer's name sounds like it is from Florida, it is all Oregonian. The oak-barrel aged farmhouse is fruity like a nectarine, without the smooth coating and fruit juice squirting out after a bite. The rotating brew comes out of the Oregon coast brewery with a funky cool letter G graphic on the container.

- Score: 4.63
- Ratings: 394
- Brewing company: Voodoo Brewery
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 12.5%

Voodoo Brewery was voted among the best breweries in 2016 by Paste Magazine. One of those beers is how the Pennsylvania brewery took the maple syrup-infused Grande Negro Voodoo Papi out of rotation for three years between 2013–16, only to bring it back from brewing in Buffalo Trace barrels to Apply Brandy casks.

- Score: 4.49
- Ratings: 132
- Brewing company: Tilted Barn Brewery
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.5%

The prophetically titled beer out of Tilted Barn Brewery has a less impressive sibling called "The Other One." Both are brewed on the owner's family farm in Exeter, making it Rhode Island's only farm brewery, where visitors can walk in daisy fields and drink up the state's best beer in a historic barn.

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- Score: 4.62
- Ratings: 149
- Brewing company: Westbrook Brewing Co.
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.2%

While the name implies a sweet, sugary experience, don't dismiss the barrel-aged version of Westbrook's popular Mexican cake as a simple frou-frou brew. This is a complex imperial stout that delicately balances the interplay of sweet, savory, and spicy. "Nice sweet upfront maple with a wonderful chili finish," reports one reviewer.

- Score: 3.76
- Ratings: 180
- Brewing company: Crow Peak Brewing
- Style: American Porter
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 6%

Mild hop bitterness and roasted malt flavors make up a Pile O' Dirt. The low-alcohol content porter in 2018 started being offered up with a piece of homemade pie at the Mount Rushmore State woodhouse brewery and taproom. A Beer Lovers Guide to the Black Hills of South Dakota reports how the brewery brings together delicious drafts and dessert, saying "craft beer and pies are fantastic together to the point that you'll wonder why no one else is doing this."

- Score: 4.4
- Ratings: 184
- Brewing company: Wiseacre Brewing
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 12.2%

This select beer is a limited edition of the brewer's Off in Space Imperial Stout series, with added vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks. The idea to add some spice to the batch by the brewery landed it a 2018 accolade from Food & Wine as one of Tennessee's best breweries.

- Score: 4.62
- Ratings: 1,933
- Brewing company: Jester King Brewery
- Style: American Wild Ale
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 5.8%

A low alcohol content ale coming out of the Lone Star State just doesn't seem right, but it manages to be just that in a bottle of Atrial Rubicite. Rather than being a strong beer with a rough-and-tumble Texas resemblance, the softer sour beer, refermented with raspberries, is "routinely recognized as among the best in the world by both critics and fans."

- Score: 4.42
- Ratings: 771
- Brewing company: Epic Brewing Company
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11.7%

A double-digit ABV beer...from Utah? Times have changed in the Beehive State, driven by innovative brewers like Epic Brewing and its relentless Big Bad Baptista (BBB) line of stouts. Another appearance on our list by a barrel-aged stout, this no-head, jet-black beer garners deep praise. The entire family of BBB stouts have taken Utah by storm, claiming the top-four spots on BeerAdvocate's Utah rankings.

- Score: 4.76
- Ratings: 14,644
- Brewing company: The Alchemist
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8%

Move aside maple syrup, because a Vermont brewer could change the state's foremost food product to beer. Though The Alchemist founder Jon Kimmich made this award-winning New England IPA, Vinepair details how he also opened the gates to gluten-free beer with Celia Saison.

- Score: 4.49
- Ratings: 389
- Brewing company: Aslin Beer Company
- Style: New England IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 8.3%

A Double Orange Starfish may sound like a character in "Spongebob Squarepants," but it's a beer. The "double dry-hopped Neutrino IPA poured a turbid orange juice color and sported a small white head with good lacing," with its first run in 2015 in the hills of Virginia.

- Score: 4.57
- Ratings: 1,021
- Brewing company: Fremont Brewing Company
- Style: Winter Warmer
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 13%

Adherents call this high-alcohol content brewski a B-Bomb. The winter ale, which includes warm flavors like chocolate, bourbon, and vanilla, sports a yeti on the label screaming as holds a barrel over his head.

- Score: 4.34
- Ratings: 53
- Brewing company: Chestnut Brew Works
- Style: American Pale Ale
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 6%

It's a bird, it's a plane, but it's not Superman. Mothman American Black Ale may not be a new Marvel character, but it is making a name for itself in West Virginia with it's roasted toffee and chocolate malt makeup.

- Score: 4.57
- Ratings: 795
- Brewing company: Central Waters Brewing Co.
- Style: American Imperial Stout
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 11%

This beer changes the color of gold for hopheads. No longer shiny orange, Black Gold, "Anheuser-Busch's Pure Gold," is much higher in alcohol. Central Waters Brewing won gold in the 2012 Great American Beer Festival's Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Stout division with their 1414 beer. Black Gold was born after being aged in the same 25-year-old oak bourbon barrels for 35 months.

- Score: 4.3
- Ratings: 832
- Brewing company: Melvin Brewing / Thai Me Up
- Style: American Imperial IPA
- Alcohol by volume (ABV): 9.9%

Slug Magazine selected this bottle of suds as the September 2016 Beer of the Month. With numerous flavors including peach, papaya, mango, grapefruit, dank pine resin, and tangerine, this beer is "an impressive force of nature in a beer world that's dominated more and more by resiny hop bombs."