The 10 Best Breweries Worth a Road Trip
2024-12-08 · 5 min read
Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, has been rated the best brewery in the world multiple times by RateBeer. Shaun Hill's farmstead operation produces ales of extraordinary refinement, with his IPAs and saisons setting standards that breweries worldwide try to replicate. The drive through rural Vermont is beautiful, the taproom is modest, and the beer is transcendent.
Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California, created Pliny the Elder, the IPA that defined the American craft beer movement. Their newer Santa Rosa brewpub is a destination for beer pilgrims, with an extensive tap list that goes far beyond the famous IPAs. Pliny the Younger, the annual limited release, draws lines that wrap around the block for a single glass.
Tree House Brewing Company in Charlton, Massachusetts, turned the New England IPA into a global phenomenon. Their Julius and Green are benchmark hazy IPAs, impossibly juicy and soft. The massive Charlton campus includes a beer garden, food options, and a taproom that feels more like a national park visitor center than a brewery.
Side Project Brewing in Maplewood, Missouri, focuses on barrel-aged beers and spontaneously fermented ales that rival the best Belgian lambics. Cory King's operation is small and intentional, and the beers are allocated through a membership system that reflects their scarcity. If you can get your hands on a bottle of Derivation, you are holding one of the best beers made in America.
Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, made Belgian-style brewing in America not just viable but essential. Their White is the best Belgian wit brewed outside of Belgium, and the barrel-aged program produces some of the most complex sour beers in the country. The Portland location offers tours and tastings in a city that is already one of America's best food destinations.
Other road trip-worthy breweries include The Bruery in Placentia, California, for barrel-aged stouts, Toppling Goliath in Decorah, Iowa, for Midwest IPAs, Burial Beer Co. in Asheville, North Carolina, for Southern craft excellence, Trillium Brewing in Canton, Massachusetts, and Jester King Brewery outside Austin for farmhouse ales on a beautiful ranch setting.
