Best American Beers: 12 Ranked by a Homebrewer, From Pale Ale to Imperial Stout

The best American beer is Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, a near-perfect American IPA and, for many drinkers, simply the best beer in America: balanced, hugely drinkable and packed with pine and grapefruit hops. That is my verdict after buying and tasting the great American styles side by side, every one out of my own pocket, and scoring each on aroma, balance, body and drinkability.

I am Dan, and beer is my life. I have been an active homebrewer for over 10 years and have tasted breweries all over the world. This guide is built from my own tasting notes, with honest scores and a full review behind every pick. You can read more about me or see everything I have reviewed on my author page.

America did not invent beer, but it reinvented it. The US craft movement took old European styles, cranked up the hops and built a brewing scene the whole world now copies. Below is the best American beer for every taste, ranked together across the styles America does best. A quick map: the pale ale and IPA are the hop-forward heart of American craft; the amber ale and amber lager are the smooth, malty everyday beers; the porter and stout are the rich dark ones; and the California common and altbier are uniquely American amber styles with real history. There is a great American beer here for everyone.

The Best American Beers, Ranked

Here is the short version, ranked by how they actually taste. Full reviews are linked under each pick.

Rank	Beer	Style	ABV	Calories	Our score
1	Bell’s Two Hearted Ale	American IPA	7.0%	220	4.8/5
2	Ballast Point Sculpin IPA	West Coast IPA	7.0%	210	4.6/5
3	North Coast Old Rasputin	Russian imperial stout	9.0%	300	4.6/5
4	Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro	Milk (sweet) stout	6.0%	200	4.5/5
5	Anchor Steam Beer	California common (steam beer)	4.9%	150	4.4/5
6	Deschutes Black Butte Porter	American porter	5.2%	170	4.4/5
7	Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA	West Coast IPA	7.2%	220	4.4/5
8	Sierra Nevada Pale Ale	American pale ale	5.6%	175	4.3/5
9	New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale	American amber ale	5.2%	160	4.1/5
10	Alaskan Amber	Altbier (amber ale)	5.3%	160	4.1/5
11	Samuel Adams Boston Ale	American amber ale	5.4%	170	4.0/5
12	Yuengling Traditional Lager	American amber lager	4.5%	140	4.0/5

The Best American Beers at a Glance

Swipe through the top picks and tap any card to jump straight to the full write-up.

Best American Beer Overall: Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

For many American drinkers this is simply the best beer in the country, and it is hard to argue. Two Hearted is a near-perfect American IPA, single-hopped with Centennial for a clean wave of pine, grapefruit and citrus over a smooth malt base, all while staying beautifully balanced and hugely drinkable. The complete package.

Bell’s Two Hearted Ale is the American IPA that most other IPAs are quietly measured against, a single-hop Centennial beauty that is fruity, balanced and endlessly drinkable.

Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.

• Also worth trying: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our best IPA guide.

Best American Original: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

No beer did more to launch American craft than this. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, with its piney, grapefruit Cascade hop character over a caramel-malt base, defined the American pale ale and inspired thousands of breweries. It is still fresh, balanced and brilliant, the beer the whole movement grew from.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the beer that kick-started American craft, a Cascade-hopped classic that is a touch lighter than an IPA and the perfect gateway into hoppy beer.

Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.

• Also worth trying: New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale

Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Sierra Nevada Torpedo review.

Best American Lager: Yuengling Traditional Lager

From America’s oldest brewery, founded in 1829, Yuengling Traditional Lager is a genuine institution. It is a smooth amber lager with a bit more malt character than a standard light lager, easy, affordable and iconic. The beer East Coasters drink by the case with real affection.

Yuengling Traditional Lager is a classic American amber lager from the country’s oldest brewery, a smooth, easy beer with light caramel malt and a clean finish.

Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.

• Also worth trying: Anchor Steam Beer

Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our best lager beers guide.

Best American Stout: North Coast Old Rasputin

America runs the imperial stout better than almost anyone, and Old Rasputin is a benchmark. It is a big, bold Russian imperial stout, rich with dark chocolate, espresso and dark fruit over a full, warming body at 9%. Intense but superbly balanced, it is a proper cold-weather sipper.

Old Rasputin is one of the great American Russian imperial stouts, a rich, roasty, 9% monster that is widely available and endlessly rewarding.

Serve it right: A big, rich stout shows best in a stemmed tulip or snifter that traps the aroma and lets you swirl it. This is the glass for imperial and barrel-aged stouts you want to sip slowly.

• Also worth trying: Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our best stouts guide.

Best Uniquely American Beer: Anchor Steam

For a beer you can only really get from America, Anchor Steam is the one. It is a California common, or steam beer, a Gold Rush-era style using lager yeast fermented warm, giving a crisp, toasty amber beer with a woody hop snap. Anchor kept the style alive and helped start US craft brewing. Living history in a glass.

Anchor Steam is America’s original craft beer and the last of the California commons, a smooth amber lager-ale hybrid with toasty malt and a woody hop snap.

Serve it right: A classic dry or milk stout is made for a proper pint glass, poured to build a thick, creamy head. This is a best-reviewed everyday set.

• Also worth trying: Alaskan Amber

Pairing it with food? Try our beer and food pairing guide. More like this in our Alaskan Amber review.

Explore More Beer Guides

Want to go wider? These guides cover the rest of the beer world:

• Best beers (all our guides)
• Best IPA
• Best stouts
• Best lager beers

American Beer FAQs

What is America’s most famous beer style?

The IPA is the flagship of American craft brewing. The US took the English India pale ale, loaded it with bold citrus and pine hops, and created the West Coast IPA and later the hazy IPA. American pale ales, amber ales and big imperial stouts are also hugely influential.

What is the difference between an American and an English pale ale?

An American pale ale or IPA is far more hop-forward, with bold citrus, pine and tropical-fruit flavours, while an English pale ale is malt-led, smooth and gently hopped. America is about the hops; England is about balance.

What is Anchor Steam and why is it important?

Anchor Steam is a California common, a uniquely American style using lager yeast fermented warm. Anchor kept the style alive and helped kick-start the US craft-beer movement, so it is often called America’s original craft beer.

Which is America’s oldest brewery?

Yuengling, founded in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1829, is the oldest operating brewery in the United States. Its Traditional Lager is a genuine American institution, especially on the East Coast.

How We Test and Score

Every beer here was bought with my own money and tasted properly, not skimmed from a spec sheet. I score each on aroma, balance, body, drinkability and how well it does the job it is built for. Simple beers are not marked down for being simple, but the ones with real character and balance score higher. You can see every score on the individual beer reviews.