“Best American beer” gets asked a hundred different ways depending on who’s asking, someone wants a macro lager recommendation, someone else wants to know which independent craft brewery to trust. I get this question a lot, so here’s how I’d actually answer it depending on what you’re looking for.
If You Want the Biggest Independent Craft Breweries
The Brewers Association’s most recent ranking of the 50 largest craft brewing companies puts D.G. Yuengling and Son (Pottsville, Pennsylvania) at number one, with Sierra Nevada Brewing (Chico, California) at number two, followed by Boston Beer Company and Athletic Brewing in the top six. What’s notable is that being big hasn’t meant getting worse, Yuengling and Sierra Nevada are both still widely respected on quality, not just volume.
The Biggest Independent Craft Breweries Right Now
| Brewery | Known For | Where They Rank |
|---|---|---|
| D.G. Yuengling and Son | America’s oldest brewery, amber lager | #1 largest craft brewer |
| Sierra Nevada Brewing | Pale Ale, one of the most consistent craft brands | #2 largest craft brewer |
| Boston Beer Company | Samuel Adams, wide lineup | Top 6 largest craft brewer |
| Athletic Brewing | Non-alcoholic craft beer pioneer | Top 6 largest craft brewer |
If You Want Enthusiast Benchmarks
Ask a hardcore beer nerd instead of a sales chart and you’ll hear different names: Bell’s, Founders, Allagash, Firestone Walker, and Russian River come up constantly as the benchmarks other breweries measure themselves against. I’ve reviewed a good chunk of the Revolution Brewing lineup and the New Realm Brewing lineup if you want a sense of what’s happening below the household names too, plenty of excellent beer is being made by breweries that will never crack a top-50 sales list.
Bell’s Two Hearted Ale is the one enthusiast pick I’d actually put money behind if someone asked me for a single bottle to try, it has topped blind IPA rankings for years and still tastes like it earned it.
Regional Identity Still Matters More Than People Think
Ask someone from the West Coast for their pick and you’ll usually get a hop-forward IPA, Sierra Nevada, Russian River, or something out of San Diego. Ask someone from the Midwest and Bell’s, Founders, or Three Floyds tends to come up instead, breweries with a bit more malt backbone and a real cold-weather-beer sensibility. New England has built its own identity almost entirely around hazy IPA, and the Southeast (Creature Comforts, SweetWater) leans lighter and more sessionable, which tracks with the climate. None of that makes one region’s style objectively better, but it’s worth knowing before you assume the beer everyone’s talking about online is automatically the right pick for what you’re actually craving.
Independent vs Big-Beer-Owned: Does It Actually Matter?
It’s worth knowing which “craft” beers are actually owned by the large beer conglomerates versus genuinely independent. Toppling Goliath, Three Floyds, and Creature Comforts are frequently cited as strong genuinely independent options, each known for bold, distinct beers rather than chasing a mainstream profile. That doesn’t automatically make a big-beer-owned brand worse, plenty of those beers are still made by the same brewers with the same process, but it’s a fair question to ask if independence matters to you personally.
If lager specifically is what you’re after rather than IPA or stout, my best fall beers list from actual bar owners and buyers leans heavily into that category, and my ale versus lager explainer is a good starting point if you’re still working out which broad style category you actually prefer.
For the hop-forward end of American brewing specifically, my IPA Brands guide covers the 10 brands that actually built that style’s reputation, and my Lager Brands roundup does the same for the lager side, from Budweiser up through craft. Blue Moon, covered in my full Blue Moon writeup, is a good example of a brand that blurs the line between the two camps this piece talks about.
More American Craft Reviews Worth Reading
I have reviewed a lot more of the American craft scene than fits in one piece. If the brands above interested you, these are worth chasing down too:
- Pliny the Elder
- Zombie Dust
- Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
- Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing
- SweetWater 420 Extra Pale Ale
- Voodoo Ranger IPA
- Maine Beer Company Lunch IPA
- Anchor Steam Beer
- Samuel Adams Boston Lager
- Sierra Nevada Stout
FAQs
What’s the largest independent American craft brewery?
D.G. Yuengling and Son, based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, ranked as the largest craft brewing company in America according to the Brewers Association’s most recent count, with Sierra Nevada Brewing at number two.
Is Samuel Adams still considered a craft beer?
Yes, Boston Beer Company still qualifies as a craft brewer under the Brewers Association’s definition, since it remains independently owned despite its size.
What’s the difference between a big sales ranking and an enthusiast favorite list?
Sales rankings measure volume and distribution, which favors long-established, widely available breweries. Enthusiast lists tend to favor smaller, harder-to-find breweries known for bold or unusual beers, regardless of how much they actually sell nationally.
