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<p>Pliny. Heady Topper. King Julius. If you're a beer nerd, these names can automatically trigger some serious longing. In the past decade or so, a golden age of American beer has seen hundreds of simply spectacular (and often imaginatively named) new beers hit the market. Some are common, some are rare; some are imperial IPAs and some are imperial stouts. We're glad they all exist. </p><p>It wasn't too long ago that if you wanted a beer, your options were limited to the mass-produced classics like Bud or Coors and perhaps a handful of imports. But over the past couple decades, craft brewing has exploded the world over, with 716 craft breweries opening just in the U.S. in 2020 alone, according to the Brewers Association. (Speaking of mass-produced, these are<a href="https://247wallst.com/special-report/2021/11/01/americas-top-selling-beer-brands/?utm_source=tribune&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tribune&utm_content=americas-top-selling-beer-brands&wsrlui=811017601"> America's top-selling beer brands</a>).</p><p>To compile a list of the best beers in America, 24/7 Tempo reviewed "Top 250 Rated Beers" on BeerAdvocate, as judged by its readers. (Information on beer type and alcohol by volume - ABV - also came from BeerAdvocate.) The site asks reviewers to score beers on a scale of 1.00 to 5.00 in 0.25-point increments on five ratable attributes: appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, and overall impressions. The site then calculates ratings by weighting attributes differently (most important is taste, weighted at 40%). The weighting accounts for the fact that in the ranking here, the highest placed beers don't necessarily have the highest reader scores. Scores are current as of mid-April 2022.<b></b></p><p>You'll notice that while major brewing states like California are well-represented, Iowa's Toppling Goliath Brewing Company makes several appearances, as well as do Tree House Brewing Company from Massachusetts and Alaska's Anchorage Brewing Company. Florida is also well-represented. Clearly, there's great beer coming from every corner of the country these days, and these are the best. (These, on the other hand, are <a href="https://247wallst.com/special-report/2022/04/14/worst-beers-in-the-world/?utm_source=tribune&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tribune&utm_content=worst-beers-in-the-world&wsrlui=811017602">America's least favorite beers</a>.)</p>
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Pliny. Heady Topper. King Julius. If you’re a beer nerd, these names can automatically trigger some serious longing. In the past decade or so, a golden age of American beer has seen hundreds of simply spectacular (and often imaginatively named) new beers hit the market. Some are common, some are rare; some are imperial IPAs and some are imperial stouts. We’re glad they all exist. It wasn’t too long ago that if you wanted a beer, your options were limited to the mass-produced classics like Bud or Coors and perhaps a handful of imports. But over the past couple decades, craft brewing has exploded the world over, with 716 craft breweries opening just in the U.S. in 2020 alone, according to the Brewers Association. (Speaking of mass-produced, these are America’s top-selling beer brands).To compile a list of the best beers in America, 24/7 Tempo reviewed “Top 250 Rated Beers” on BeerAdvocate, as judged by its readers. (Information on beer type and alcohol by volume – ABV – also came from BeerAdvocate.) The site asks reviewers to score beers on a scale of 1.00 to 5.00 in 0.25-point increments on five ratable attributes: appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, and overall impressions. The site then calculates ratings by weighting attributes differently (most important is taste, weighted at 40%). The weighting accounts for the fact that in the ranking here, the highest placed beers don’t necessarily have the highest reader scores. Scores are current as of mid-April 2022.You’ll notice that while major brewing states like California are well-represented, Iowa’s Toppling Goliath Brewing Company makes several appearances, as well as do Tree House Brewing Company from Massachusetts and Alaska’s Anchorage Brewing Company. Florida is also well-represented. Clearly, there’s great beer coming from every corner of the country these days, and these are the best. (These, on the other hand, are America’s least favorite beers.)
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If it seems like a new brewery opens in Connecticut every week, that’s not far off — the state’s beer scene continues to grow at a rapid clip, with more than 120 operational breweries and dozens more in planning and development. Here’s what you’ll find when you visit these local breweries: core beers, specialty brews and sought-after releases, tasting room amenities, food trucks, special events and more.

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12 Percent Beer Project

2nd Bridge Brewing Co.

30 Mile Brewing

Alvarium Beer Co.

Armada Brewing

Full Profile

Aspetuck Brew Lab

Athletic Brewing Co.

Back East Brewing Company

Full Profile

Bad Dog Brewing

Bad Sons Beer Company

Bank & Bridge Brewing

BAR

Barley Head Brewery

Bear Hands Brewing

Bear’s Smokehouse

Beaver Beer Co.

Beer’d Brewing Co.

Beer’d Brewing Co.

Beeracks

Berlinetta Brewing Co.

Black Hog Brewing

Full Profile

Black Pond Brewing

Brass Works Brewing

Brewery Legitimus

Brewport Brewing Co.

Broad Brook Brewing

Cambridge House Brewpub

Candlewood Brewing

Center Street Brewing

Charter Oak Brewing Co.

Cheshire Craft Brewing

Cisco Brewers

City Steam Brewery Cafe

Cliffside Brewing

Clocktown Brewing Co

Cold Creek Brewery

Coles Road Brewing

Concentric Brewing

Connecticut Valley Brewing Company

Full Profile

Cottrell Brewing Company

Dockside Brewery

DuVig Brewing Co.

  • 59 School Ground Rd
  • Branford, CT 06405
  • duvig.com

East Hartford Brewing

East Rock Brewing Co.

Elicit Brewing

Epicure Brewing

Evening Sky Brewing Co.

Fairfield Craft Ales

Fat Orange Cat Brew Co.

Full Profile

Firefly Hollow Brewing Co.

Five Churches Brewing

Forest City Brewing

Fox Farm Brewery

Full Profile

Front Porch Brewing

Great Falls Brewing Company

Half Full Brewery

Hanging Hills Brewing

High Nine Brewing

Hoax Brewing

Hog River Brewing Co.

Hop Culture Farms & Brew

Full Profile

Hopmeadow Brewing Company

Hops on the Hill Brewery

Housatonic River Brewing

Kent Falls Brewing

Little House Brewing

Little Red Barn Brewers

Lock City Brewing Co.

Luppoleto Brewing Company

Milford Point Brewing

New England Brewing Company

New England Cider Company

New Park Brewing Co.

Full Profile

Newsylum Brewing

Niantic Public House

No Worries Brewing Company

Nod Hill Brewery

Norbrook Farm Brewery

OEC Brewing

Full Profile

Outer Light Brewing Co.

Paddle Creek Beer Company

Phantom Brewing Co.

Pioneer Beer Company

Powder Hollow Brewery

Powder Hollow Brewery

Full Profile

Redding Beer Co.

Relic Brewing

Full Profile

Reverie Brewing Co.

Safe Harbor Brewing Co.

SBC Restaurant & Brewery (Milford)

Shebeen Brewing

Shunock River Brewery & Village Cafe

Soundview Brewing Company

Spacecat Brewing

Stewards of the Land Brewery

Still Hill Brewery

Stony Creek Brewery

Stranger Tides Brewing

Stubborn Beauty Brewing

Surfridge East

Taylor Brooke Brewery

The Beeracks

These Guys Brewing Company

Thimble Island Brewing Co.

Thomas Hooker Brewing Company

Tox Brewing

Transcend Beer Crafters

Tribus Beer Co.

Two Roads Brewing Company

Urban Lodge Brewing

Veracious Brewing

WeHa Beer

Willimantic Brewing Company

Witchdoctor Brewing Co.

Woodbury Brewing Co.

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