Top 10 Best Breweries in California

CALIFORNIA BEER SCENE

With over 1,000 breweries, California boasts a wide and diverse range of styles, from hop-forward West Coast IPAs to rich stouts, sour ales, and innovative hybrids. Iconic breweries like Sierra Nevada, Russian River, and Stone Brewing have set benchmarks for quality and creativity, while newer microbreweries continue to push boundaries.

Craft beer culture is deeply woven into California’s lifestyle, with breweries often serving as community gathering spots and advocates for sustainability and local partnerships. While we have included a few of the iconic breweries like Russian River and Stone, it's the smaller and lesser-known breweries that have really blown us away. So whether you're looking for a brewery in Northern California, Southern California, or somewhere in between, this top 10 list has you covered!

OUR FAVORITE AND TOP 10 CALIFORNIA BREWERIES

(Click on each one to see additional details and information)

1. Barebottle Brewing Co

2. Alvarado Street Brewery

3. Humble Sea Brewing Co

4. Modern Times Beer

5. Lagunitas Brewing Co

6. Moksa Brewing

7. Green Cheek Beer Co

8. Russian River Brewing Company

9. Stone Brewing

10. Craft Coast Beer & Tacos

HOW WE PICKED THESE BREWERIES

While the main star of the show here should be the beer itself, many of the breweries in this list, made the list because of the location, ambiance, food options and dog-friendliness. Places that check ALL the boxes.

Also, as a disclaimer, we are fans of IPAs, and our true favorite style is a juicy and hazy New England Style IPA. So many of these picks were based on our personal tasting profiles, but we've also ensured that all of these breweries offer a wide variety of styles. So no matter what your preference is, you should have no problem finding something you like.

OTHER OPTIONS

Want to visit as many breweries as you can? Or maybe just want to have more options? No worries! We've got 20 other breweries in our guide that are scattered all over the state. So make sure to take a look!

Have questions about any of these? Let us know!