Best New Breweries of 2024

Every year, the number of breweries opening in the U.S. creeps slightly higher.

According to the Brewers Association, 9,906 breweries currently operate in the country (setting us less than a Benjamin shy of that 10k mark!), including 495 new brewery openings.

And that’s only in the U.S.! But we saw new breweries pop up all over the world. As always, we can’t possibly visit all of them, but in our teams’ travels over the year, we did our best to visit more than a few.

Honestly, we consider these adventures some of the best parts of our jobs, seeking out the new taprooms, the nascent beer gardens, and the pop-up beer producers that keep our industry fresh.

So below, you’ll find a list of the top new breweries our team discovered and drank at in 2024. For the most part, these places opened a taproom for the first time or started a new brand in the past twelve months (but like we tend to do, you’ll find a couple here from late 2023).

To get a representative list, we called on folks across the Next Glass team from different backgrounds and geographies and asked them to share their favorites!

To that end, we’ve presented the best newly opened craft breweries in no particular order.

Of course, any “best” list is open to interpretation, so take these picks with a grain of salt. (And if you have a suggestion, slide into our DMs @hopculturemag).

But without further ado, here are our picks for the best new breweries of 2024.

The Best New Breweries of 2024

Marlowe Artisanal Ales

Mamaroneck, NY
Submitted by: Grace Lee-Weitz, Senior Content Editor, Hop Culture

Untappd’s twenty-eighth-highest-rated brewery in New York, Marlowe Artisanal Ales, focuses on pub beers, highly drinkable ales, and lagers. And actually, I think that makes this spot pretty underrated. In my humble opinion, I see no reason why Marlowe couldn’t crack the state’s fifteen or even ten top-rated breweries.

It’s a brewery that has been on my radar since it opened in August of 2023, so I was stoked when Half Time Beverage COO Jason Daniels told us Marlowe Brewer and Owner Zac Ross is “making some of the best beer I have had in a while, if not ever.”

The former lead brewer at Twelve Percent Beer Project, Ross was kind enough to send me a package of cans this year, and beer after beer knocked me back. One of my favorites, The Broken & The Dead, is an incredibly highly rated 4.16🌟 American brown ale brewed with Cascade, Centennial, and a touch of Columbus hops. Another is Marlito, a 4.06🌟 Mexican lager with heirloom corn, and Simply Lovely, a modern West Coast IPA collab wtih GOAL Brewing, dry hopped with Mosaic three ways—traditional T-90, Cryo, and Incognito—and Nelson Sauvin from Freestyle Hops.

BUY MARLITO

BUY SIMPLY LOVELY

And don’t miss the brewery’s excellent IPA series: Ghost Signatures, which starts with the same single IPA base before getting a different dry hop—Citra, Pink, Nectaron, Motueka, and Alora, to name a few.

“A ghost signature is a person’s signature written in slow-drying ink and then folded onto itself to create a personalized inkblot unique to that person’s signature,” Ross wrote to us in an email. “So we take the name of the hop used in the dry-hop and create its own ’ghost signature’ as the label art on each of these cans, so not only is the label color different, but the ’art’ is also slightly different. But if you know, you can tell what the single hop is in the beer by turning it sideways and blocking the bottom half of the ghost signature art.”

We tried the Alora and the Motueka versions, and while we enjoyed each, the Alora really stuck out.

Pouring like a milky sunburst, Ghost Signatures: Alora had this textural creaminess that reminded us of a slightly melty peach or nectarine ice cream dribbling down the cone.

Succulent and juicy, this hazy hit all the right summer notes, leaving a lingering impression on our minds.

Just this year alone, we’ve named Marlowe (named after Ross’ grandfather!) to our “Top 14 Beers We Drank in April,” “Top 11 Beers We Drank in June,” and “Top 11 Beers We Drank in July.” That should tell you everything you need to know.

We haven’t had a chance to visit Marlowe quite yet, so you can bet that this top-notch brewery is at the top of our list the next time we go to New York.

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Outer Range – French Alps

Sallanches, France
Submitted by: Grace Lee-Weitz, Senior Content Editor, Hop Culture

When I first learned that Outer Range, one of the most idyllic breweries in the country, planned to open up a second location in the French Alps, my jaw dropped.

But the more I thought about it and chatted with Outer Range Brand Manager Wyatt Holwagner, the more it made sense.

What do I love about the OG location in the Rockies?

When you plop down outside on picnic tables outside the 15-bbl brewhouse, here is what you see:

To your left: Mountains.
To your right: Mountains.
In front of you: Mountains.
Behind you: Mountains.

After all, the brewery’s motto is “Leave the Life Below.”

Nestled into the Rocky Mountains of Summit County, CO, Outer Range sits at approximately 9,100 ft in elevation. Getting to this town is no joke. As my car rental associate proclaimed at the Denver International Airport counter when I visited a couple of years ago, “Altitude sickness is real. You’re going from five thousand feet to almost ten thousand.” He promptly upgraded the tiny four-door, four-cylinder compact car I’d rented to a V6 Kia Sorento.

I silently thanked his generosity as my partner and I wound our way up and down I-70 that morning. We climbed past cliffs brimming with evergreen trees and snow-capped peaks. We drove next to runaway truck lanes that careened steeply upwards off the highway near a few particularly nasty curves. With no phones, no Spotify, and depleted oxygen, the mountains enveloped us on all sides like a bear hug.

“Everyone comes up here chasing a spirit,” said Outer Range Head Brewer Lee Cleghorn. “That is what we wanted the brewery to perpetuate.” Dedicated to creating a sanctuary from big cities’ clutter, confusion, and traffic, Outer Range evokes a sense of peacefulness and return to nature. Hence the name Outer Range, which Lee and co-founder Emily Cleghorn borrowed from a few lines in their favorite Rudyard Kipling poem, “The Explorer.”

“Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges–
Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!”

The mountain theme runs through Outer Range like a river at every turn. “I always think, ‘What would a mountain man say?’” Emily shared, pointing to Outer Range’s motto, “Leave the Life Below,” as the prime example.

Those four little words that have built the brewery’s foundation came from one of Emily’s favorite movies, Jeremiah Johnson. “It’s Robert Redford in his prime,” said Emily. As the film opens, the narrator explains that Robert Redford’s eponymous character has chosen to leave life below for outdoor life in the mountains. “He gave up his comfortable city life to come embrace the mountain culture,” said Emily.

Since launching on Christmas Day in 2016, Outer Range gained national attention, was named to Craft & Beer Brewing magazine’s critic’s list of best new breweries in 2017, and garnered accolades from BeerAdvocate and USA Today in 2018.

Most recently, Outer Range just picked up more accolades from USA Today as the Best Apres-Ski Bar in the country, and readers of Craft Beer & Brewing named the Colorado-based brewery as the number one Favorite Small Regional Brewery in the entire country.

When the Cleghorns decided to open a new location, they knew it needed to continue the dream that started it all.

Opening in Sallanches, a small town in France near the border of Switzerland and Italy five thousand miles away from home, the Outer Range in the French Alps connects Colorado to France through those four words: “Leave the Life Below.”

“It feels like a mountain town in another place,” Holwagner told me.

And while I haven’t had a chance to visit the new location just yet, it’s definitely at the top of the list in 2025.

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Outskirts Brewing Co.

Selah, WA
Submitted by: Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture and Untappd

Opened in late 2023, Outskirts Brewing quickly made a name for itself by clinching first place in the Pale Ale category at the Yakima Fresh Hop Festival, despite having only released six beers at that point.

Since then, Outskirts has catapulted itself into the forefront of the Yakima Valley craft beer scene. This achievement has firmly established Outskirts in the vibrant Yakima Valley craft beer community.

Located in Selah, WA, on the ”outskirts” of Yakima, Outskirts Brewing lives by the motto “First class for the working class.”

“It’s right there in the title,” Outskirts Head Brewer JT Wattenberg told us when we visited. “Yakima was built on farming and agriculture. In the last fifteen years, beer has exploded, so we want to preserve the history as much as possible.”

Rustic yet refined, Outskirts Brewing is just a good time. Want to sit down in their full restaurant for some grub in a century-old barn? Great. Outskirts Brewer and Sales Rep Brian Paxton recommends the bison burger.

Just want to crush a flight while you watch the Seattle Mariners games? Amazing, because you can get the brewery’s American IPA My Oh My for just $5 a pint.

“Replays don’t count,” laughs Paxton. “But when the [games are live], you can drink my IPAs for five dollars a pint until your lips are blue.”

Interested in catching a show on the patio outside? You’re in luck.

Outskirts is just a fun place to hang out.

With an impressive array of brews, mouthwatering food, and lively entertainment, a visit to Outskirts promises an enjoyable evening.

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St. Elmo Brewing Company

Austin, TX
Submitted by: John Gross, Director, Strategic Business Development, Next Glass

This isn’t a new brewery per se, but it is the brand new location for one of Texas’ finest: St. Elmo Brewing, and it just so happens to be in what used to be an exotic dance club. So, the new state-of-the-art St. Elmo location that opened in September is absolutely making my list of best new-ish breweries of 2024.

The first St. Elmo opened in 2016 on St. Elmo Road in Austin, TX, and since then has helped grow the neighborhood into a mighty desirable part of town. You can now walk up and down that area and get coffee, sushi, whisky, sakè, smash burgers, Spicy Boys fried tempeh sandos, and more.

One can only assume that the new Springdale location will pave the way for more tasty action as well. The transformation the space has already gone through is incredible. For example, what used to be a dance stage, complete with a pole, is now a malt storage room. How about that?!

This building previously had many names over the years of operation. The last couple were Phantasy Palace and “Austin’s Theater – A True Gentlemen’s Club.” The space was junked out, spray painted, and rundown as all get out.

St. Elmo truly glowed it up.

There are now stunning terra cotta tiles, kiddos’ playscapes, and aesthetically pleasing murals from artist Emily Eisenhart.

The new location is a significant upgrade in terms of brewery production. The OG spot did about 3,000 bbls last year with a 15-bbl 2-vessel pub system. The new St. Elmo location on Springdale has a 20-bbl, 3-vessel brewhouse capable of doing up to 12,000 bbls.

The current goal is for Springdale to do 4,500 bbls in 2025, and they are on track for it.

The new brewery allows for the production to expand their core lineup of cans in the Central Texas market from the industry favorite kölsch called Carl to include an amber, West Coast IPA, and a hazy. Honkytonks and chain grocery stores alike are full of merriment.

Aside from production increasing for the market, the on-site guest experience at the new location is top-notch.

They’ve got a world-class coffee program running thanks to their community partner, Spokesman Coffee—their neighbor at location number one. Spokesman roasts and grinds with the best of them.

St. Elmo Springdale also got dibs on Austin food truck fave Pueblo Viejo, serving tacos on the property all day, every day. They just released their first collaboration dish, the St. Elmo Crew Crunch Wrap. It is exactly what you are imagining, and yes, you need to get one.

Brewery owner Bryan Winslow has been working tirelessly for about five and a half years to get the doors open on a second location, and it has more than paid off—it’s a slam dunk.

There’s still room in the industry for taprooms to multiply, but only if they do it correctly: with intention and quality, and it would seem, ideally, a refurbished nudie club.

St. Elmo number two hit the nail on the head.

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Deep Fried Beers / Night School

Athens, NY
Submitted by: Magic Muncie, Social Media Manager, Hop Culture and Untappd

Based in New York, Deep Fried Beers / Night School is making waves with some of the most hop-saturated IPAs east of the Mississippi. Founder and Head Brewer Johnny Osborne knows a thing or two about making fan favorites. While at Talea Beer Co., Osborne created some of the best beers in the city.

Currently ranked as the eight highest-rated brewery in the entire state, Deep Fried Beers has produced twenty-five beers since opening that have received 9,642 ratings, earning them an incredible 4.23 average rating on the world’s largest social networking app for beer.

“Deep Fried Beers operates with a focus on beers showcasing bold flavors, high ABVs, and innovative production techniques,” Osborne shared with us through email.

Currently, you can find Deep Fried Beers products to-go and on draft at Night School, a brewpub/cocktail lounge/ pizzeria also in Osborne’s portfolio.

Behind both brands, you’ll find some of the best in the biz. In addition to TALEA, Osborne worked as a pizzamaker at the famed Paulie Gee’s, where he met Wesley Skopp, who has worked at Scarr’s Pizza and Post Alley Pizza.

“He really helped set me up for success, and I think we’re bangin’ out some of the best pies in upstate!!” wrote Osborne.

In addition to pies and Deep Fried Beers hop-saturated beauts, at Night School, you’ll also get a taste of the low-brow.

“We have the silly but meaningful-to-me distinction of being the first bar in NY to have Hamm’s on tap,” wrote Osborne, who went on a 115-day long Hamm’s and energy-drink-chugging campaign while tagging Hamm’s to make sure the local Molson-Coors distributor would start shipping him some kegs.

Now that’s dedication!

If beer isn’t your thing, check out the stellar wine and cocktail program, run by Nathan Gebhard, an alum from Hearth Restaurant (which has “too many various James Beard award recognitions to list,” according to Osborne).

So let’s recap:

✅ Hoppy beer
✅ Bangin’ pizza
✅ Stellar wine and cocktails
✅ Hamm’s

I think we’ll just drop the mic for Deep Fried Beers / Night School and walk out right now.

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Brix Factory Brewing

Oakland, CA
Submitted by: Grace Lee-Weitz, Senior Content Editor, Hop Culture

I first met former Drake’s Brewmaster John Gillooly when Hop Culture hosted its West Fest beer festival on the West Coast in 2018. So when Gillooly ventured out on his own this year to open Brix Factory in West Oakland, I knew I needed to stop by at some point.

I finally made it to the factory of fermented beverages in August, grabbing a couple of beers before an Oakland Ballers game.

I had a chance to sample several beers, including an elegant French pilsner with French hops Barbe Rouge and Mistral, the latter entirely new for me, a very dependable American lager, and a crazy rosé-like IPA with marionberries.

But, I have to say that my favorite was Cantankerous Youth, a rye beer with German floor-malted pilsner malt, black malt, caramelized dark malt from Admiral Maltings, and unmalted rye.

According to Gillooly, he first brewed a similar beer while working at Redhook as a part of the R&D team tasked to make a “Dark Rye” (to complement Redhook Rye). “We eventually came out with 100 bbls in our Blue-line series, so Dark Rye is the first professional recipe I was ever involved in,” he told me. “I have riffed on it a few times now at different breweries, but this is the best iteration yet. I love that I got all the flavor I wanted at 4.1% ABV.

After the first sip, a good friend who tagged along described the garnet-hued beer in stages—chocolate, hazelnut, and finally landing on Nutella! I agreed, adding that the beer finished with a pleasant earthy spiciness from the unmalted rye and Green Bullet hops. Wrapped everything up in a nice shiny, red bow for me.

So far, Brix Factory has really impressed me, and I’m excited to see what’s next in year two.

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No Seasons

Miami, FL
Submitted by: Dustin Jeffers, VP of Brewery Product and Experience, Next Glass

No Seasons is a nomadic brewery that started producing and distributing beer in South Florida this year. Although the brand is new, its founder and brewer, Theo Castillo, has a wealth of experience in the brewing industry. He honed his skills at J Wakefield Brewing and Grimm Artisan Ales. If you are down in South Florida, be on the lookout for their lager, Industry Beer, or their hefeweizen, Lemon Waves.

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Brujos Brewing

Portland, OR
Submitted by: You on Instagram!

Funny story. Hop Culture Social Media Manager Magic Muncie actually named Brujos Brewing to this list last year. He said, “A nomad brewer originally from San Diego, Brujos has been on my radar for years, but only recently have they secured a spot to brew on a large scale and serve their beer. Located in Portland, this brewery is making some of the best hazy IPAs in the entire world.”

He got a jump start on things because, technically, Brujos opened its physical temple of spellbinding hoppy ales this past March.

The brewery has quickly risen up the ranks, becoming the tenth highest-rated brewery in the country, according to Untappd!

When we put out a call on Instagram, asking you to name your favorite new breweries of the year, Brujos jumped to the top with 16 callouts and 108 likes.

If we can make one prediction for 2025: We’re getting good vibes that Brujos could end up on our “Best Breweries” list next year. Just call it a feeling.

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Smoldered Society Beer Co.

Buffalo, NY
Submitted by: Grace Lee-Weitz, Senior Content Editor, Hop Culture

Smoldered Society also introduced itself through a series of beers sent to the team. An offshoot under Community Beer Works, Smoldered Society, run by Thin Man’s Cameron Frank and Ryan Zacarchuk, likes to get a little wild.

Pulling the lineup of beers out of the box they sent us took us back to one of those underground raves we went to in Chicago in our early twenties, where people stood around drinking PBR, dancing, and watching folks skate on a homemade ramp set up in some empty warehouse.

You’ll find that sort of f**k-the-man attitude captured in this brand, from the labels to the beers. For instance, Mass Delusion, the brewery’s first rotational hazy that’s been turning heads, and Neck Breaker, a “Headbanger” pilsner, brewed in collaboration with Thin Man and Metal Injection.

But we actually jammed with Automotive Sentience, a West Coast-style IPA that we feel (dis)embodies the new wave of this style. Instead of the late 1990s / early 2000s caramel-malt-focused bitter-to-the-beyond WCIPAs, Automotive Sentience gets dosed with Amarillo, El Dorado, and Ekuanot hops and dry hopped with Nectaron, Mosaic Cryo, and Simcoe Cryo. Smelling like fresh forest pine needles, Automotive Sentience drinks like a candy jar full of pink Starburst, Twizzlers, Nite Crawlers, and Dots.

Rev your engines. If you haven’t heard about Smoldered Society, you’re about to, because this brand is taking us places.

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Watts Brewing Company

Woodinville, WA
Submitted by: Grace Lee-Weitz, Senior Content Editor, Hop Culture

We’re trying very hard to limit the number of bees and buzz puns when talking about Watts Brewing Company. But it just so happens that the brewery, named after the Watts family business raising solitary bees for commercial pollination, is quite the buzz in Woodinville.

Known for its award-winning wineries, restaurants, concert venues, and now beers, Woodinville is quite the place to start a brewery, especially one that has its own rich history.

Over fifty years ago, Watts Brewing Company Founder Evan Watts’ grandfather started raising Leafcutter bees in Eastern Oregon. Today, the Watts family is actually the largest supplier of solitary bees in the U.S.

A homebrewer, Evan started making beer on his parent’s property, opening a little side-project nano-brewery in 2016. “That was my business school,” laughs Evan. “I just started brewing on the weekends and in the evening after work and delivering kegs to a few bars around here.”

Evan says that after a couple of years on a small scale, “it was time to put up or shut up.” He quit his day job at a software company in January 2020. Perfect timing, right?

For the next few years, Evan contract brewed, selling cans door to door.

The beautiful, sleek space we sat in while enjoying a flight of beers came on the market a week before Evan’s daughter was due in the middle of June 2023. “I got a handshake deal,” says Evan. “I went home to have a baby; we got the keys September first and had the doors open by the end of the month.”

He adds, “We say we got two babies at once!”

It’s been a wild first year for Watts.

“We’ve just been sprinting on brewing,” says Watts Brewer Peter Murphy, who joined the team from Lucky Envelope three months ago.

At the forefront is the queen bee (or might actually be the worker bee)—Leafcutter—the brewery’s flagship kölsch.

Evan wrote the recipe while sitting in a ski lodge in Idaho. “This is the beer I want when I’m having lunch at a ski mountain or right when I get back to the car,” he shared. “This is what I want to crack as I take my boots off.”

A bit lower in ABV, Leafcutter has some pop and complexity while still being refreshing. “It’s a great summer beer,” he says. “But it’s got that complexity that’s just like that year-round approachable craft light [beer] around here.”

After testing ten different base malts, Evan settled on Pilsner malt for a “French-bread quality” and added Simcoe hops for that fruitiness. Lastly, a kölsch yeast gives off a white grape note to help bridge the gap and “make it feel at home.”

Overall, Leafcutter embodies Watts’ approach to beers. “When we’re working on a recipe, we start with flavor first and then figure out the style later,” he says. “What ingredients are we excited about? What flavors? Let’s put those together. But the most important thing is that it tastes good. And it should be interesting; you should have layers, so it’s not one-dimensional.”

Evan says they’ve found that three-dimensional beers are ideal. “Your brain bounces around between those points of the triangle,” he explains. “How does this flavor relate to that one? What about relative to this one? And it just magically reflects all of a sudden.”

At Watts, you’ll find beers that start a conversation.

For instance, the Solitary Series, a bunch of unique one-off strong ales and wood-aged specialty projects that Watts puts out a few times a year.

We tried a stout aged on Amburana, a Brazilian hardwood that gives off a cinnamon-nutmeg quality. Evan says that during COVID, he did a bunch of wood-aging trials with different formats and tests; Amburana stood out. “We’re just using a tiny bit here, and it really gives it a nice, almost spiced character.”

This particular version ages for about five weeks on Amburana spirals. “It’s a mixture of Amburana and heavily toasted American oak. However, the Amburana was extracted in three days. It worked super quick because it’s just such an oily, dramatic wood.”

And this was quite a dramatic beer.

As was Waggle Dance, a wet-hop IPA with fresh-picked Amarillo from Virgil Gamache Farms in Toppenish, WA. “They’re the ones who discovered Amarillo hops, so they know it in and out,” says Evan. “It was discovered growing wild on their farm.”

Bright pops of apricot, orange, stone fruit, and sometimes a little grass and mint make this beer stand out. “Sometimes we even get Froot Loops™,” says Evans, who remembers driving the fresh hops back in the truck and getting a little lightheaded from the aroma. “But I didn’t want to open the window because it smelled so good!” Waggle Dance got the fresh-picked Amarillo within six hours. And it’s flying just as fast. “I think this might be our last keg, and we just tapped it,” says Evan.

You can’t go wrong with whatever beer you try from the brain of the Watts Brewing founder.

And if you order a flight, you’ll find those beers served on custom-made trays that are nesting blocks for bees. Seriously, that’s not a pun or a joke.

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TEST

Kings County, NY
Submitted by: You on Instagram!

Next to Brujos, the best new brewery we most heard about from you, our fans on Instagram, was TEST, garnering five mentions with about forty likes. Currently the nineteenth highest-rated brewery in the country on Untappd, TEST is a Brooklyn-based test-kitchen-esque brewery that opened a pop-up beer garden over the summer.

“Quality, invention, collaboration, and delicious design are the things we hold dear,” writes the brewery on its website. “It’s a think tank of sorts. We’ve set out to create a home for good ideas, whether they’re new, partially excavated, or simply unexplored.”

With only thirty-five beers released on Untappd and 8,271 ratings, TEST already holds a coveted 4.37 average rating.

Top-of-the-line beers include A Finite View of the Infinite, a 4.51-rated imperial hazy with barley, wheat, and oats, and Nelson and Motueka from Freestyle hops.

And the recently released, Lotus Bearer, a DNEIPA with an astounding 4.48 rating on Untappd. Brewed with barley, wheat, oats, and Citra and Motueka.

From the complex to the insane, TEST seems to be tapping into that other ninety percent of our brains we never use.

At this brewery, things are no longer just a test.

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FUZE

Prague, Czech Republic
Submitted by: Grace Lee-Weitz, Senior Content Editor, Hop Culture

After dropping my bags at the hotel on my first day in Prague, I met up with a few folks for our first beer of a seven-day trip all around the Czech Republic, sponsored by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture.

A short fifteen-minute walk ended at FUZE, a newly opened brewpub that absolutely gleamed. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows stretched three stories, encasing a very modern state-of-the-art brewery.

Located in the lively Masaryčka district of Prague, FUZE pulses. You might consider this flashy spot the future of brewing in the Czech Republic.

Case in point: the glass brewing equipment. Yes, you read that right.

FUZE Co-Owner Jan Murdoch wanted a splashy space to make a statement. This means that, besides the glass brewing kit, you’ll also find vivid colors splashed on the walls and the bathroom—well, it’s a statement piece.

I started with a Hladinka of their Czech dark lager, InFUZE Tmavá 14, which after a walk in the unseasonably warm eighty-degree weather just quenched my thirst.

For a taste of something new, flashy, and glitzy in Prague, FUZE fits the [electric] bill.

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