30 Best Craft Breweries In The Midwest

RAVE reviews is an online site that combines lifestyle, entertainment and travel with product assessments. They recently published  a ranking of the 30 Best Breweries in the Midwest that is interesting in its approach and not totally stupid.

And while we may have some qualms about the listing’s order, it’s a very solid collection of craft breweries, all of them worth your time…

This list was compiled based on triangulated data from recent national lists —  The Daily Meal, GearPatrol.com, First We Feast, Timeout, and Craftbeer.com, regional lists from Thrillist and Vacation Rental Blog — plus qualitative details from Wikipedia.

Then RAVE looked at sales rankings from Beer Advocate and the Brewers Association to round out things.

The following criteria was used to determine the top breweries in the Pacific Northwest…

1. Nostalgia factor– how well it reflects the local region’s attributes and culture
2. Popularity factor– how popular is it based on sales and word-of-mouth
3. Scarcity factor– how difficult it is to obtain and the demand for small batch runs
4. Cult factor– how often people talk about it and the strength of its following
5. Destination factor– how it treats visitors (tours, tasting rooms or restaurants, etc.)

Breweries can get up to 20 points for each. A 20 in any of the factors would make that factor a perfect score for that brewery. And those scores once tallied determined the ranking’s order.

And here’s what they came up with…

Top Breweries in the Pacific Northwest

1. 3 Floyds Brewing Company – Munster, IN
2. Bell’s Brewery – Kalamazoo. MI
3. Founders Brewing – Grand Rapids, MI
4. Surly Brewing Co. – Minneapolis, MN
5. Dark Horse Brewing – Marshall, MI
6. Great Lakes Brewing – Cleveland, OH
7. New Glarus Brewing – New Glarus, WI
8. Toppling Goliath Brewing Co – Decorah, IA
9. Moody Tongue Brewing – Chicago, IL
10. August Schell Brewing Company – New Ulm, MN
11. Summit Brewing – St Paul, MN
12. Revolution Brewing – Chicago, IL
13. Upland Brewing – Bloomington, IN
14. New Holland Brewing – Holland, MI
15. Fat Head’s Brewery – Middleburg Heights, OH
16. Side Project Brewing – Maplewood, MO
17. Sun King Brewery – Indianapolis, IN
18. Stevens Point Brewery – Stevens Point, WI
19. Pipeworks Brewing – Chicago, IL
20. Central Waters Brewing Co. – Amherst, WI
21. Perennial Artisan Ales – St Louis, MO
22. Kuhnhenn Brewing – Warren, MI
23. Nebraska Brewing – Papillion, NE
24. Lost Cabin Beer Company – Rapid City, SD
25. Firehouse Brewing – Rapid City, SD
26. Big Rip Brewing – North Kansas City, MO
27. Fulton Brewing Company – Minneapolis, MN
28. Lakefront Brewery – Milwaukee, MN
29. Hoppin’ Frog Brewery – Akron, OH
30. Thirsty Dog Brewing – Akron, OH

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Want more destination breweries in different US regions?

30 BEST CRAFT BREWERIES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

30 BEST CRAFT BREWERIES IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST