If you compiled all of the headlines covering craft beer over the past 12 months and gave your summation on the state of the industry, you might grumble something about a Bob Dylan song in between sips of your Flavortown spiked fruit punch. And, you wouldn’t be wrong (unless, of course, you crushed a can of said hard juice and celebrated by yelling “whiz bang wow”). After years of infallible steering, the American Brewing ship is now navigating some choppy waters, and the challenge will be staying the course in an increasingly crowded sea of competitors and rising closures, sometimes unceremonious. (No one expected the Anchor to drop.)
Yet amid this talk of doom and gloom, hundreds of hungry upstarts still enter the chat each year — according to preliminary data from the Brewers Association, 420 new beer makers opened in 2023 — determined to provide a fresh point of view with fresh product, proving their mash paddle worthy among the industry’s elite.
To find the most noteworthy newcomers of the moment, we asked beer professionals — production staff, writers, educators, bar owners, and more — about their favorite 2023 arrivals (breweries that opened in December 2022 as well as existing brands that debuted a physical facility were also eligible for consideration). From a cask focus in the Big Easy to funky fermentations in Philly to Kansas City’s first Black-owned brewery calling a classic jazz district home, these are the breweries you need to know.
Hot Plate Brewing Co.
Pittsfield,
