It’s a hell of a process. From more than a thousand submissions and blind tastings throughout the year, we arrive at an elite 20—not just great beers, but examples of the truly sublime. These are the liquids that moved our minds and reshaped, yet again, our ideas of what beer can be.

In this special episode of the podcast, Craft Beer & Brewing cofounder and editorial director Jamie Bogner and executive editor Joe Stange walk through the process behind the editors’ picks for best beers in 2026 and share some of your readers’ choice favorite breweries, beers, and more.

Which beers do you love the most? We polled thousands of our magazine and newsletter subscribers on their favorites, and here are the results.

You voted, we tallied. Here are your favorite breweries right now, broken down into four size categories based on volume brewed.

From niche specialists to multidiscipline legends, these breweries are your tops in the selected styles.

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Wayward Lane of Schoharie, New York, brews this rustic yet beautifully balanced Franconian-style landbier—one of our Best 20 Beers in 2026—in collaboration with Schilling of Littleton, New Hampshire.

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Michael Frith, cofounder and head brewer at Funky Fauna Artisan Ales in Bend, Oregon, shares this recipe for one of our Best 20 Beers in 2026—an “Oregon coast wild gose” that features locally grown wasabi root, seaweed, ginger, lime, and sea salt.

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Anthony Tallman, cofounder and head brewer at San Diego’s Burgeon Beer, shares a recipe for this brightly flavored West Coast IPA—one of our Best 20 Beers in 2026.

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Eric Toft, brewmaster at Private Landbrauerei Schönram in Upper Bavaria, shares these parameters for their Dunkel—a four-time gold winner at the European Beer Star competition, most recently in 2025.

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A carefully added spice tincture and a splash of pomegranate juice bring festive flavor to this comforting ale perfect for the winter holidays.

A live look at how breweries are turning private events into a revenue engine

An important underlying principle when using spices: Don’t throw in the kitchen sink. A winter beer should still taste like beer, and too many spices or too much alcohol can quickly hinder drinkability.

From our Love Handles files on our favorite bars in the world: The community vibe is strong at this craft-beer bar in the west of England.

This longtime San Francisco Bay–area brewer loves and celebrates hops and finds pale ale in the 5 percent ABV range (not IPA) to be the perfect canvas for expression and enjoyment.

The cofounder of Chicago’s Hop Butcher for the World shares a sixer of liquids that blew open his views on what beer could be.

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From Jean-Phillippe Lalonde, founder and brewer at Brasserie Silo in Montréal, here’s a recipe for the dunkel that scored a 99 with our blind-tasting panel, going on to be named one of our Best 20 Beers in 2025.

Bavaria’s original lager demands a balancing act that can make us all better brewers.

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Whitney Burnside—cofounder and brewmaster at Grand Fir in Portland, Oregon—shares this recipe for the West Coast pils that won silver in the 2026 World Beer Cup.

The tart apples, hint of cinnamon, and spiced pumpkin stout in the chutney accentuate the rich, gamy taste of the duck.

There are no core brands at this small Oakland neighborhood brewery, only core styles. Yet the space to experiment, play, and learn has led to an evolution in process and ingredients—an evolution validated by major medals and high scores.