Grace Weitz

Chances are, if you work in a brewery, you know about the Salted Nut Roll. You may have even done your own swan dive for dibs. But few actually know the origin of this sweet, salty brewers' treat

We have a secret to admit. If you open up our closet at home or pull out one of our dresser drawers, you'll find a collection of brewery sweatshirts, hats, and tees that rival any sneakerhead's selection. Only difference? Luckily, we don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to outfit ourselves with our favorite brewery gear. And we feel pretty good about supporting the breweries we know, love, and drink from regularly.

Working for a beer magazine has its perks. We love trying new beers that brewers across the country send us. It's one of the best ways to keep up with what's new and hot in the industry (that and Instagram, of course).

Do you love beer? Silly question, right? You're reading Hop Culture, so you obviously enjoy beer to some degree. But let's dig a little further. Have you checked off a

Last month, we drank a lot of beer, traveling from Bellevue to Yakima Valley, WA , for the hop harvest and finally to Denver for the Great American

One of the world's most prestigious and esteemed craft beer competitions, the World Beer Cup (WBC), has celebrated the best in beer every year since the Brewers Association started handing out awards in 1996. In 2024, an international panel of 280 judges tasted 9,300 beers in 110 categories from 2,060 breweries in 50 countries.

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

What does it mean to be a hidden-gem place to drink? We feel like the answer to that question is like watching the technical round of The Great British Baking Show. Give ten different bakers the same ingredients and basic recipe steps, and they may still make vastly different desserts. Mostly because they all interpret each step a little differently, and their own personal histories influence their decisions. The places below each appeal to us for different reasons.

Every year, we think this list will get harder and harder to make. But then we get off our butts to drink at incredible beer festivals, visit taprooms around the world, and drink beers new to us. And we listen to what our fans are drinking and where our friends in the industry are enjoying spending time at the most. Eventually, when November comes around, and we start putting together this list, we realize we have way more places than we can count that we want to shout out. But somehow, we manage to whittle it down.

Over the last 365ish days, we've enjoyed some serious travel just for beer. Undoubtedly, discovering new places, beer cities, and meccas for craft is one of the best parts of our job.