While some days call for whatever is cold and on tap, there's something exhilarating about seeking out the best beer an area has to offer. Luckily, BeerAdvocate.com broke down the top-rated beer in each state to make the chase even easier. We took it a step further: what makes each of these beers unique, worth trying, and so darn delicious that you'll be craving another. Get ready to plan the most thirst-quenching road trip yet!
El Gordo from Good People Brewing Company is a Russian imperial stout with 13.90 percent ABV. This thick stout is rich and loaded with flavors like vanilla, burnt espresso, and dark chocolate.
A Deal With the Devil via Anchorage Brewing Company is an American barleywine with 17.30 percent ABV. The barleywine-style ale is brewed with galaxy hops and 11 months in Cognac barrels. You need to taste it to believe it.
White Russian imperial stout by the Sun Up Brewing Co. is an American double/imperial stout with a 9.20 percent ABV. This beer is thick and dark in color and infused (per the name) with White Russian coffee.
BDCS by the Ozark Beer Co. is an American double/imperial stout with a 10.20 percent ABV. This double cream stout is aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels. When tasting, you'll find elements of char, oak, and vanilla (and bourbon, of course!).
Pliny the Younger by the Russian River Brewing Company is an American double/imperial IPA with 10.25 Russian imperial stout ABV. This IPA is full-bodied with tons of hop.
Ten FIDY Bourbon Barrel-Aged by Oskar Blues Grill & Brew is a Russian imperial stout with 12.9 percent ABV. This beer is full of flavor; you'll sense the taste of espresso, burnt sugar, rich chocolate, caramel, vanilla, oak, and bourbon, and it is aged over four seasons but keeps a smooth flavor.
Fuzzy Baby Ducks IPA by New England Brewing Co. is an American IPA with 6.20 percent ABV. The delicate dry malt is backed by a citrus aroma and flavorful hops.
90 Minute IPA by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is an American double/imperial IPA with 9 percent ABV. This beer has big taste with great hops and the backbone of malt.
Hunahpu's Imperial Stout Double Barrel Aged by Cigar City Brewing is an American double/imperial stout with 11 percent ABV. This very special brew is half aged in brandy barrels and the other half aged in rum barrels and then blended and bottled, giving it an amazing finish.
Tropicália by Creature Comforts is an American IPA with 6.60 percent ABV. This IPA is balanced and soft, with full, fruit-forward hops.
Imperial Coconut Porter by Maui Brewing Co. is an American porter with 9.40 percent ABV. Deep and intense, Imperial Coconut Porter is brewed with hand-toasted coconut and subtle hints of cacao and coffee.
Double Vision Doppelbock by Grand Teton Brewing Co. is a doppelbock with 8 percent ABV. We love the lightly burnt caramel flavor and malt sweetness.
Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout by Goose Island Beer Co. is an American double/imperial stout with 13.40 percent ABV with a slow-building flavor and great coffee finish.
Marshmallow Handjee (Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Dark Lord) by 3 Floyds Brewing Co. is an Russian imperial stout with 15.00% ABV. This full-bodied stout has incredible flavor with a vanilla finish.
Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout by Toppling Goliath Brewing Company is an American double/imperial stout with 12 percent ABV. Barrel aged and full of the flavor of coffee, this is a strong taste with a smooth finish.
Old Backus Barleywine from Free State Brewing Co. is an American barleywine with 10.50 percent ABV. It's malt forward with a good nose and a beautiful copper color.
70K by Against the Grain Brewery & Smokehouse is a milk/sweet stout with 13 percent ABV. This sweet beer could easily be dessert: it's roasted and creamy, and it tastes like chocolate.
Ghost in the Machine by Parish Brewing Company is an American double/imperial IPA with eight percent ABV. The taste is lightly sweet with a hazy golden color, much like a trip to Louisiana.
Dinner by Maine Beer Company is an American double/imperial IPA with 8.20 percent ABV. This double IPA is refreshing with bitter hops and taste of caramel and pineapple.
Stillwater/Westbrook Gose Gone Wild by Stillwater Artisanal Ales Gose has a 4.60 percent ABV. This German-style sour wheat ale tastes light and fresh with a hint of spice.
Good Morning by the Tree House Brewing Company is an American double/imperial stout with 8.40 percent ABV. Brewed with Monson's own Maxwell Road Maple Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup, Good Morning pours pitch black in the glass with a creamy, mousse-like head.
Founders CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout) by Founders Brewing Company is an American double/imperial stout with 10.60 percent ABV. It's a flavorful mix of chocolate, bourbon, and oak.
Abrasive Ale by Surly Brewing Company is an American double/imperial IPA with nine percent ABV. This double India pale ale is hazy gold in color, with aromas of candied grapefruit and tangerine and tropical fruit.
Crowd Control by Southern Prohibition Brewing is an American IPA with eight percent ABV. Crowd Control is dry-hopped with a malt backbone and a fruity and sticky hop overlay containing great balance.
Barrel-Aged Abraxas by Perennial Artisan Ales is an American double/imperial stout with 11 percent ABV. It's an imperial stout aged 12 months in Rittenhouse Rye barrels with cacao nibs, vanilla beans, ancho chiles, and cinnamon sticks.
Ivan The Terrible Imperial Stout Barrel-Aged by Big Sky Brewing Company is a Russian imperial stout with 10 percent ABV. This brew is rich, complex, and intense.
Melange a Trois Reserve Series Aged in French Oak Chardonnay Barrels via Nebraska Brewing Companyis a Belgian strong pale ale with 11.30 percent ABV. It's a big, strong, Belgian-style blonde ale.
Bourbon Barrel Russian Imperial Stout by Joseph James Brewing Inc. is a Russian imperial stout with 9.50 percent ABV. The stout is aged in bourbon barrels for seven months, and the brew has hints of coffee, chocolate, and underlying sweetness from the oak and bourbon flavors.
Hopulization by Stoneface Brewing Co. is an American double/imperial IPA with 8.90 percent ABV. This double IPA is built with two-row pale, white wheat, and crystal malts.
Sunday Brunch by Kane Brewing Company is an American Porter with 9.20 percent ABV. This imperial milk porter has notes of Rook coffee, cinnamon, and maple syrup.
Project Dank by La Cumbre Brewing Co. is an American IPA with 7.50 percent ABV. It's a nice blend of citrus and pine bitterness plus sweeter caramel malt for balance.
Double Dry Hopped Double Mosaic Dream by Other Half Brewing Co. is an American double/imperial IPA with 8.50 percent ABV. It's pure hops, and it's awesome.
Citraquench'l by Heist Brewery is an American IPA with 6.70 percent ABV. This IPA is juicy and fruity, with mango and pineapple aromas and flavors.
1.21 Giga Hops by Fargo Brewing Company is an American double/imperial IPA with 9.50 percent ABV. It's an old-school IPA with ample hop depth.
Columbus Bodhi by Columbus Brewing Company is an American double/imperial IPA with 8.50 percent ABV. Bodhi is a refreshing double India pale ale that is pale golden in color.
Pirate Bomb! by Prairie Artisan Ales is an American double/imperial stout with 14 percent ABV. This beer is aged in rum casks, and the flavor from the casks helps impart more vanilla and coconut flavors to the beer while helping to add more body and smoothness.
Nectarine Premiere by de Garde Brewing is a saison/farmhouse ale with 7.10 percent ABV. This wild farmhouse ale is aged in oak wine barrels with nectarines.
Le Roar Grrrz by Bullfrog Brewery has a six percent ABV, a slight hazy golden color, and a short, frothy head.
Captain's Daughter by Grey Sail Brewing of Rhode Island is an American double/imperial IPA with 8.50 percent ABV. It has an aroma of citrus with tropical fruits and some malt.
Mexican Cake by Westbrook Brewing Co. is an American double/imperial stout with 10.50 percent ABV. It's a serious imperial stout and aged on cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and fresh habanero peppers.
Death Breath V2 by Hydra Beer Co. is an American double/imperial IPA with 10.30 percent ABV. Its deep golden appearance is achieved with the finest premium base malts with a light touch of caramel malts for a bit of color.
Astronaut Status by Wiseacre Brewing is an American double/imperial stout with 10.50 percent ABV. It's rich dark brown with a medium to heavy creamy body and an aroma of toasted sweet malt, oak, rich vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, and bourbon.
Atrial Rubicite by Jester King Brewery is an American wild ale with 5.80 percent ABV. One-hundred pounds of raspberries were added to oak barrels containing mature sour beer. The beer was then allowed to referment to dryness. The result is Atrial Rubicite, a barrel-aged sour beer that incorporates fruit.
Big Bad Baptist by Epic Brewing Company is an American double/imperial stout with 11.80 percent ABV. A stout with cocoa nibs and coffee beans, each season's release uses a different dark roasted coffee.
Heady Topper by The Alchemist Brewery and Visitors Center is an American double/imperial IPA with eight percent ABV. It's a sexy brew with a creamy pour of medium golden ale.
Trickery by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery is a milk/sweet stout with 13.50 percent ABV. Imperial milk stout is aged in apple brandy barrels for eight months for a smooth apple brandy finish of warm caramel, blackstrap molasses, and chocolate-covered cherries.
Bourbon Barrel Aged Abominable: Coffee and Cinnamon by Fremont Brewing Company is an American strong ale with 14 percent ABV. It has a warming spicy aroma and rich carmelly notes of bourbon, wood, and vanilla added to dark roasty chocolaty malt flavors and subtle hopping.
On the Wings of Armageddon by DC Brau Brewing Co. is an American double/imperial IPA with 9.20 percent ABV. A seasonal special, it has a great aroma of citrus and pine and a medium finish.
Halleck Pale Ale by Chestnut Brew Works is an American pale ale (APA) with six percent ABV. It's a delectably hoppy beer without the harsh bitterness.
Wisconsin Belgian Red by New Glarus Brewing Company is a fruit/vegetable beer with four percent ABV. This beer is brewed with whole Montmorency cherries, Wisconsin farmed wheat, and Belgian roasted barleys, lagered in oak tanks, and balanced by Hallertau hops.
2x4 DIPA by Melvin Brewing/Thai Me Up is an American double/imperial IPA with 9.90 percent ABV. This brew is floral and citrusy, with a clean taste of hops.