The St. Louis beer scene is back on the ballot for the 2026 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, a reminder that despite recent brewery closures and a few contractions, this beer town is still energized—and always evolving. Voting runs through late February, with winners announced in early March.
This year’s nominations span four beer-focused categories: Best Beer City for St. Louis itself, Best Brewpub for Perennial on Lockwood, Best New Brewery for Blue Jay Brewing Company, and Best Brewery Tour for Anheuser-Busch.
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If this lineup feels familiar, it should. St. Louis dominated the USA Today beer rankings from 2018 through 2020, and it has remained near the top ever since.
The Beer Scene Today
“In many ways, the pre-COVID St. Louis beer scene feels like a different era,” says Troika Brodsky, executive director of STL Beer, a nonprofit that champions the region’s breweries, promotes beer tourism, and advocates for local producers. “The last six years brought real disruption—rising costs, supply chain pressures, shifting consumer habits, and tough decisions that led to some brewery closures. Not everything snapped back to ‘normal,’ and pretending otherwise wouldn’t be honest.”
That disruption, he says, forced a reset and made the community more deliberate. “Brewers today are more disciplined, more innovative, and more intentional than ever,” Brodsky says. “While some beloved breweries were lost, new ones emerged, others evolved, and the overall quality, creativity, and professionalism of the scene has continued to rise.”
The National Spotlight
Recognition like USA Today’s 10Best plays an important role in the local beer scene’s growth, says STLBeer creative director Brian Margiotta, “National recognition helps put St. Louis on the map as a beer destination,” Margiotta says. “That kind of attention brings new eyes to our brewing scene and often to the city itself prompting visitors to check out our neighborhoods, restaurants, shops, and other local businesses.”
For many people who still associate St. Louis with just Anheuser-Busch, the modern craft scene is a surprise.“The most surprising thing is the sheer diversity of beer available,” Margiotta says. “You can find everything from stouts, saisons, sours, and hazy IPAs to classic styles and even several breweries that focus heavily on the style that helped put St. Louis on the map: lagers. Simply put, there’s a beer for everyone in St. Louis.”
