This Delaware brewpub named best brewpub in the country by USA TODAY’s 10Best awards
Less than a year after Middletown's First State Brewing Co. won a USA TODAY poll and was named the best new brewery in the country, a different Delaware brewery just won another best-in-the-nation honor by the same newspaper.
Dewey Beach's Dewey Beer Co. was named the best brewpub in nation on March 8, winning the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, which relied on reader voting and an expert panel to determine the top 10 brewpubs across the country.
It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.
The brews from Dewey Beer, founded in 2015 by owners Mike Reilly, Brandon Smith and Scot Kaufman, are the top-rated of all Delaware-made beers on the popular beer-rating Untappd app.
"Just being nominated was incredible. And then to take the No. 1 spot ― I'm not sure it has really sunk in yet," Smith says.
To help celebrate, Dewey Beer (2100 Coastal Highway, Dewey Beach) will host a two-day party on Thursday and Friday, March 21 and 22, with food specials, $4 core beers and limited-edition shirts and merchandise.
Inside the big win
USA TODAY, owned by Gannett Co., also the parent company of Delaware Online/The News Journal, accepted nominations from a panel of experts for its 10Best website, which features reader-voted and editor-recommended best-of lists.
A panel of 10 industry experts from around the narrowed the field to 20 before reader votes whittled the list down to the top 10. Readers were then permitted to vote once per day.
DEWEY BEER CO. TOPS THE LIST Which Delaware brewery is the best? Beer drinkers rank the First State's 29 beer-makers
MIDDLETOWN'S FIRST STATE BREWING WINS Have you been to the best new brewery in the country? It’s in Delaware, says USA Today
Readers and brewers were able to see the rankings in real time as the votes first started coming in, but for the final stretch of the poll, the results went dark to add to the suspense. Dewey Beer was in first or second place for most of the voting period.
"So we had no clue where it was ending up," says Smith, whose brewery encouraged fans to vote for them through their social media channels. "It's one of those things where there's a fine line of trying not to be too annoying or spammy, but this win is something we'll have forever."
The experts included craft beer writer and "Good Beer Hunting" podcast host Beth Demmon; beer authority and journalist Dennis Malcolm Byron aka Ale Sharpton; beer writer and Wilmington University adjunct professor ("The Craft of Beer") Gary Monterosso; beer tour company Bon Beer Voyage CEO Ruth Berman; and Alexis Dickie, a beer and travel enthusiast who has visited more than 1,275 breweries in 36 states and 34 countries.
"Dewey Beer Co. is located in Dewey Beach, Delaware, just a stone’s throw from the shores of the Atlantic. Visitors enjoy some dozen beers on tap, from fruited numbers to IPAs and stouts, in addition to a food menu of handhelds and hearty entrees, like lo mein, pappardelle, and carne asada," they wrote announcing Dewey Beer's big win.
The rest of the list included Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee (second place), Forbidden Root Restaurant & Brewery in Chicago (third), The Answer Brewpub in Richmond, Virginia (fourth), From the Earth Brewing Co. in Roswell, Georgia (fifth), Tumbled Rock Brewery & Kitchen in Baraboo, Wisconsin (sixth), Tumbled Rock Brewery & Kitchen in Baraboo, Wisconsin (seventh), Pig Minds Brewing Co. in Machesney Park, Illinois (eighth), Redlight Redlight in Orlando, Florida (ninth), and Crux Fermentation Project in Portland, Oregon (10th).
In 2022, Dewey Beer opened a second location in Harbeson, which focuses more on production for nationwide distribution. Only two months ago, they announced the opening of a third location in Denver.
Delaware's second big brew win in seven months
It was only in August when the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards honored First State Brewing, which topped its list of best new breweries in the country.
They bested breweries from everywhere from New Jersey (Birdsmouth Beer) and Maryland (Wico Street Beer Co.) to Colorado (Public Offering Brewing Co.) and Oregon (Grand Fir Brewing).
"First State's wide range of crafts have some very unique names and colorful labels, from Intrinsic Chaos, a blood orange double IPA, to the Whimsical Anomaly hazy IPA to the Droid Dreams sour that is aged in tequila barrels," they wrote, announcing the results. "Come in Tuesday through Friday and Sundays for select food and beer happy hour prices."
Said First State owner Paul Hester at the time: "It's pretty awesome. It's really an acknowledgment of a lot of grinding, sacrifice and long hours by our team ― all of their hard work."
Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at [email protected] or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware brewery with the state's top-rated beers earns a new honor
