Our Year in Beer - Top 5 Breweries of 2025!
It is always fun reflecting on our brewery experiences over the past year and reminiscing on the places and people we’ve encountered along the way. 2025 was a slow (for us!) year for the number of taprooms visited, as Morgan took a 9-month break while we welcomed our second child. That said, we still took in stops across 9 different states! As always, it’s tough to determine our top 5 list… but after some back and forth, here are the breweries that made the cut!
Wailuku Brew Works in Keaau, Hawaii
During our Big Island trip, we were able to hit up every brewery on the island, and Wailuku Brew Works really stood out to us. In our opinion, this is where the best beer across the 4,028 square miles (and growing!) can be found. As you might imagine, all the ingredients are locally sourced from nearby farms, and the tropical fruits you can experience in Hawaii are unlike any you’ll find on the mainland. Their facility is somewhat small and has a hometown feel to it, as shown by the continuous stream of locals who were in and out during our visit. Not only that, but the bartender, Lydia, knew nearly everyone’s name and story! The Aloha spirit is alive and well here. To top off our experience, they had a TV showing a live stream of the active Kilauea volcano erupting in Volcanoes National Park just 20 miles up the road. While most visitors stay on the Kona side of the island, this place is absolutely worth the trek over for a visit.
Check out our full feature on Wailuku here.
Discourse Brewing in Overland Park, Kansas
Good, quality beer is the name of the game at Discourse Brewing. While we’ve only visited once so far, we felt this place rivals any other Kansas City brewery in the beer department. They do things differently than most places, as the entire menu is replaced as the tap runs dry (though they will bring back a few fan favorite recipes from time to time). Their indoor space gives off a coastal vibe featuring several huge windows, live plants, white walls and ceiling, and pops of blue - all with a centralized fireplace as the focal point of the room. They have one of the coolest logos out there, featuring a couple of rabbits and a hop that they highlight in various locations on-site. This makes their merchandise quite appealing! Based on our experience, this place will become a KC mainstay.
Check out our full feature on Discourse here.
Wire Road Brewing Company in Battlefield, Missouri
Without question the best outdoor beer garden of the year for us was that of Wire Road Brewing Company just outside of Springfield. This was an impromptu stop that blew us away! The place is several acres in size, and they utilize nearly all of it with tons of seating spread about. You’ll find areas tucked away, near water features, and under covered canopies near multiple bars. The brewery itself is newly constructed and accents the space perfectly. They specifically designated a spot for food trucks, of which they rotate in multiple on the weekends for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. With so much going on, they don’t skimp on the beer, offering close to 20 selections to choose from. This is one brewery that you don’t want to miss when visiting southern Missouri.
Check out our full feature on Wire Road here.
Bent Paddle Brewing Co. in Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth has a ton of breweries, but the one that kept getting recommended to us was Bent Paddle Brewing Co. After our visit, it quickly made our top 5 for the year. Walking up, you see their large outdoor space, complete with an elevated stage that gets used frequently during the summer. The taproom sits inside an old brick warehouse constructed of large mass timbers and still maintains a lot of its historic charm. The beer menu included 15-ish different choices, including a few award winners such as the 14 Degree and the Cold Press Black. One unique thing that Bent Paddle does is serve several of their beers on both C02 and nitro. If we were local, we’d certainly mix and match to determine how the taste is impacted. If you find yourself up north, this is a brewery you won’t want to miss.
Check out our full feature on Bent Paddle here.
Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales in Omaha, Nebraska
It’s not often that we get to meet the owner of a place, but we got lucky at Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales. Kurt, also the head brewer, sat down for a few minutes to talk with us (which we so appreciated)! Part of their menu operates as a “base beer” system where the beer style is composed the same, and only an ingredient or two will differ from batch to batch, thus slightly changing the flavor profile. The rest of the menu is simply put as “stuff Kurt likes to brew,” and with this visit, it was New England Style IPAs. Lucky for us, we like those too! This place knows how to churn out some good stuff, with everything we sampled being top-notch. Bearded Brewer offers a shaded outdoor patio and a cozy indoor space where the bar is the center of attention. Check them out in Omaha or at their secondary location in Longmont, Colorado.
Check out our full feature on Bearded Brewer here.
Photo by Elishia Hazelton Photography
Our BeerTrip adventures have led us to some great stops, with 2025 being no exception. There are truly some awesome breweries out there, and many people are constantly experimenting with new brews. Thanks to everyone for following our beer travels, and cheers to many more pints in 2026!
Cheers!
