The 10 Best Craft Breweries in Orlando

Central Florida’s taprooms run from a Winter Garden market hall to Orlando’s first meadery to a half-barrel pilot system near the convention center — and this category was the pilot’s closest race, with the top five separated by half a point. The dataset is the pilot’s audited compile, converted to the series scoring system and re-verified against fresh Google data on November 14, 2026: 28 candidates, 25 over the evidence bar, and a top ten that re-scored exactly as the pilot had it.

How we rank: every business is ordered by its Net Score (0–100), which blends its public ratings from Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp and the other review sources we could retrieve — weighted by review volume, then adjusted so a handful of five-star reviews can’t outrank a proven track record (Bayesian shrinkage, m = 200, disclosed in our methodology). A business needs at least 25 public reviews to be ranked. Scores compare only within this category. Ratings retrieved November 14, 2026.

1. Crooked Can Brewing Company — Net Score 92.6 (Winter Garden)

🏆 Winner feature: Read our full profile of Crooked Can Brewing Company — why it won, what to try, and the badge to share.

Blended 4.7★ from 2,198 reviews — Google 4.9★ (1,130), TripAdvisor 4.6★ (398), Yelp 4.5★ (670).

Get: The Space Cowboi hazy double IPA, all pineapple, guava and citrus, is the pour reviewers name first; hop traditionalists steer to the High Stepper, a bitter, balanced West Coast IPA that one regular pairs with brisket from a market stall a few steps away. The Florida Sunshine lager drinks easy and faintly toasty.

Local detail: The brewery anchors Plant Street Market, a food hall of roughly twenty local vendors, so the whole group can eat something different. Reviewers linger at the long counter watching the brewhouse through glass; there are Sunday brewery tours, Wednesday jukebox bingo, and a patio that fills with dogs.

2. Zymarium Meadery — Net Score 92.5 (Mills 50)

Blended 5.0★ from 130 reviews — Google (1 reviews), Yelp 5★ (129).

Get: Start with the “Every Mead is Unique” flight if mead is new to you. Reviewers single out Miel de Miel, the traditional honey mead, and Golden Helix — the owner’s own favorite — plus the Florida Lychee and the ube-based Ube Noir.

Skip: Bottles to take home run premium; check the price before you commit to a haul.

Local detail: Orlando’s first meadery pours 20-plus meads from local raw honey in a dark, moody room — black booths, gold honeycomb, synthwave on the speakers. Staff pour samples and coach first-timers gladly. Parking is in the big private lot behind, off Lake Highland Drive, and the room leans into seasonal themes (its Halloween vampire-bar run served a fruited mead in IV blood bags).

3. Sideward Brewing Co. — Net Score 92.4 (Milk District)

Blended 4.7★ from 928 reviews — Google 4.8★ (652), TripAdvisor (19 reviews), Yelp 4.6★ (257).

Get: Two hazies dominate the reviews: Space Wizard and 1,000 Goblins, both praised for soft texture and citrusy hops that linger. From the kitchen, the chicken Caesar wrap has a genuine cult following, the pretzel comes with pimento cheese, and the bánh mì is built on bulgogi pulled pork.

Local detail: A family-run operation where you drink about fifty feet from where the beer was made. The covered patio takes leashed dogs, the house cider is naturally gluten-free, and weekday lunch runs a sandwich-or-wrap, chips and a pint deal. Closed Mondays.

4. Wop’s Hops Brewing Company — Net Score 92.1 (Sanford)

Blended 4.8★ from 469 reviews — Google 4.9★ (289), TripAdvisor 4.7★ (36), Yelp 4.5★ (144).

Get: The dark beers draw the superlatives — a bourbon-barrel-aged stout and a 10% imperial stout brewed with chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla — while the Cherry Cola Sour converts skeptics. The signature snack is the Wop-Sicle, a meatball on a stick; the cheeseburger flatbread also gets repeat mentions.

Skip: Kitchen reviews are split — at least one detailed pan of the food sits alongside plenty of burger praise. Come beer-first and treat the menu as a bonus.

Local detail: Sanford’s first brewery (opened 2014) works out of the old Stokes Fish Market building and is veteran-owned. There’s a dog-friendly beer garden, live music most weekends, and the packed-with-locals energy of a neighborhood bar.

5. Half Barrel Beer Project — Net Score 92.1 (I-Drive)

Blended 4.8★ from 272 reviews — Google 5★ (95), TripAdvisor 4.8★ (41), Yelp 4.7★ (136).

Get: Sours are the house specialty: Put the Lime in the Coconut is award-winning, the PB&J sour tastes uncannily like an Uncrustable, and Cake A.F. gets called fantastic. The wings earn caps-lock praise (ask for extra sauce), as do the chicken nachos and cheese curds.

Skip: Know before you go — on some visits only a couple of house beers are pouring among the twenty or so taps; the rest are guest Florida breweries. To-go beer is pricey.

Local detail: Everything house-made comes off a half-barrel pilot system, minutes from the convention center and Epic Universe — reviewers treat it as the decompression stop after a park day. The owners are from Michigan, so Detroit teams get the TVs, and there’s an 80s nook with a Madonna poster.

6. Bowigens Beer Company — Net Score 91.5 (Casselberry)

Blended 4.8★ from 364 reviews — Google 4.9★ (227), TripAdvisor (10 reviews), Yelp 4.5★ (127).

Get: The 7 Layer Stout is the beer reviewers travel for. The 407 Pils is the crisp counterpoint, and the Daydream Tangerine wheat ale is the sunny-day order.

Local detail: A small, intimate neighborhood taproom tucked into a strip plaza — easy to drive past, so look carefully. There’s no kitchen; restaurants in the same plaza deliver, outside food is welcome, and the patio is pet-friendly. The founders came out of the local music scene and brew like it: creative, non-traditional takes on IPAs especially.

7. Deviant Wolfe Brewing — Net Score 90.7 (Sanford)

Blended 5.0★ from 66 reviews — Google 5★ (66).

Get: Sourmanjaro, a coffee-conditioned sour blonde, is the signature; Besitos de Coco brown ale is the award-winner; the carrot-cake sour (Don’t Feed the Rabbids) and the cereal-inspired Chocula imperial stout show the playful end of the board.

Skip: Tasters are limited — one reviewer flagged sampling caps, so arrive with a flight plan rather than expecting to try everything.

Local detail: Sunday mornings start with yoga in the taproom (the class includes a beer), Wednesdays are trivia, and race-medal donors drink free. SLAM Pizza delivers, and you’re welcome to carry in food from any downtown Sanford restaurant to the family-style tables.

8. Hourglass Brewing — Net Score 90.3 (Longwood)

Blended 4.6★ from 1,142 reviews — Google 4.7★ (745), TripAdvisor 4.5★ (97), Yelp 4.5★ (300).

Get: The Saison Du Sablier and the milk stout are longtime regulars’ picks; the I-4 Eyesore citrus lager and Hiram’s Secret Sauce (strawberry-lemon) cover the refreshing end. If the 19% Barrel Aged Apricaustic is on, split it.

Skip: The pinball and arcade machines reviewers loved have been removed, and Friday nights can get loud with kids. There’s no kitchen.

Local detail: A huge 240-seat room built around a glass-walled brewhouse, heavy on sci-fi art. Waco Taco and Papa Bee’s sit in the same plaza and their food is welcome inside. Parents note — and praise — the changing station in the men’s room.

9. Ten 10 Brewing Company — Net Score 89.5 (Mills 50)

Blended 4.6★ from 625 reviews — Google 4.8★ (267), TripAdvisor 4.3★ (67), Yelp 4.5★ (291).

Get: Chronically Mismanaged hazy IPA leads the tap list; the Subtropic Saint Kölsch is the regulars’ refresher, and one TripAdvisor reviewer calls the coffee stout the best in the city. The kitchen smokes wings on a Big Green Egg (jalapeño garlic is the order), and the pretzel with beer cheese and house-made Coney Dog are staples.

Skip: Outside food isn’t the move here — the scratch kitchen is half the point, and it stops serving an hour before the taproom closes.

Local detail: A music-first room: vinyl on the turntables and bartenders who sing along. The Orlando Sentinel named it Best Brewery in its 2026 Best of Orlando (critic’s and readers’ choice). There’s a run club, and dogs are welcome.

10. Brewlando Brewing — Net Score 88.8 (Hoffner)

Blended 4.6★ from 352 reviews — Google 4.6★ (276), TripAdvisor (3 reviews), Yelp 4.5★ (73).

Get: Jernigan’s Hazy IPA — the official beer of UCF Athletics — is the flagship pour; the Coco Crème cream ale and the milk stout both drew specific praise, and the Nona Street Pizza truck outside is a destination in itself.

Skip: Private rooms carry a booking/minimum-spend expectation — don’t just occupy one. A recent regular also reports the once-famous dog-friendliness has tightened.

Local detail: A sprawling, warm-industrial hall minutes from Orlando International Airport, which makes it a legitimate layover or pre-pickup stop. Twenty-plus house beers, free tours (daily at 4 p.m. per review roundups), and strong UCF game-day energy.

Part of Orlando Citizen’s Top Businesses in Orlando series. Net Scores are recalculated from fresh public review data each edition.

Photo: 2014/365/231 Top o' The Tanks by cogdogblog · CC0 · via Flickr via Openverse · AI-enhanced to magazine grade by Orlando Citizen.

Filed under Orlando · Rankings · Top Businesses

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