Best Breweries in Charlottesville, VA (2025 Guide)
Charlottesville, Virginia — updated August 22, 2026
Seven Charlottesville breweries, ranked from the downtown taprooms with thousands of ratings behind them to the smaller Preston Avenue rooms still building a record.
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Charlottesville's brewing scene splits roughly into two clusters: the downtown blocks around Second and South Streets, and the stretch of Preston Avenue northwest of the mall, where several taprooms sit within a few minutes of each other. The ratings reflect that split too. The downtown rooms have hundreds of reviews and settled reputations; the smaller Preston and Broadway Street operations post higher scores on much thinner counts. Both are worth your time, as long as you know which you are walking into.
1. Decipher Brewing
Decipher holds a 4.8 rating across 219 reviews, the strongest combination of score and sample size of any brewery in the city. That is enough feedback to treat the number as reliable rather than provisional, which is rare for a taproom this size. It sits at 1740 Broadway Street, southeast of downtown in the industrial pocket off Carlton Road, so it is a short drive or a determined walk from the mall rather than a stop you stumble into. Check the website before heading out, since taproom hours in this part of town are shorter than the downtown standard.
2. Three Notch'd Craft Kitchen & Brewery
Three Notch'd carries 784 reviews at 4.4, by far the largest body of evidence on this list, which makes it the safest bet when you are bringing a group with mixed tastes. It is also the most food-forward of the bunch: a full kitchen, brunch on Saturday from 10am to 2pm and Sunday from 11am to 2pm, and a happy hour Monday through Friday, 3pm to 6pm, with $2 off beer, appetizers and cocktails. Hours run 11am to 10pm Monday through Thursday, 11am to 11pm Friday, 10am to 11pm Saturday and 11am to 9pm Sunday. Find it at 520 2nd Street SE.
3. Random Row Brewing Co.
Random Row's 4.5 across 265 reviews puts it in the proven column: a solid score held steady over a few hundred visits rather than a spike from a small crowd. It anchors the Preston Avenue side of the scene at 608 Preston Avenue, Suite A, close enough to the other Preston taprooms that a short walking circuit is realistic. Of the higher-volume breweries here it is the least downtown-dependent, which usually means easier parking and a less tourist-heavy room on football weekends.
4. South Street Brewery
South Street matches Three Notch'd at 4.4 and backs it with 571 reviews, making it the second most thoroughly reviewed brewery in Charlottesville. Its address, 106 South Street West, puts it a block off the west end of the Downtown Mall, which is why it fills early on weekend evenings and after events downtown. If you are building a walking route through the central taprooms, this is the natural first or last stop. Arrive before the dinner rush if you want a table rather than a spot at the bar.
5. SuperFly Brewing Co.
SuperFly posts a 4.8, tied for the highest score in the city, but on 86 reviews, so treat it as promising rather than settled. The rating is high enough and the count large enough that it is no fluke; it simply has not been tested the way South Street or Three Notch'd have. It is at 943 Preston Avenue, Suite 2, which puts it within a couple of blocks of both Random Row and Starr Hill Downtown, the easiest three-stop crawl in Charlottesville that does not involve the mall.
6. Starr Hill Downtown
This is the Charlottesville taproom for a brewery whose name locals know well, rated 4.6 on 53 reviews. That is a small sample, and the score should be read as an early signal rather than a verdict. The location, 946 Grady Avenue, Suite 101, sits in the same Preston Avenue corridor as SuperFly and Random Row, a few minutes' walk from each. Worth pairing with one of those rather than making a dedicated trip, unless you already know the beer and are coming specifically for it.
7. Rockfish Brewing Company
Rockfish has the thinnest record here: 4.6 from 33 reviews. That is a genuinely small number, and it is included because the score is strong and the address is convenient rather than because the reputation is established. It is at 201 West Main Street, on the corridor between the Downtown Mall and the university, which makes it an easy add-on if you are already walking Main. Go with modest expectations and the understanding that you are helping build the sample size.
What we left off
An earlier version of this guide carried a separate entry simply labeled Starr Hill, listed as a tourist attraction with no address beyond the neighborhood name and no reviews behind it. That is not a taproom you can visit for a pint, and it overlaps with the Grady Avenue location already ranked above, so it has been dropped to avoid listing the same operation twice.