The Complete Guide to Breweries in Rapid City, SD
Many people travel through Rapid City to get to the Black Hills, but we truly believe you should plan a day to experience the great breweries in Rapid City.
While other websites include all the breweries in the Black Hills, for this article we are only going to talk about the breweries located in or around Rapid City.
Check out our other guide if you are looking for info on the breweries in the Black Hills.
We visit South Dakota yearly and can easily say that some of our favorite beers in the Northern Plains come from this area.
Short on time? Our 3 favorite breweries in Rapid City that you can’t miss are: Lost Cabin, Woodland and Cohort. Keep reading to find out why.
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Map of Rapid City Breweries
Click the interactive map below!
HOW TO USE THIS MAP: To view the layers and see the names of the places on this map, click the tab in the top left corner. You can select the check marks to show or hide certain layers. If you select the icons on the map, you will get more information about the point of interest.
HOW TO SAVE THIS MAP: If you select the star icon next to the map name, you can save this map to your Google Maps account. To view it, open Google Maps in desktop or on your phone, select the menu button, go to “Your Places,” scroll to the right to Maps, and you will see this map.
1. Lost Cabin Beer Co
A local go-to and for a damn good reason. They craft great beers.
Lost Cabin Beer Company is definitely one of our favorite breweries in Rapid City and is the type of beer that we’d want to have if we were…lost in a cabin in the woods (in the good way, not in the scary-movie-might-die-or-get-taken way).
With a killer beer list (he-he), make sure you grab one of the all-time local favorites, the Lord Grizzly scotch ale.
This brewery invites patrons in with a great atmosphere, tons of games, and a great lineup of rotating food trucks.
2. Woodland Republic Brewing
One of the newest breweries in Rapid City, Woodland Republic Brewing is a self-proclaimed lover of hazy IPA’s, sours, and stouts.
Woodland is right in the middle of downtown, but is tucked away into an alleyway like a hidden oasis in the Black Hills. They brew everything on their small-batch 7-barrel system so the tap list is constantly changing.
Some of our favorites included the Plum Circus sour (collab with Lost Cabin), the Cloudy with a Chance of (insert rotating hop variety here) hazy DIPA, the Batter Mocha pastry stout, or the Cream Cheese Stuffed Blueberry French Toast sour which was incredibly unique and delicious.
If you happen to follow Sam on Untappd, she had several four letter words of excitement to explain the beer. This is easily one of our favorite go-to breweries in Rapid City.
3. Cohort Craft Brewery
One of the newer breweries in town, Cohort Craft Brewery is located about 10 minutes outside of downtown Rapid City.
Cohort has a range of styles available to try and we think they are producing some of the top beers in the area as well. Their motto is “Beer Minded People” and they are pushing the boundaries of what beer can be.
You won’t find many “traditional” beers on tap, but a wide array of unique flavors in each beer. They also have 2 rotating meads on draft that will exceed your wildest expectations on what mead should taste like. The ones we had were phenomenal. Chris really enjoyed their Hazy IPAs and Sam devoured the sours.
In addition to the great beers, they have a weekly food truck schedule posted on their Facebook page. We’ve been to trivia a few times on Tuesdays and it’s one of the better ones we’ve attended!
Side note: Eddie’s Taco Truck frequents their rotating food truck list. This is arguably the best food truck in Rapid City! They usually sell out within an hour so if you are going for them, don’t wait. Order it ASAP!
4. Hay Camp Brewing Co.
Before it was Rapid City, this part of town was called Hay Camp because it provided feed for livestock during the Gold Rush.
Hay Camp Brewing has taken “support local” and “craft” to a new level by renting some of their massive mixed-use building, which they call the “Mothership”, to other local businesses/groups that focus on all kinds of craft, such as Contraband Distillery, a plumber, a wood shop, and a band’s studio and practice space.
All kinds of craft indeed!
Hay Camp takes pride in keeping their beer hyper-local by only offering it at the brewery itself or at a handful of selected businesses within a few blocks of the brewery.
Inside of the Mothership, you’ll find a large but-still-cozy taproom with loads of reclaimed wood from nearby gold mines, the prominent bison skull above the bar, and numerous black-and-white photographs of the street outside when Rapid City was still known as Hay Camp.
Cozy up in one of the booths and enjoy the artistic vibe of Hay Camp, both in the atmosphere and the beer. We enjoyed a flight of their beers, but really enjoyed the piney Centennial Trail IPA and the Dino-Sour Pale Ale.
5. Dakota Point Brewing
Nestled into a multi-site location with various shops and restaurants, Dakota Point Brewing has a laid-back, just-stepped-into-an-industrial-brewery vibe. It even smelled like a brewery when you walked in.
Offering a large menu of craft beers, Dakota Point has a mix of traditional styles, like Red and Blonde Ales, to kettle sours, casks, IPAs and more. Be sure to try their flagship, Pedro the Beaver, a crisp Mexican lager that will quench your thirst on a hot summer day.
With a large outdoor patio, this is a great spot for patio drinking when the weather is nice.
They will also rotate through food trucks weekly, but not daily, so be sure to check before you go if you are hungry.
6. Firehouse Brewing Co.
Firehouse Brewing has been brewing craft beer for over 25 years, staking claim to South Dakota’s oldest still-operating brewery.
For us, we tend to find their beer more standard pub-styles beer and don’t stray far from the basic styles. We had a flight of beers, but enjoyed the Firehouse Red the most, a well-balanced Irish red ale.
They are a full-service restaurant, bar, and brewery making this a family-friendly stop. Firehouse has multiple locations throughout the area if you don’t have time to visit in Rapid City.
7. Last Mile Brewery
Last Mile Brewery is a small micro-brewery tucked into an industrial strip mall. This unassuming brewery has a small, but mighty taplist. Only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Last Mile has 10 taps that range from a Boysenberry Wheat and Honey Kolsch to Dunkel Dark Lager and Chocolate Marshmallow Porter.
One of our favorites was the Comfortably Numb, a 8.6% Belgian Abbey style beer, that will sneak up on you to create a delightful numbing of the senses! You’ve been warned.
There is standing room only at the tasting bar and you can purchase crowlers or growlers to-go. If you can’t make it in, they usually have 1 or 2 taps at Pour 54 Taphouse (see below).
8. Zymurcracy Brewing Co
Zymurcracy Brewing is a small, veteran-owned brewery not too far from Cohort. Perched on top of a hill, they have some great views of the Black Hills and downtown Rapid City from outside their tasting room.
Like many breweries in Rapid City, Zymurcracy is pushing the envelope for developing unique flavors of beers and taking traditional styles beyond their simplicity.
With over 10 taps, you can grab a flight to taste their rotating seasonals or stick to a classic flagship like their Hefeweizen. They even have a rotating mead on tap if you are feeling adventurous.
They also have rotating food trucks daily with lots of fun activities like bingo and trivia. Check out their Facebook for the most up to date info on events.
BONUS: Pour 54 Taphouse
Pour 54 Taphouse is the only self-serve taphouse in the Rapid City area. They have, as you probably guessed, 54 taps of beer, wine, seltzers and ciders to pick from.
This is a perfect bonus stop if you want to try beer from a lot of the local breweries in Rapid City or from regional breweries (Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska, etc). We love Pour 54 for those days when we want to have a large selection of things to try.
They also have a full menu and are known for their Detroit Style Pizzas. We absolutely love Pour 54 so make sure you check them out!
A couple things to know before you go:
- You must be over 21 to enter – no kiddos allowed
- You will have your credit card linked to a wristband that allows you to pour as much (or as little) as you’d like.
- There are taps on the 3rd floor only accessible via stairs. No elevator is available.
BONUS: Independent Ale House
Independent Ale House is a restaurant that has a kickass beer list. With 50 beers on draft, this is another great spot to grab some grub while sampling a large selection of local beers.
Their motto is “no crap on tap” and they rotate through kegs faster than we change our underwear (just kidding, sorta).
They don’t have any mainstays so if the keg kicks, chances are it’s gone for good.
When we visited, we split the Althea pizza, which was a flatbread style, and it paired nicely with our beers.
Thirsty still? Be sure to see our guide for the Black Hills Breweries to stay hydrated.
Looking for a different booze selection? Check out our Wine Guide to the Black Hills here.
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