In the U.S. beer industry’s three-tiered system, that second tier of distribution can’t be overrated.

Yes, it takes a brewer to make beer, and it takes bars and shops willing to set aside taps and shelf space to sell it, but the folks who cover the ground in between have a lot of say in whose beer appears where. It’s why Kentucky just prevented Anheuser-Busch InBev BUD, -0.75% from owning distributors in its state, why North Carolina beer is being debated in its halls of government, why Pennsylvania beer law evolves at a glacial pace and why Florida took three years to debate the merits of the standard 64-ounce growler.

That is why the Craft Brew Alliance gave a 32% share to A-B for access to its distribution network and why A-B had to pay for the rights to distribute its own recently purchased 10 Barrel Brewing Co. products in 10 Barrel’s native Oregon and to sue to distribute newly purchased Elysian in New Jersey. But it’s also why Beer Army recently closed its doors in North Carolina. Distribution can turn a local, traditional brewer into a national powerhouse, but it can also be the biggest obstacle between a popular brewpub and its dreams of reaching a broader audience as a production brewery.

With more than 3,400 breweries in the U.S. and another 2,000 in the planning stages, according to the Brewers Association craft beer industry group, there’s something to be said for keeping your brewery’s reach small or at least regional. Broaden that reach, however, and your beer can be a go-to option everywhere. With a hat tip to reader Greg W. (who suggested this topic last week), we are giving you a list of beers that have reaped the benefits of extensive distribution to become some of the best widely available beers in the country.

Culling distribution information from Seek-A-Brew, ratings from RateBeer and BeerAdvocate and availability from the brewers themselves — along with a few of our own favorites thrown in for good measure — we’ve come up with 10 great beers that you can find just about anywhere. This is by no means a definitive list and some of your favorites may not have made the cut. However, availability by state factored heavily and led to some tough cuts of breweries missing 10 states or more from their distribution map. If you have suggestions, feel free to file them below:

Sam Adams

Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Boston Beer Co., Boston

We would have preferred putting Samuel Adams’ year-round Cream Stout in this position, but it isn’t distributed nearly as widely as Boston Lager. Samuel Adams makes far more prestigious beers (Utopias) and more critically embraced year-round styles (Cream Stout and Noble Pils), but there’s a reason this balanced little lager appears in every variety pack Samuel Adams makes. Any month of the year anywhere in the U.S., it looks and tastes like this.

Goose Island Brewing

Sofie, Goose Island Brewing Co., Chicago

The craft kids complained when Anheuser-Busch InBev bought this brewery in 2011. They complained when production of 312 Urban Wheat and Honkers Ale got shipped off to Baldwinsville, N.Y., and Fort Collins, Colo. (though it was made in Portsmouth, N.H., under contract with Redhook for years). But what nobody complains about is the nationwide availability of the Bourbon County Stout series in November and the year-round availability of this bubbly saison/farmhouse ale and its strong ale sibling Matilda. Sofie is now available in four-packs of 12 ounce bottles after being sold only on tap or in 765-milliliter wine-style bottles, which means more drinkers are discovering its spicy, citrusy, wine-barrel-aged flavor.

Green Flash Brewing

West Coast IPA, Green Flash Brewing Co., San Diego

Green Flash doesn’t make duds. It makes hoppy, high-alcohol beers that people think of when they hear the term West Coast IPA. It’s taken that bitter success into 45 states (sorry, Alaska, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota), used it to buy longstanding San Diego brewer Alpine and will be using it to expand into an East Coast facility in Virginia. Meanwhile, this IPA is the closest thing it has to a flagship and, at 8.1% alcohol by volume and 95 out of 100 international bitterness units, it’s about as potent as a go-to IPA gets.

Sierra Nevada

Torpedo Extra IPA, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif.

Yes, we could have gone with a rare whale like Sierra’s Narwhal imperial stout or seasonal favorites like Hoptimum Double IPA and Harvest wet hope ale, but why do that when one of Sierra’s absolute best is available all year anywhere that sells Sierra Nevada beer? Founded in 1979, Sierra Nevada had a long time to get into all 50 states, but didn’t introduce this hop-heavy 7.2% IPA until six years ago. It’s since blossomed into an almost secondary flagship beer behind Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and has that extra hop bitterness that pushes it just beyond its pale predecessor. There’s a namesake taproom in Berkeley, and cans and bottles on beer shelves throughout the U.S.

(On the following page, read about six more beers widely available in the U.S.)

Lagunitas Brewing

A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, Calif.

How did a brewery that made all of 72,000 barrels of beer in 2009 become one of the five largest craft breweries in the country and one of the 11 biggest U.S. breweries overall? We could bore you with details of their deals with distributors that put them in 44 states (Hawaii, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Arkansas, Louisiana and West Virginia are the only outliers) and help land the brewery a location in Chicago, but the beer’s a huge part of this story. Lagunitas made a reputation on its IPA, but there’s a strong argument to be made for this beer as its best all-around offering. With orange-heavy hints of citrus punctuated with hop bitterness, A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ is the wheat beer that IPA drinkers can tolerate and the pleasant introduction to hops that can help a wheat beer fan transition to IPA.

Big Eddy Royal Nektar, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, Wis.

When your family’s brewing history dates back to 1867, you’re not going to allow anyone to define your beer for you. Yes, Leinenkugel was bought by Miller in 1988, but that didn’t exactly give it immediate success or make it a breakaway hit. It took Summer Shandy giving Leinenkugel a head start on craft brewers to expand Leinenkugel’s footprint nationwide, but even that didn’t whittle away its creativity or core brewing ethic. We haven’t put seasonals on this list so far, but the fact that Leinenkugel makes a Braggot — basically a beered-up mead that ferments honey and water with grain and hops — and sells it during May and June was just too much to overlook. The Big Eddy series includes some of the best beers Leinenkugel produces, but this sweet spring brew is just inspired, and has pretty much never been this widely available.

Old Rasputin

Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, North Coast Brewing Co., Fort Bragg, Calif.

Brewmaster Mark Ruedrich has been keeping this California craft mainstay going since 1988, but the big, malty backbone of this brewery has been its Russian Imperial Stout. At 9% ABV, this big, roasty, coffee-and-chocolate stout is one of the finest examples of the style this country produces. While it isn’t exactly sitting in every supermarket in the country, it’s available at various locations throughout 48 states, with only Wyoming and West Virginia missing out on this rich, dark warmer.

Brewery Ommegang

Abbey Ale, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, N.Y.

How faithful is Ommegang’s interpretation of the traditional “liquid bread” Belgian Dubbel originally brewed by Trappist monks? It’s so spot on and so rich with dark fruit that it helped move Belgium’s own Duvel Moortgat to purchase Brewery Ommegang in 2003. Now available in all but five states (the Dakotas, Utah, Mississippi and Wyoming), Abbey Ale is not only one of the most flavorful, authentic examples of the style you’ll find in the U.S., but it holds its own with the Belgian beers it attempted to emulate.

Chocolate Stout, Rogue Ales, Newport, Ore.

Rogue gets a bit gimmicky with its beard beer, doughnut beer, Iron Chef beer and Portland airport carpet beers, but its core offerings are still unimpeachable. Founded by a bunch of Nike executives in 1988, Rogue has expanded its presence in all 50 states. However, none of that works without great beers like its Dead Guy Ale Maibock, its Hazelnut Brown Nectar and this — an unrelentingly sweet chocolate offering that doesn’t cut its flavor with coffee or hop bitterness. Introduced for Valentine’s Day in 2001, it become a Rogue staple and a blueprint for what true chocolate stouts should strive for. Oh, and its Double Chocolate version with higher alcohol content is a nice little fireside cordial unto itself.

Widmar Brothers

Upheaval IPA, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, Ore.

Remember that Craft Brew Alliance A-B distribution deal we mentioned earlier? This beer reaps all the benefits. Widmer Brothers Hefe may get the push and its 30 Beers For 30 Years collaborations may get the respect, but this year-round IPA that the brothers released just a few years back is the secret weapon. Loaded with Alchemy, Simcoe, Chinook, Willamette and Nelson Sauvin hops, this everyday 7% ABV IPA drinks smoothly thanks to its wheat backbone, and is incredibly floral in both fragrance and aroma. Available in all 50 states, it’s a mighty fine fail-safe IPA.

Jason Notte is a freelance writer based in Portland, Ore. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post and Esquire. Notte received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 1998. Follow him on Twitter @Notteham.