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Does California make the best beer in the world?

Drinkers could certainly make a strong argument for the title by citing this year's winners of RateBeer Best, an annual ranking of the best breweries and beer in the world, based on data from the site's users.

This year's ranking of the 100 best breweries includes those from the United States, the U.K., Denmark, Belgium, Canada, Poland, Estonia and Norway. Of those, 18 breweries claiming slots out of the 100 on the list are from the golden state. Seven, including two in the top 10, are in Northern California.

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At No. 2, just behind the rural farmhouse brewery Hill Farmstead, is Santa Rosa's Russian River Brewing Company.

"That is a huge honor to be recognized as one of the best breweries in the world after all these years!" said Russian River co-founder Natalie Cilurzo. "With so many young, popular breweries around, it is nice to know that we are still relevant to the hard-core beer enthusiasts who frequent beer rating sites like RateBeer.com. And great timing with our 15th Annual Pliny the Younger release just hours away."

It's certainly not the North Bay brewer's first time on the list, nor is it a debut for another local brewer, Capitola's Sante Adairius Rustic Ales, which landed at No. 10.

Sante Adairius announced their win on their Facebook page on Tuesday morning, after the results went live.

"It's always extremely humbling to see your name mentioned amongst the most respected peers in this industry," they wrote. "Cheers to all the rate beer reviewers for ranking us us the #10 brewery in the world, and placing us in such esteemed company. Sante!"

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Other Northern California winners included Chico's Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (No. 25), San Francisco's Cellarmaker Brewing Company (No. 49), Alameda's Almanac Beer Company (No. 77), San Leandro's Drake's Brewing Company (No. 92) and Petaluma's Lagunitas Brewing Company (No. 100).

California also appears prominently among other RateBeer Best categories. Moksa Brewing, in Rocklin, earned the No. 6 position as one of the 15 best new breweries in the world.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

