When will Heady Topper be overtaken as #1?

Dude, we aren't a panel of judges and your opinion is still your opinion. But, you win. Go away.

 

When will Toppling Goliath topple Heady Topper?

Putting aside debates over what 'should' be number 1, how many ratings something 'should' need to be in the running, whether certain beer names are too derivative, etc.—well, when's it gonna happen?!


Bonus question for all you BA WR nerds: how many more ratings for any given average rating will KBBS need to beat HT's current WR? I.e. so if every future score given to KBBS is X, how many more scores does it need?

 

When IPA style beers are not the most popular style it is possible a stout will have a chance. I don't see that happening. Ever.

When an IPA style hop masterpiece beer can be made by another brewer using Conan yeast, that beer will have a chance. Considering the difficulties involved with Conan, one of the most difficult yeasts to use and propagate, I don't see that happening any time soon.

When a brewer brews an IPA style beer with Conan, and better technique than Alchemist, better hop combination than Alchemist, better water than Alchemist uses, and distributed more widely than Heady Topper I think that beer will have a chance at unseating Heady. Considering the perfection of Heady's hop bill and greatness of the Vermont water used, I just can't imagine it happening.

 

I think you're spot on with the merits of technique here. I love Heady Topper and can't envision a BB stout I'd rather drink any day any time.

But it seems to me that—through some confluence of the widening 'craft beer' population base, breweries' mastering of scarcity and general revival of interest in yellow liquors—bourbon/whiskey-barrel-aged beers are beating out IPA's for excitement over the past couple of years. So when you shift focus to what goes into rankings and peoples' emotional relationships with scores, I think this scenario is actually plausible.

 

Statistically, I think that this is unlikely to happen. Because the algorithm that rates beer takes the number of ratings into account, and from what I've heard TG has nothing sitting in barrels thus no more KBBS, and the head brewer left, and heady will go on selling, I think that it will not be overtaken.

 

There was a thread about this exact question a month or so ago. http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/when-will-heady-topper-be-overtaken-as-1.279853/

 

That had no poll. I wanted a poll. But OK, merge accomplished, poll deleted.

 

KBBS has 420 ratings and 0 chance of ever being made again. Since discontinued beers are no longer on the top beers list, I think the better question is "when will KBBS be removed from the top beers list?"

 

I didn't merge, I'm not a mod. I only offered you the link in case you wanted to read what others had already said.

 

Sorry, no I'm not annoyed with you, although it sounded that way. It was actually this topic that got me wondering.

 

I love the hazy look, the floaties at the bottom, love how it gets knocked but it's still #1 despite some great BA Stouts that are out there. There's a few Dipas that push HT, I still haven't had one I could say is definitively better, some are real close, Abrasive, Trillium, JuJu are in the same sentence.

 

I agree. Ht will not be changed, it will not be more widely distributed, it will be as good 3 years from now as it was 3 years ago, so it's score will not change. Someone going to have to hit a major Hr in enough volume to exceed the score, zhT won't back track, even an older hop bill Dipa like PTE is still easily in the top 10.

 

I'll second (or third) the Trillium comment. If they ever start canning some of their offerings, watch out!

 

As soon as they brew enough of it that it becomes easy to get.

 

You can say that about anything. If everyone was given a Rolls Royce when they get their drivers license, they would not be considered anything special. And they keep brewing more and HT is harder to get than ever.

 

...and as soon as it becomes easy to get, suddenly the ratings will drop.

 

I know more that's way I said brew enough. Do you know how much HT is being brewed now?

 

I think Heady Topper is a fine IIPA, but is it really all people are making it out to be? Some tourists continue to follow the delivery truck to each stop so they can accumulate as many cases as possible, which is their right as a consumer. Isn't it time for another beer to take over the #1 spot on the BA list already, or is Heady destined to be the Dark Side of The Moon of IIPA's?

 

It's really good. But is any beer that good?

 

Says the guy from Vermont. I don't even care for IPAs and I liked it. I'm sure there are many people out there who would love to have a beer that well made that is available all year round.

Someone else can do the math better than me, but with the rating system the way it is, it is going to be hard to beat. Another release of KBBS might do it, as long as the new batch is as good as the previous years.