Most Important American Craft Beers Ever Brewed

Not a terrible list. For me, personally, I might swap the positions of SNPA and Anchor Steam.

 

Very solid list, with a few quibbles which is to be expected.

My main omission is Alaskan Smoked Porter, for not only being among the first vintage collectible American beers, but for also introducing John Maier to the national stage.

Also - no Grant's?

 

Nonsense. Wm Newman (Albany), Chesapeake Bay (VA), Manhattan, Vernon Valley (NJ) and Old New York (New Amsterdam brand) all predated it.

There were scores of American porters brewed after Repeal that pre-dated Anchor - many New England, PA, NY, NJ and some West Coast brewers offered them.

(Lots more "debatable" claims made in those descriptions...)

I think I'd add Grant's India Pale Ale and Schell's Weiss Beer.

A more trivial complaint - they should have used photos that were accurate for the era, like the actual New Albion bottle, not BBC's brief revival, or the classic-era Ithaca Flower Power.

 

It's not a terrible list, but it's not perfect either. In particular, I don't know how you make a list like this without mentioning New Belgium Fat Tire. I would have also added Sam Adams Utopias and Magic Hat #9 which were very unique for their time and pushed the bounds of people's conceptions of beer.

 

I love Grants Scottish ale good stuff.

 

I feel like Hill Farmstead should have a beer on this list, even though I'm not sure which one you would pick. I'm not sure I can totally justify this statement but it just feels like the so much of the evolution of beer and beer culture in America runs through that brewery. If nothing else it feels like the New England IPA deserves a place on that list (I know Heady is on there but the development of the style continues well past that beer), and I'm not sure who else you'd give the credit to.

Overall it's a pretty good list.

 

A long time. Yeah, probably the longest continually* brewed porter in the US. Looks like the earliest specific mention dates from the 1860s but likely brewed before that, too.

* Ya know, standard US brewing industry "except for Prohibition" asterisk - but IIRC they sold a non-intoxicating product called Por-Tor.

 

That was a bit of a stroll down memory lane, I hadn't thought about Geary's, Celis or New Albion in years. While I might change the list bit I certainly won't challenge that impressive panel.

 

Yeah, and the definition they're using does take Ballantine out of the equation. First Imperial Stout as well.

As to the first east coast west coast IPA, it surely wasn't Flower Power. Lucknow (and later Thomas Hooker ) was in the Bridgeport mold and beat it by nearly a decade . Plus, depending on how you look at it, Catamount Christmas Ale was even earlier and was of the Celebration Ale type.

 

Great read, thanks for posting. I certainly can't argue with the list, and definitely agree with SN at #1. I have read many times how SN inspired many of the current big brewers to enter the business and they still push the limits of brewery innovation. I was also pleased to see the shout outs to some of the beers that are normally forgotten but definitely changed the game.

 

One of the better lists I've seen. For 2 reasons Anchor Steam should be #1. First reason it proved there was a market for better American Beer. Second reason it proved that drinkers were willing to pay more for that better beer.

 

Seems a shame to include Flower Power for being "one of the first West Coast-style IPAs brewed in the Northeast" at the expense of beers like Old Foghorn and Bigfoot.

It's a bit funny to read that "the only stipulations were that the beer must have started production after 1960, and it must have met the generally-accepted definition of "craft beer” at the time it was introduced" and to see Anchor Steam on the list (even though it certainly needs to be on the list regardless). The beer in 1971 was obviously different from whatever was brewed in 1896 and that's how they are counting it, but what was the "definition of craft beer" in 1971? I'm basically kidding.

 

I think it's becasue the new owners are marketers, not brewers or brewing historians. Maytag made some questionable claims but would typically used a qualifier like "...as far as I know..."

I don't know, Anchor has a valid claim of being among the most important breweries ever in the US. I don't see the point in their exaggeration of things clearly in error or these dubious claims of a "modern" era - if it's only the modern era ("Craft era"? "Post-Cascade era"?), why do they then use the "post-Prohibition" terminology?

Yuengling only converted to a bottom-fermenting yeast for their porter (and ale) around 1960. Certainly many of the numerous other porters in the US, especially those from primarily ale brewers, were top-fermented. IIRC, the initial batches of Anchor Porter were bottom-fermented, as well, using the same yeast as Anchor Steam Beer.

 

Love the porter "nip."

(Is that the correct term in this case @jesskidden ?)

 

I still have one of their T-Shirts!

 

Helpful list and worth a read. Thanks for posting the link.

I don't think there's a problem with the creators and judges of the list focusing on "most important" rather than "first" since in a lot of areas of human history the most important wasn't always the first. One example that comes easily to mind is the light bulb. Lots of people don't ever find out that Edison was not the first to develop a light bulb. But for all practical purposes his bulb was "most important" in in the US in that Edison and his bulb made possible the development of widespead electrification of lighting, etc.

So I think there's an argument to be made for some the beers on that list as being "most important" even though they were not the first to be developed.