Style-defining beers?

Saison: Saison DuPont
Hefe: Live Oak Hefe
Wit: Allagash White or (512) wit
Oktoberfest: Ayinger
Doppelbock: Celebrator

others will take too long so its staying at this length for now

 

yet the 15th anniversary is still the best of that style...
Wookey Jack is close but not roasty enough (for me)

 

Experience drinking beer.

 

I only list those that I like best:

Celebrator - Doppelbock
La Fin du Monde - Tripel
Goose Island Nut Brown - Brown Ale
FFF Behemoth - Barley Wine
Haymarket Matthias - IIPA
F-W Union Jack - IPA
GL Edmund Fitzgerald - Porter
Revolution Workingman's Mild - Mild
FBS - Oatmeal/Coffee Stout

 

I love that stuff. Wookey just barely beats out SSR for top ABA according to my reviews. Sublimely Self Righteous is still the first beer that comes to mind for the style IMO. Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5, Ithaca Fourteen, and Victory Yakima Glory rank right up there as well.

 

1000X 'like'

 

Blue Mountain Full Nelson (APA)

 

Anyone can drink beer and have an opinion. Drinking enough beer gives you an idea, it does not qualify you to say "I drink lots of beer so this is what a Pils should taste like. I have 2700+ reviews and still refer to BJCP for guidelines on style. BJCP provides a general basis and guidelines for styles, it may not be the law of the land but no one has yet been able to cite something remotely adequate as to style accuracy. Can you provide something else with a bit more substance..other than "drink beer"?

 

Another vote for Saison Dupont.

 

Non-barrelRIS- Founders Imperial stout or CCB Marshal zhukov

 

Don't presume to speak for the man, but FYI here is patto1ro's Web site, where you can get a sense of the type of education I suspect he's referring to: http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/. Loads of researching, analyzing, and discussing primary sources on brewing; extensive beer travel; writing and publishing beer and pub guides; and, yes, a good deal of drinking.

 

Allagash White defines the witbier style for me. Such a perfect, I rarely drink any other witbiers.

 

I have reviewed this a few times and I eat slices of humble pie.

 

Here Here to the sunken freighter...EF Porter is a game changer!

 

Belgian Dubbel: Westmalle
American IPA: Ithaca Flower Power (local bias, no apologies)
Belgian Tripel: Chimay White
Helles: Augustiner
Doppelbock: Andechs
Barleywine: Thomas Hardy

Those are the ones that come to mind right now.

 

I already agreed that not all top fermented beers are ales. Kolsch is most certainly a lager. I'm not sure what I'm missing that would get me all the way there.

 

When is a beer that has been lagered not a lager? When it's kolsch.

When is a beer that hasn't been lagered a lager? When it's california common.

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Truthfully, each way of looking at it really is equally true and valid.

 

The BJCP guidelines do not provide references from primary source material for any of the claims in their guidleines. Therefore, from an academic point of view, they're no better than gossip.

Privately, there are people within the BJCP who admit that some of the guidelines are wrong, but inertia within the organisation has prevented them being changed.

Another source? Martyn Cornell for British styles. Or me. For German styles Hollhüber and Kaul. For Czech styles Evan Rail (he's doing some great work on the history of Pilsner Urquell). Tim Webb or Derek Walsh for Benelux styles.

 

I wouldn't like to rely on a road map produced by the BJCP. I would be looking for roads that aren't there and many that are there would be doing in the wrong direction.