Previous Top 250 Number Ones?

I went back and did a quick scan of the previous top beers lists.

It appears Victory Storm King was number 1 mostly from throughout 2002 and for part of 2003. I noticed Ayinger Celebrator and Expedition Stout each had the top spot at some point during that time. I'd have to look back, but I don't think there was a top beers list in 2001.

At some point in 2003 Westvleteren 12 took the top spot and didn't let it go for a REALLY long time. I just kept randomly clicking through until finally at some point in 2011 Heady Topper took over.

Heady Topper then relinquished the top spot to Good Morning at some point in 2015, and I just stopped at that point. There's so much beer out there now and number 1 has changed quite a few times since then if I recall correctly.

I believe Pliny the Younger was number 1 at certain points, and probably a few others. Most of these changes had more to do with Beeradvocate changing its algorithms than the landscape of the beer market changing.

I don't think we'll ever see a reign like Westvleteren 12 again. That beer was so difficult to obtain for so long, it held an incredible almost "Holy Grail"-like cult status. So many beers hold a similar status today due to limited releases, but there's so much more beer being brewed today as well. Someone is bound to come along soon and knock the king off his throne.

I'm not sure if this link will work, but I found this advertisement gem from the early 2000s for a beer fest in Boston with a line-up of speakers I'd still go listen to today. Kind of funny to see where some of these guys ended up.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030421015633/http://www.beeradvocate.com:80/

All this research makes me really crave a Victory Storm King for some reason...

 

I've been fiddling around with the Wayback Machine too, and I discovered it is a finicky site. I finally gave up like you did. Here are a few things from your post that I found to comment on:

You're almost right. I found that the Top Beers list existed on 12/05/01, but that must be about as early as the list existed because I think that was the earliest page saved in the Wayback Machine. Which beer was on top then? Storm King which lasted until at least 08/02/03 like you stated.

Indeed Westy was king for a long period if you make assumptions. I saw pages with that beer from May, 2004 to Feb, 2006. There were no pages saved in the rest of 2006, nor any that I could see in 2007-2009, and then Westy is listed in Aug, 2010 before Heady Topper showed up. (I found Heady in Jan, 2013, so I don't know if there may have been some other beer between Aug, 2010 and Jan, 2013, and also during 2011.) Can we assume that Westy was king during those 3 missing years and then again in 2011?

I found a page on 10/16/15 after Heady Topper relinquished the top spot and gave it up to Kentucky Branch Brand Stout. Then a page on 02/08/16 had Good Morning. With fuzzy dates in between those that I mention in my comments, it is impossible to determine exactly when the throne positions changed.

 

Back in the WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY old days, Lowenbrau was the #1 beer.

Of course, that was in the days when there was no ".com" and Jason and Todd had to print the Top 250 on a mimeograph machine. They REALLY struggled to even find 250 beers, and the smell of blue ink still haunts them .....

 

I also had noticed that Expedition Stout and Ayinger Celebrator were number 1 around 2002 I believe. I didn't click on every date obviously so there could be more.

But the take home message is that Storm King dominated during that period of time.

Probably? You've been on this site for just about as long as I have. I remember Westvleteren 12 being at the top for a very long time. I think Pliny the Younger may have surpassed it here and there when the algorithms were tweaked.

Yup, and I had found a page that had Good Morning ahead of Heady Topper in 2015 as well. Like you said, it gets fuzzy around 2015 - present day.

I also noticed that if you click on a date for the home page, and then click on "Top Beers", the Top Beers list is a different date than that home page. This could be why we have some discrepancies, unless you realized this as well.

Regardless, interesting stuff! Nice to wax nostalgic for a bit...

 

Any of you guys know how long retired beers stay on the Top 250 list??

 

Made me think, what circumstances would make a brewery to retire a top beer in the world and not make it again?

 

I'm thinking, probably wrong, that Kate the Great once held the number 1 spot.