How many distinct *perfect* brews hast thou had?

A perfect beer for me doesn't mean a score of 5.0 on a scale. It is the overall experience including location, circumstances, company, etc. By my definition, there have been quite a few perfect beers.

 

Duchesse De Bourgogne - Flanders Red Ale (My Review)
Ermal's Belgian Style Cream Ale - Cream Ale (My Review)
Ramble On - American IPA (My Review)
Abt 12 - Quad (My Review)

These aren't objectively perfect beers (what is ), and not all of them are my favorites, but these - to me - are perfect in what they seek, execute, and give off (in terms of experience).

I should make a note, though - there are completely imperfect beers in my eyes. Beers that cannot be saved. A recent example is this one.

 

that first pilsner urquell in some random waterfront place downstream from the brewery after stopping in pilsen on a whim in 1994

orval at my friend's family restaurant in a french border town while eating some weird but amazing cheese pie

the third schlenkerla märzen of any one of a thousand sessions at the tavern

hofbräu traunstein gastro weisse at a biergarten on the banks of the chiemsee

any and every liter of augustiner helles from the wooden barrel

timothy taylor landlord from cask at the 1994 GBBF consumed while eating a bag of some typically flavored UK potato chips that I can't quite remember

a nightcap of rodenbach alexander sitting out in a cafe in bruges after having drunk innumerable regular rodenbachs all day

so...7

 

treehouse Julius and green set the standard and defined the style. I still think they are the perfect example of what a NE IPA should be. I’ve had plenty of great NE iPas and many from Monkish but Julius and Green are still a notch above all the NE ipas I’ve had.

 

None

 

Lagunitas Maximus was in my opinion perfect. Unfortunately, they changed it to the new " Maximus Colossal IPA " , drastically upped the ABV and ruined it. Completely different beer.

 

I score each attribute separately, and don't have any straight 5.0 scores, but quite a few in the 4.7-4.9 range combined score range.

I have great joy and excitement when I come across these beers, of which all but the WCIPAs are available in Chicago on a regular basis.

My Perfect Ten: (Available at minimum annually - Retired/One-offs not considered):

• Imperial Stout: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
• Lambic Gueuze: Girardin Gueuze 1882 (Black Label)
• Oatmeal Stout: Revolution Deth's Tar
  
• Quadruple: Trappistes Rochefort 10; St. Bernardus Abt 12
• Rye Beer: Revolution Ryeway to Heaven
  
• Strong Ale - Belgian Pale: Founders Blushing Monk
• West Coast IPAs: Beachwood Amalgamator & Melrose; Fat Head's Head Hunter.

 

Pils -- Pilsner Urquell . One of the originals , they set the bar and is still easy to drink.

Pilsner-- Goldfinger Pils . Subtle and enjoyable .

Czech Lager--- Dovetail Czech Dark Lager . Great taste . They have a excellent line of lagers.

 

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
Duvel
SNPA
Westmalle Tripel

None rated 5.0, but all perfect for what they are.

 

Hmm, easy task, but asking the wrong people. To find the perfect beer we need to ask the person(s) who has/have tasted all of them, and ask.

 

New Glarus used to brew an OE Porter that I was ISO for years but never had the chance to try. Wish more breweries would take a stab at it.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/51761/

 

And they have to have spaces in between each of the four sentences so our attention won’t wonder.

 

We will have to get you a BBT. That should help point you in the right direction

 

This is basically my list of goals as a beer drinker. Kudos to you for the inspiration.

 

I've always craved a KBBS, but BBT sounds incredible. And it's part of my BA handle!

How hard are they to get?

 

I currently have 32 perfect beers (5score) out of over 3,900 total. So less than 1% of beers I’ve sampled (and I generally don’t just tick randomly but seek out good beers), so I’m fine with that ratio. And for all of the SNPA love (which I think is a solid beer) but is it really that much of an outlier of excellence / perfection when compared to all other American Pale ales one has had or is it just what we are considering the solid standard? Outlier attributes of greatness are what I generally look for to give a beer a perfect score, it needs to be something mind blowing, zero or very minimal flaws and sets itself apart from the majority of other beers in its style. But most importantly for the individual taster / rated it has to be delicious first and foremost.

 

I think the word standard is important here, but also I think you used it unintentionally. By definition a standard is which everything should be judged against. Although I am not a pale ale guy, my understanding from everyone that has ever chosen to wax poetic about this beer is that this beer really was one to first set the standard. Just like Bourbon County for BA stouts.

You can say you don't think SNPA or Bourbon County are good beers, or you can say you like others better within that category, but that doesn't change the fact that they are effectively the standard against which everything is judged. For years people felt like these beers epitomized the style.