@Premo88 wrote "I won't knock Hans' Pils from its throne based on this one 6-pack, but I will revisit Live Oak Pilz, Saint Arnold's H-Town Pils and Jester King's pils over the next few months to see if any of those stand out more than usual." Don't know your location and they don't package to my knowledge, but ABGB has two Pilsners I think are super. Always on tap are the Industry German Oils and Rocket 100 Pre Prohibition Pills. The Helles is also pretty great.
I'm in Houston and sadly don't make it to Austin as much as I'd like. But thanks for the tip! I'll keep ABGB in mind next time I'm in that area. It's a major strike against me as a craft beer nerd that I've never been.
And maybe you have already been, but a visit to Live Oak is worthwhile as well. Cheers to Texas Hill Country beers!!
...I can't say I really have 'dethroned' any beers, but one of my nearly '5' across the board rated beers was Odell's 'IPA' (it came in at an overall 4.95)...it's still one of my favorite American IPAs (currently sitting at a 4.27 overall)... ...I have had the pleasure of trying Hearthbound a few years back...one of my highest rated porters (robust), but also not at the top of my list... ...my tastes can change hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly...so, instead of having any singular top beer for any particular style, I have favorites (that are usually fairly regularly available to me) that stay with my beer hall throne room...
...indeed...one never knows when a holder to the beer throne will abdicate / cede / abnegate / relinquish / or yield to a superior example of a style ...
Great thread. A quick off the top of my head post Westmalle Tripel……still my top in the style. I revisit once a year or so and it still stands up. Orval…..since Rayon is gone is there another competitor? Tilquin draft…….one of my all time beers……just better than the bottle version. Enjoy
I've had a lot of different vintages since they're pretty accessible where I am, and I'd say the base stout, depending on year, does great things cellared. 2024 was actually an outlier in that I thought it was perfect fresh, but I found that even 2019 vintages still were great over time. Some of the variants with more sweet adjuncts probably would've been better fresh, like Caramella, but I really enjoyed the cellared wheatwine I got since it took a lot of the extremely boozy edge off. For my actual response, I was going to say Zombie Dust/Zombie Ice since 3Floyds is so popular and widely distributed now, but having just recently gotten through a variety pack (I don't love Turbo Reaper, but this season's variety pack is the best thus far), even old examples of Zombie Dust are great. I think Zombie Ice is my favorite DIPA of all time even now, and it's a beer that's gotten some of my macro/import drinking friends into craft and IPAs.
I don't know that I've ever actually done this. I tend to think of most of the styles I drink regularly as having a few at the top, and they all have something over the others that I like more, so there is no actual king of the hill. Whatever's on top of the pile among the contenders at any given time is based on what's available and costs 50 cents cheaper for the 6 pack at any given time. DuPont might be the only exception. I've had saisons I liked more in the moment, but they were all either one-offs or discontinued seasonals. I can rely on DuPont, and that's something I want in something that has supreme executive power.
It HAS happened. And not just once. Fact: I drink more beer in the summer and I enjoy lighter beers for the most part with occasional IPAs, Porters & Stouts randomly imbibed. But as of late I've found a light Lager that turned my head around: Modist Supra Light Japanese Rice Lager. This brew has pretty much laughed Miller Lite right off ye Oulde throne. The Modist beer has much more taste and flavor than Lite and it's mouthfeel hits an in-the-park double. Modist Brewing produces 3 different versions of this beer: Supra, Supra with Lime, and Supra Light. They are all very nice JRL beers. Sorry/not sorry Miller Lite. If Modist can survive the choppy waters of craft brewing and stay afloat (I have faith), Supra Light earns the crown and takes the throne.
I’d like to try that beer. Narragansett Brewery, which is in my neck of the woods, came out with their Helles Light this summer. It clocks in at 3.8% and I’ve really been enjoying it during the warm months.
Cool. Gansetts are refreshing. I got a case last yr from Half Time of Narragansett Fresh Catch and I just loved it. Is that brewskie on tap or avail out your direction?
All of this is 100% with me (though I've named single throne beers in the interest of playing along with the thread ), and now I want a beer hall throne room. Reading back through the thread, there are no end of great points made by the BAs. One point stuck out by @blueshawk69 about barrel-aged stouts not aging as well as they used to. I think I've experienced something similar with stouts in general, though this thing requires proper investigation and I can combine a King of the Throne beer with said experiment. I need to find some Sierra Nevada Narwhal, stuff it in my fridge and then see how well it ages. Narwhal assumed the throne as my favorite imperial stout years ago, and nothing has ever dethroned it (many have tried valiantly).
Though Narragansett’s beer isn’t my favorite local stuff, their brewery is in a great location and definitely worth spending some time at. My wife and I hit it up pretty regularly.
So whats the best "Rhode Island made porter?" Im assuming its at a brewery somewhere only and not in the stores. In the stores there's stuff like Foolproof Raincloud and Grey Sail Leaning Chimney but there has to be something better out there. Speaking of Narragansett, the old Gansett Porter was brought back and then it went away again. Of course when they brought it back they switched it to 4 packs.
