Top 10 Classics

Yeah, I started to edit it to say that then got distracted >_> The Chimay's are definitely good ones to try. Old Rasputin, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sam Adams Boston Lager, Left Hand Milk Stout, Saison Dupont, and a handful of others are great for familiarizing yourself with a style.

 

Finding good beers representative of the UK is a little trickier than it should be. We're limited to Bass, Fuller's, Young's (while awesome aren't always fresh) and Samuel Smith.
I like the Sammy Smith stuff, but they tend to get most of their attention because of how little good beer we get from the UK. Meantime's beers are good, but aren't they a little bit new school?
IMO London Pride and London Porter are the best solutions for most of us. They're even in cans.

 

My contribution would look something along the lines of
Guinness Extra Stout
Pilsner Urquell
Jever Pilsener
Spaten München
Anchor Steam Beer
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Fullers London Pride
Fullers London Porter
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

 

I think Stone and Lagunitas are both well known. For the record... Sierra Nevada is also out of CA.

Also, I'm curious about why you chose to include Coors and Miller on your list. Those don't seem like BA beers to me.

 

Is it weird that Sierra Nevada Big Foot was my first SN beer, followed shortly by SN Torpedo?

I did not actually have SNPA until I had had several other SN beers, including Tumbler, Hoptimum, and Beer Camp Imperial Red Ale

I know everyone on here thinks of it as a classic beer, but it just doesn't hold the same kind of place in my heart.

 

Right one must start at the bottom and WORK their way UP.

ad·vo·cate
noun \ˈad-və-kət, -ˌkāt\
: a person who argues for or supports a cause or policy

: a person who works for a cause or group

: a person who argues for the cause of another person in a court of law

I just drink beer, I am not much of an advocate of anything but having fun....and that requires no login...

 

Bell's Oberon and Two Hearted
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Great Lakes Burning River, Edmund Fitzgerald and Dortmunder Gold
Stone IPA
Founders Centennial IPA and Breakfast Stout
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Dogfish Head 90 Minute
I know that's 11 but in my opinion, a good representation of readily available beers that have been around a while.

 

It's all in good fun. I wish I were so privileged as to never have had those beers and jumped right in craft, ha!

 

If you're talking just getting a base to jump off of, then I imagine it'd look something like (In no particular order):

Blue Moon or Shock Top Belgian White
Widmer Hefeweizen
Newcastle Brown Ale
Guinness Stout
Stella Artois
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
New Belgium Fat Tire
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Weihenstephaner Original

My logic in this is that you can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been. Many of these are what BMC fans drink when they want to "beer snob" it up and the others are just ones that I came up with and thought should be on there (feel free to swap local craft in for the bottom 4 offerings). I feel like if you're looking for a must-drink list, it's important to try the macro versions of popular styles so you can better appreciate a true craft beer experience when you encounter one.

 

I didn't say I hadn't picked something out of CA---I know where SN comes from. I simply said the 10th pick should be something from CA. I guess I should have typed "also."

Coors Banquet and Miller High Life fit my definition of classic: longevity, well known, readily available and both helped define beer, especially in the postwar pre-craft era. Miller High Life was considered a premium beer back in the day, and Coors Banquet was one of the first "whales." Before their distribution expanded, beer drinkers east of the Mississippi were always thrilled to get some Coors brought back by a friend.

And although I don't drink them, American Adjunct Lagers are still beer, and thus, belong on Beer Advocate just like any other beer. (For the record, about the only beer on my list of classics that I'd spend money on is DH 90 Minute.)

 

EXCELLENT post. This, herrburgess's and 77_blackship's lists/posts were spot on. Many of the other lists are all short sighted. Seriously, 3 or 4 IPAs or hop-forward American beers on a top ten list?

A classic should be something that has stood the test of time. American brewing is still in it's infancy, which is why I like herrburgess's "freshest double IPA" suggestion. American craft drinkers have enjoyed hoppier beers for many years now, they've simply evolved into the double IPA from the American pale ale.

Bear in mind, about ten years ago Victory Storm King was number one on the BA 100. Therefore something like a Goose Island BCBS or Bells Two Hearted may become a footnote in the next ten years.

 

The vast majority of being a BA is HYPE!!!!! Duh.

 

SN Pale Ale
Boston Lager
FBS
Fat Tire
Arrogant Bastard
Two Hearted Ale
Old Rasputin
St. Bernardus Abt 12
Rochefort 6, 8, or 10
Weihenstephaner Hefenweissbier

and one beer in the top 10.

 

At the brewery you would think it is much more hoppy. As SN gets to 1 million bbls a year, pale Ale is still 70% of volume for a reason. A classic.

 

1) Anchor Steam
2) SN Pale Ale
3) SN Torpedo
4) Stone IPA
5) Old Rasputin
6) Boston Lager
7) Stone Arrogant Bastard
8) Rogue Dead Guy Ale
9) Fat Tire
10) GI 312 Urban Wheat Ale

Kind of a generic list, but to me these brews are *classic* beers that nearly everyone has/had the opportunity to try (considering price and availability). Gateway beers if you will....

 

I

I love this list!!

 

Oh, no!!! It's Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout time again. From the UK I'd say Timothy Taylor's Landlord was as good as any, that's if you're not in the UK. Duvel and Aventinus have to be on there!

 

Why not, I'll bite:

Augustiner Helles
Schlenkerla Maerzen
Weihenstephaner Hefe
Pilsner Urquell/Budweiser Budvar
Jever
Andechs doppelbock
Uerige Alt
St. Bernardus abt 12
Cantillon Gueuze
Westmalle Tripel
Anchor Liberty
Anchor Steam
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
Haven't been anywhere in the UK, so I wouldn't try to comment on classics there, but I would have included 1 or 2 good ones if I knew what I was talking about(I guess that means I'm not a real BA yet)

I know it's more than 10.

 

Just try to drink the stuff in the Beers of Fame list. That's a well-rounded list by any account, and as close to a compilation of the "classics" as you're likely to find.