Zymurgy's Top 50 list

Not a bad list of go-to beers. Obviously missing a lot of the rarer stuff, and many people will instantly write this off because Heady Topper's missing. But as a "beers of fame" list I'd be happy to drink most of what's on here.

Also, where are the imports? It says "50 best beers in America," not "50 best beers made in America"...

Also, great to see SN take 5 of the top 20 spots.

 

This poll is for the AHA members to vote for their favorites. Not everyone votes, it is a small sample of what the homebrewers like to drink - and brew. The total number of voters is only a fraction of the 30k members of the AHA.

 

A lot of tasty beers on that list.

I suppose the only beer I would ‘question’ is:

20. New Belgium Fat Tire

I have had Fat Tire on a number of occasions. It is by no means a ‘bad’ beer; it is something I would classify as a gateway beer. It just kinda ‘sticks out’ to me when compared to the other beers on the list.

Cheers!

 

What a weird list.

 

agreed. Edmund Fitzgerald is 48 while Black Butte (an inferior beer for sure) is way up there. I do like that Two-Hearted is #2. I think for its style, its much better than Hopslam.

 

Just for fun, here's another way to sort this list. Viewing it this way makes me happier.

West
1. Russian River Pliny the Elder
4. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
5. Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale
7. Sierra Nevada Celebration
8. Stone Ruination IPA
9. Sierra Nevada Torpedo
10. North Coast Old Rasputin
11. Firestone Walker Union Jack
12. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
13. Bear Republic Racer 5
16. Firestone Walker Double Jack
T17. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
T17. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
19. Stone IPA
21. Deschutes Black Butte Porter
T25. Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
28. Deschutes The Abyss
T31. Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin
T31. Rogue Dead Guy
T35. Lagunitas IPA
T37. Russian River Blind Pig IPA
41. Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale
T44. Alaskan Smoked Porter
T44. Anchor Steam
T44. Lagunitas Hop Stoopid
T48. Russian River Pliny the Younger

Rockies
14. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale
20. New Belgium Fat Tire
22. Avery Maharaja
24. Left Hand Milk Stout
T25. New Belgium Ranger
T35. New Belgium La Folie
43. Great Divide Yeti
T48. Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Midwest/Great Lakes
2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
6. Bell’s Hopslam
23. Founders Breakfast Stout
29. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
30. Surly Furious
T37. Founders KBS
T48. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

East
3. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
15. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
T25. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
T31. Samuel Adams Boston Lager
34. Troegs Nugget Nectar
T37. Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
42. Victory Prima Pils
T44. Samuel Adams Noble Pils

 

I've gotten bored with this list. I think that's the fourth year in a row Pliny has taken number one in this poll. It's good, but c'mon.

 

I'm generalizing, but a lot of the serious homebrewering crowd tends to go for the hoppier stuff.
Plus, it's a nationwide poll so you'd have to imagine that it would need to consist of beers that can be found coast-to-coast (more or less) and aren't so rare that a boatload of people wouldn't have tried it.
I think the list makes a lot of sense when you look at it like that. These are homebrewers and beer drinkers from all over the country, not whale hunters.

That said, having Guinness as the #1 import for any reason other than "it's everywhere" is just wrong.

 

It's like a list of the best of the widely distributed beers. Also interesting that in a list of 50 beers they only had 49 beers from just 26 breweries.

 

I don't count so good either after drinking 49 beers.

 

Hah yeah, neither would I. I only noticed because I was trying to count the # of breweries, and it wasn't adding up right.

I think I had that 50th beer with lunch today. It was Troegs Hopback, and it was delicious after a morning picking wild blueberries.

 

I can't believe I didn't try Ruthless Rye while it was out. That blows my mind

 

I should have counted too, I tried doing a tally for my regional list above but couldn't get it to add up right. That's why I ended up just doing the sorted list.

Side note: Awesome to get wild blueberries this time of year. Out here, at least in the mountains you have to wait til September... Still snow now, and I could see my breath while walking to work this morning.

 

Lol weird. Two Firestone beers on that list, neither of which are Parabola or Abacus.

 

This is one of the more useful "best of" lists you will run across. For the most part the beer listed is obtainable, this is a departure from many lists that float around. The list is certainly hop heavy but I see that more as a reflection of the market. I am a fan of the Zymurgy lists in general.

 

You summed it up well. Wide distribution counts for a lot when homebrewers from all over the country vote. Having a great reputaion for a beer is also a plus - PtE is an example.

I voted for some lesser know beers. Did those make the list? No, I got outvoted!

 

As a member, can you just vote for any 50 beers you want, or is there a ballot of say 500 beers to choose from or something? If the latter, do you know what the criteria are to make the ballot?

 

I'm pretty sure you can vote for whatever you want, but it's based upon the number of votes a beer gets. If you look at the BA beer list, PtE has almost 2700 votes. Sang Noir has less than 50. Therefore in the Zymurgy list it gets beaten out handily, even if people might like it just as much. Because it's by overall number of votes, the more common a good beer is, the higher it's going to score.
There aren't too many beers on that list I don't think highly of, although I think the weight of the number of votes leads to a lot of similar beers scoring high.

 

I promise I'm not trying to be a dick, but what makes you feel like Black Butte Porter is inferior? I only ask because I do think there are a ton of dark beers out there lazily labeled "porter" which are watery and without any depth, but Black Butte has never been one of those for me.