Beers of the Decade

I was only able to drink for 1 of those decades. But I agree with Heady Topper

 

With the 1990's, I'd probably go with something like Boston Lager, Pete's Wicked Ale, Fat Tire, or Red Hook ESB. Bourbon County ended up being a hugely influential beer, but years later.

 

I agree with all of those except Bourbon County. For me personally, Pete's would be that beer, but for craft beer as a whole, Boston Lager was a game changer.

 

I'd probably change to these as they have a larger impact across the US

• 1990s: Sam Adams Boston Lager
• 2000s: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

 

70s: Anchor Steam
80s: SN Pale Ale
90s: Boston Lager
00s: Stone IPA
10s; Heady Topper
20s (so far): King Julius

 

KJ was first relased in 2012, though. I would probably put OG Julius or Green, instead. They really pushed hazies into the stratosphere and turned our local beer store shelves into what you see today

 

Bourbon County is a tricky one due to not originally being a packaged beer- but by '97ish it became a thing for other brew pubs to offer up their own versions. So there was a definite shift in the industry then, but years later the collectible aspect would come about.

Personally I associate Sam Adams with the 80s, concurrent with SN. SNPA was more imitated, though, so I give it the edge.

 

There are lots of deserving beer for each distinction. I might add Green Flash West Coast IPA for the 00s.

 

I don't think the beer has to be released in the particular decade, just needs to be synonymous with it. I don't set the rules though! You make a great point about Julius/Green!

 

• 1970s: Anchor Steam
• 1980s: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• 1990s: Sam Adams Boston Lager
• 2000s: Russian River Pliny The Elder
• 2010s: Alchemist Heady Topper
• 2020s: Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest

Dare to dream with that last one. To date, I think fruit-added beers have probably had the most impact this decade, but lagers served on Lukr faucets are definitely starting to make waves. It’s hard to imagine any single beer having the impact of some of those earlier Mt Rushmore types, though.

 

I’d be fine with either Boston Lager or Pete’s Wicked as a tie for the 1990’s. I really don’t have much strong opinion on the other decades.

 

Thanks for the attribution @AlcahueteJ Qnd idea @TongoRad .

Just to add context to my list:

The decades attributed strictly correlate to the decade the beers were first commercially released, with the caveat I did not know Heady Topper was available in the taproom since 2003, not 2011 the year they first distributed, until creating this response. My selections and post were “off the cuff” if you will. I would have given more thought to my list and verified before posting if I were creating a thread to discuss.

• 1971 Anchor Steam
• 1980 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• 1992 / 1995 Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
• 2000 Russian River Pliny the Elder
• 2003 The Alchemist Heady Topper

I do agree with the lag in impact for BCBS stout, and also that distribution did not begin until the 2000s, wide distribution in the 2010s. Would say Heady Topper’s impact began in the 2011, also based on distribution beyond the brewpub. My two criteria were beers that are still sold today which had a great influence on the craft beer community (breweries and customers).

Also, Anchor Steam is more so a vote for Anchor being widely considered the grandfather of the American Independent craft brewer movement. Steam Beer remains a niche market. Anchor Christmas Ale (1975) or Anchor Porter (1972) may be better representations of Anchor, I merely went with their first of their widely distributed current beers.

I do like the alternative selections offered so far. Would say Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Stone IPA have the best argument at this point.

 

You stole my thunder exactly.....

 

If I was going to put BCBS in a decade, it would be the 2010s. It was turding up shelves (to a larger degree than today at least) in the late 2000s. Even the coffee and vanilla variants were pretty easy to get and affordable at around $15 for a bomber. Not so much the case for Rare or King Henry (I feel like those beers really had an impact on what a bottle could sell for-$40-$50/22oz IIRC correctly? A bargain for what it was by todays standards).

As soon as AB/InBev bought GI out in 2011, people scrambled to pick the shelves of what was left fearing they would change the recipe or scrap it all together (only for AB/InBev to announce that they planned on making available it year round, which obv never happened).
Around this time is when I recall the Black Friday release really becoming what it is today. Add to this the change in bottle format/price per ounce and the whole infection debacle of 2015 and I’d say that GI was one of the most talked about and controversial breweries of that decade. But then again…Trillium/Treehouse.

Heady vs Pliny was fun too.

And what about Westy 12 and the Belgian beer craze?!?!

 

100% agree with this list having read a fair amount of US beer history

 

At least to me, I value when a beer really "got big" rather than when it debuted. Fat Tire came out in 1991, but it didn't really became a phenomenon until 10 years later. BCBS (and whiskey barrel-aged beer in general) was an afterthought until a decade after it came out. I think it set the tone for the 2010's in spite of having been available long before.
With Belgian beers, that's really tricky. Most had been around for at least decades and their popularity was very top heavy. I can never really tell if people loved Westy 12 that much or if they just thought they were supposed to. For all the hyped breweries of today, that was something else entirely. Especially with the hassle/cost associated with it. Rochefort was the only other one that got that same level of love, and when it became available in US stores people stopped caring. Cantillon bottles were $30 dust collectors until 2010'ish.
On the IPA front, one that is sometimes forgotten is Hop Devil. It was the #1 beer on BA when I first discovered the site. It was this crazy mythical thing that was bigger than anything in Rehoboth or San Diego for a bit...and then people totally forgot about it.