When I joined BA there was often much discussion of the top beer lists, highest rated lists, etc. While such discussions still exist, they seem less meaningful. Part of the reason, I wager, is because people recognize just how subjective the beer drinking experience is and how labeling anything as "the best" seems like a silly exercise. Additionally, because there are eight zillion beers, many of which are made just once, finding something that can be widely recognized as "the best" becomes slippery. I've noticed, however, that I am still personally interested in knowing what I consider to be "the best" of a certain style and how it compares to what those I respect think of as "the best" of said style. I'm wondering where others are at with this. Do you still have beers that, in your mind, are the absolute pinnacle of a style? I'm even more interested in knowing if you have ever dethroned a beer you previously considered to be the best? I wager a lot of the beers we keep at the pinnacle are beers we'll never dethrone. They are there because they represent a certain time in our life, place, person, or experience with which we have a strong emotional connection and even if something came along that was indeed superior, we'd either never notice or be reluctant to admit it because the aforementioned emotions are too important to our identity. But I also wager that some of us have had beers that were so good that we had to dethrone even those beers for which we had a strong emotional tie. I'm curious about such examples. Not surprisingly, I write this because it happened to me just last night. Porter is one of my favorite styles and I'm forever in search of excellent examples. It's the one style where I actually did a blind taste test to figure out which was my favorite (it was years ago and my buddy and I pit Deschutes Black Butte, Mayflower, Edmund Fitzgerald, and Founder's porters against one another and Mayflower came out on top for both of us). So, in my brain, Mayflower has been on the throne for a while. Until last night, that is, when it was replaced by this: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45832/279723/ This was not only the best porter I've ever had, it was one of the best beers I've ever had. I hate to kick Mayflower off the throne, but it needs to be done. When was the last time this happened to you?
Since you live in New England, are Hill Farmstead beers available to you? Or maybe someplace not too far away in Massachusetts? I would highly recommend Hill Farmstead Everett to you. My most recent drinking experience was last summer in Stowe, VT (The Bench restaurant/bar). I posted about this beer in a past thread: “Last week my wife and I visited Stowe, VT and as good fortune would have it a bar/restaurant (The Bench) across from our hotel had Hill Farmstead Everett on tap. IMO this beer is OUTSTANDING and for my palate the epitome of a Porter. I will be starting my ale homebrewing soon (September) and this beer is motivating me to once again homebrew my clone of a Hill Farmstead Everett. I conducted a side-by-side tasting of Hill Farmstead Everett and my clone and discussed it in a past thread: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-580.402889/#post-4657907 Last fall I did indeed homebrew another batch of my version of Everett (bottled 12/5/24). I still have a case (24 bottles) left of that batch and those beers are still drinking excellently. Cheers to Everett!!!!!
I have had Everett. It was very good, but it didn't rise to the level of being my favorite ever. Buuuuuuuut, the setting and experience surrounding my consumption of Everett likely played a huge impact on my enjoyment of it. I had acquired Everett via a trade (sincerest apologies for not remembering with whom I did the trade, it was several years ago). I knew it would be a special beer so I wanted to save it for a special occasion. I chose to open it on Christmas. Christmas comes, my family and I open presents at my house, and then head to my parent's house where we'll spend the remainder of the day. My son goes outside to play with his newly acquired Christmas present: a remote control car (and a very nice one, at that). I crack Everett and sit back to enjoy the beer, the loved ones around me, and the day itself. Two sips in my son comes in and tells me he broke the remote control car. I'm equally parts frustrated because he was playing so rough with it and sad because he is so bummed out that it's broken. My general spirits were negatively impacted and it could have impacted my enjoyment of the beer.
Yes, setting/atmosphere can be very impactful both negatively and positively. FWIW I am of the opinion that for many (most?) folks who claim that Guinness is waaay better when consumed in Ireland is because they are drinking the beers in a cozy Irish pub which adds to the allure of this beer. I would recommend that you give Everett another chance in a more pleasing atmosphere/setting. I have only had Everett on draft (the glass pictured above) and in a growler and for my palate this beer is OUTSTANDING and I don't use that word very often. And needless to say as you pointed out above: "how subjective the beer drinking experience is". Cheers!
With the exception of Orval and Saison Dupont, and to a lesser extent Duvel and Westmalle Tripel (maybe Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen too), I can’t say I have any absolute “pinnacle” beers that are at risk of being dethroned for any styles. I probably have a handful of beers that occupy a curve at the very top for their respective styles, but not an absolute “best” that I point to as the definitive representation of its style. It also needs to be pointed out that recipes change, palates shift, and our memories are flawed—so I think it’s impossible to claim that a given beer is the end-all/be-all for a style. The most we can probably hope for is that a given beer was the very best version of its style at that moment—and we can cherish that memory as the ultimate experience of the style that we have personally enjoyed.
I had it happen last fall. Prior to that, I'd guess the last time it happened was at least 5 years prior. Anyway, it was Canteen's Dark and Lusty Stout from down in New Mexico. I know there aren't all that many "normal" American stouts anymore, but that one was next-level good. I enjoyed it more than Obsidian, which had been my previous favorite for roughly a decade.
I agree about Everett I think my palate changes also. I used to think Dogfish Worldwide Stout was the best, but now there are a lot of BA stouts that are better. My opinion of Heady has also gone done as I have drunk lots and lots of IPAs (and Treehouse has become more available)
I had to run some errands earlier today and on the return trip I was passing my local Retail Beer Distributor just to do some 'window shopping' and as good fortune would have it another drop of Heady Topper arrived. I have a batch of homebrewed Motueka IPA ready now and I really did not have a need for more hoppy beer but...I bought a four-pack of Heady Topper. To borrow from @sharpski that beer is "World Class" for my personal palate. Cheers to World Class beers!
I imagine that fans of older style IPAs might be forced to do this against their will. A lot of them (maybe even most of them) have been reformulated, discontinued, or scaled way, way back. If you're all about that caramel malt based IBU-bomb oozing with sticky cascade and willamette, your options are limited. Depending on where you live, maybe even non-existent. If your palate doesn't jive with haze or whatever we're calling "west coast" this week, you might have to sit things out.
Never dethroned a beer as I never put any single beer for a particular style as the "king of beers". Usually, it will be try a new beer and say " Wow, this is just as good as this well known beer!" Since I don't trade beers, region/distribution does play a factor. I'm fortunate to travel a decent amount, but there are still regions (New England) which I haven't really drank their best beers.
Good point. I still drink my West Coast IPA, but not nearly enough. Any reason why the hops for old style beers aren't being use (beyond the usual cost and availability)? I tend to think that it's the next new hop problem.
Porter is also one of my favorite styles and Im pretty sure Anchor Porter was the best one I had. All the ones you listed are good as is Bell's Porter so you cant go wrong with any of them. I'm sure the Fox Farm one is better than all of them but you have to go to the brewery to get it I would imagine so I cant try it.
Really cool thread idea @Providence. I had a similar experience with Hearthbound when Fox Farm first opened and it's still one of my very favorites by them. I tend to mentally separate robust porters from lower ABV ones (and separate out those with added flavors as well) so I never really compared it to the likes of Mayflower and Edmund Fitzgerald. But the first time I tasted it I knew I preferred it to Everett, Smuttynose, Pot and Kettle, and any other robust porter I had ever had. I can't find it and confirm at the moment but I think I heard or read years ago that Hearthbound has oats in the malt bill and I wouldn't be surprised if that played a role in putting it over the edge for me. Another case was a few years ago the first time I visited Wooly Pig and had their helles. I feel like it wasn't so much a dethroning in that instance because while I had enjoyed a number of American-brewed helles lagers over the years, I didn't have a clear number 1 but just a collection of favorites. That changed after I had Wooly Pig's helles on tap, and subsequent visits and many bottles to-go reinforced that opinion.
I actually wondered, after creating the original post, if it was even fair for me to compare Hearthbound to Mayflower. I was initially just seeing them under the broad category of porters, but, for reasons you hit on, they are fairly different, aren't they? I rarely drink beers over 6% abv, so Hearthbound was a big exception for me. I highly doubt I would ever drink more than one pint of Hearthbound in a single evening, where as I would have two pints of Mayflower. So perhaps I have thrones for both: My favorite robust porter: Hearthbound My favorite English porter: Mayflower Problem solved. Long live the kings.
I do reply on opinions expressed on this site in order to be on the lookout for beers that others have rated as being great. I do not expect that I will always have the same opinion, but it has been a reliable guide to some of the best beers I have had. I also would never rate any beer as the "best in the world", for I only have experienced a limited sample of that entire population of beers.
Very thought-provoking question and premise. In my spreadsheet I categorize beers simply into four categories. No - not a beer I need to drink again. OK - more or less a decent beer but better examples exist. Yes - a beer I'd gladly buy again. And the elusive category of Fav(orite) which would be a beer I'd go out of my way to seek out. Without the spreadsheet in front of me, I can't tell you how many fall into the favorite category. I do know I have more than one favorite within a given style - usually from different breweries. Some of the more unique styles I probably have one. (It does seem like every time the missus and I visit Barreled Souls we find a new favorite barleywine). I think a beer that is the absolute epitome of a style is almost impossible to define with some exceptions. I agree that there is much subjective influence that goes in to what we think of a particular beer at a particular time and place. I am comfortable with "the best I've tasted" as part of my criteria for calling a beer a favorite and I'll return to those beers repeatedly. As has also been mentioned, the beer world has become ephemeral in nature. How do we know when the next one might be the best one? So I guess in a way I topple kings all the time or am just happy having more than one king.
