When was the last time you dethroned a beer?

I've had Hearthbound and Everett, but IMO Founders Porter,Black Butte and even Alesmith Porter are all on the same level.
Samuel Smith Taddy Porter is also an honorable mention.
Back in topic though I've never had this happen, but i also don't care to take beer that serious these days.
Old Rasputin remains the king of IRS

 

Not Stone RIS???

 

About time somebody mentioned Sammy Smiths' Taddy porter!

I don't think I've ever 'dethroned' a beer but I've certainly gone back and revised/downgraded some previous ratings from when I first started on Untapped 8 years ago and after a few years, realized I was a little too enthusiastic with my ratings since I could only go from zero to five stars.

Don't think I've ever 'upgraded' a rating that's more than a day old but I've certainly upgraded a rating after a few hours of sipping.

My problem is buying any of my, "old reliables" and discovering that they just don't seem to be as tasty as previous years but as I've said in other threads, a lot of that can be attributed to either the breweries getting bought out/changing recipes/my older tastebuds.

And yes, Sammy Smiths' Taddy porter is my gold standard.

 

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the definitive American pale ale, Pilsner Urquell and Guinness hold the same rank for their styles.

 

If it were available year round it might be #1

It goes Old Rasputin,Stone IRS, Expedition, Dark Star... i think

 

My wife and I have traveled quite a bit, in fact we’ve both been to all 50 states.
Every once in a while I’ll stop at a small at brewery somewhere and get a flight of beers and find one that’s really good. So good I think to myself, if this beer had some distribution, and more people tried this, it could be a highly coveted, and award winning beer that could compete in the larger market.

There are lots of talented brewmasters out there that are limited to sell only out of the tap, maybe keep some 6-packs to-go in the tap room, or even sell kegs to a few restaurants around town.
Many times the few people here on BA that have reviewed the beer likely share my sentiments based on their high rating. But the beer score may never get out of the “Good” category because of too few ratings.

BTW, I like your blind taste test approach, I’m going to try that myself next time I have a few alike to do it with.

 

Duchesse De Bourgogne trumped Trappistes Rochefort 10 for me when I purchased the former on a whim at a Fresh Market; it was love at first sight.

 

I might have to swing by there someday.

 

You can find it in Santa Fe, too. The Burger Stand has/had it

 

Interesting thread! Thanks, @Providence.

This account is as big as what happened in the first Rocky movie - Rocky almost dethroned Apollo Creed. But in this case, not once, not twice, but three times it almost happened with a beer king.

I'm talking about Bourbon County Stout almost being dethroned by three BBA beers (sticking with the same style) that I had in the past 12 months.

First it was BBA Narwhal which I finally got to try when I was in CA. Then twice near-knockouts occurred by BBA beers from Bell's (Founders isn't the only brewery in MI that makes great BBA stouts). The BBA Rye Stout was outstanding, then along came the BBA Kalamazoo Stout - Mocha that almost also had a knockout punch to deliver against BCBS. But BCBS is still king of this style for me.

 

What are your thoughts about cellaring BCBS? Do you prefer BCBS fresh or 1 year of cellaring or 2 years of cellaring or...

Cheers!

 

I may be in the process of dethroning my all-time favorite Texas-brewed pilsner. The 6-pack of Real Ale Hans' Pils I bought recently hasn't had the same vim and vigor I typically enjoy from that beer.

I'm not sure I've ever truly dethroned a personal champion beer, but I have sort of dethroned a style: the Belgian dubbel. I once thought of this style as arguably my favorite, even better than the quadrupel, and figured Rochefort 6, Westmalle Trappist Dubbel, Chimay Red and others of their ilk as the pinnacle of what beer can be. But the last two Christmases when I've rounded up my favorite dubbels and quads, all of the dubbels felt like work to get through compared to the yummy quads that I now consider far superior.

One possible explanation: I've become a huge fan of sherry-cask single malt Scotch whisky over the last few years, and that style of beverage has taught me to embrace the "darker" flavors of raisins, prunes, dates and such. Quads have those flavors in spades, whereas dubbels typically are lighter, so maybe whisky has rearranged my palate?

 

I don't really mind the alcohol burn with the fresh stuff because I'm always so damned anxious to drink a BCBS, but I always buy one to drink and one to age. I do like the aged version better, and I rarely let it go much longer than a year so I don't have an opinion for longer aging.

 

Since you made mention of "recently", maybe that six-pack was exposed to hot temperature in transport/storage? Hot temperature exposure will negatively impact beer flavor and depending on how hot that degradation can occur very quickly.

I homebrew both Dubbels and Quads. When I homebrew my Quads I wait until at least 6+ months before trying a bottle. The flavors of dark dried fruits come from oxidation (i.e., cellaring) and I too enjoy that. In contrast I prefer to drink my Dubbels relatively fresh to enjoy the combination of yeast derived flavors (i.e, esters (fruity) and phenols (spicy)) along with the specialty malt flavors (I use a combination of Special B and Caravienne malts for Dubbels).

Yes, differing flavor profiles for the two beer styles but I like them both.

Cheers!

 

It's certainly possible the particular 6-pack in question could've been exposed to heat. It was in the cooler at a grocery store when I bought it, but I live in Texas, so virtually everything at some point gets exposed to heat and often extreme heat.

The sixer in question is also approaching its best-by date (I think it's late August/early Septemeber?), so it's not as fresh as it could be.

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.

That's an interesting point, that dubbels should be consumed relatively fresh compared to quads. I never worry about the age of the quads I buy, but I'll start looking more closely at the ages of the dubbels. It's at least worth checking out.

 

"Best" is as you say at best,very subjective and relative to what a person has and has not tried. While a consensus on BA might lead me to try a beer it's rating would not influence mine. Having said that, many Belgian beers are so unique and becoming hard to find in US market they will always remain high on my list of favorites for many of the reasons you (Providence) state above.

 

Picking a best of style beer to put on a podium is like picking the best musician in a specific genre of music.
I may have some favorites, and some that I feel represent the style well, but I really don't consider any as a golden standard.
Maybe if I were a BJCP judge, I might have a different opinion?

 

I always would cellar BCBS (the original variant) easily 4-5-6 years with no problem in flavorful dropoff and sometimes when popped after a few years, the aging had improved the tasting notes. BCBS as well as the Dechutes Abyss variants, some Stone BA variants, Founders KBS, etc.

Then along about 2018-2019 (as I've said on many other threads), something went south and since 2019-20, I won't age any BA brew from any brewery (including all my old standbys) more than 12-18 months at the most, or no more than 2 years if'n I've forgotten about it in the back of one of the beer fridges.

Nothing, I mean nothing, seems to hold up well past about 18 months and retain it's flavor anymore. Now, instead of buying multiple bottles of any BA stout (BCBS included), I'll only buy one, try to get to it within a few weeks and then buy a second if still available to cellar, again, no more than 12-18 months tops anymore.