Most influential beers of all time

Pliny the elder has been pretty influential. Started the whole DIPA thing

 

Its a tip top list which isn't stuck in the quagmire of the present. Love the inclusion of the Westmalle and Anchor beers too which routinely get only scorn and contempt from people who should really know better.

 

Well he made his point by including many beers not available in the US.

 

That's fair enough, try finding beers from the BA "Beers of Fame" list outside the US.

 

Fritz Maytag and Anchor must be on the list. Anchor proved the a lot of Americans wanted to drink better beer and were happy to pay more for it.

 

Fantastic list, actually both lists are fantastic in their ways, and Mr. Cornell's reasoning is pretty hard to argue with. We owe a debt of gratitude to every brewer on the lists. Hopefully in 25 years there will be adequate reason to include Jean Van Roy.

 

I think the list is a good one. As with any list people's opinions are going to swing one way or another based on their personal tastes. I think American craft has it's ethos in the beginnings of brewing in Bavaria and the Old World but I feel as though the Old World has been squeezed out of retail space by the growth of American craft & consequently from most people's minds including new beer drinkers who haven't been exposed to good beer from across the pond. Unfortunately, what's on the shelves import wise these days, for the most part is now part of the big global conglomeration that continues to buy up and further homogenize beer as a whole. Thankfully there is craft & independent brewers to maintain some sort of balance, but let's never forget where it all started & how deep down THAT is what drives craft brewing today...a rich history from the Old World & a need to keep the flame alive in the face of corporate domination.

 

Well, when creating a list of the "most influential beers" the primary aspect should be based on knowledge of the history of the brewing industry rather than "personal tastes"... one can dislike "light beer", but still note the influence of, say, Rheingold's Gablinger's Beer on the current US beer market.

"Ethos", perhaps (especially given the early US craft brewers' all malt/no adjunct beers), but clearly the earliest US craft beers from Anchor, New Albion, Boulder and Sierra Nevada were specifically modeled on the top fermenting beers (ales, porters, stouts, barleywine) of the old world's United Kingdom rather than Bavaria. Maytag "inherited" the US/German brewers' creation of "steam beer" when he bought Anchor, but even his first creations like Liberty Ale and Old Foghorn were based on UK styles.

 

What can be more influential than Pilsner Urquell. The "Original" Pilsner.

 

The list from the US is about local viewpoints and the experiences. Martyn's list is beer history.

 

SN Pale Ale

 

In trying to get my thought out I used the term "Old World" & had fully intended to include the UK under that umbrella as I do feel that both the UK & Bavaria are without a doubt the influence on craft beer if not beer in general from the days of the 1st generation beer barons of America.
As for personal tastes I do believe that no matter the list, unless one is keeping things to a strict "who came first" that there is a bit of personal opinion bleed through. Having said that I believe the list referenced here is for the most part in keeping w/a stricter knowledge of brewing history.

 

Speaking of New Albion (for those who have not heard this yet):

 

As cheesy as it sounds Sam Adams Boston Lager. Was the first non AB MC beer that i saw in crappy bars gas stations and grocery stores in my area. For me it was a gateway to better things. During my first years of drinking i didnt think i liked beer because i hadnt discovered anything besides cheap adjunct domestic lagers. Since then the beer world has so many amazing things to offer, but that was my modest begining. I think thats where a lot of people learn that there is something more than rice water.

 

Also, there's a thread about it here on BA