Oldies But Goodies - a Classics Appreciation Thread

Nice! I'm always up for taking time to appreciate a beer that has been around the block a few times, especially if it's one that the imbiber is revisiting it after it has been absent from his or her glass for a while. Hopefully people will chime in here occasionally with their updated or first time experience. Cheers!

Edit: regardless of my vote's worthlessness, I will cast it for something along the lines of: "Oldies But Goodies - a classics appreciation thread"

 

Oldies but Goodies. my list (easy to find in NJ)
Anchor Steam Beer
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale + Celebration + Bigfoot
Sam Adams Boston Lager
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout + Lager
Bells Two Hearted
Victory Prima Pils
The 3 Chimays

 

My first ever "higher abv craft beer." Glad its still around but long gone are the days when I could get it for 7.49 a sixer.

 

Jon,

I think it is great that you started this thread. It seems 'popular' on BA for folks to continuously seek out 'shiny new thing' beers and needless to say old standby's can become an afterthought.

Lately I have been drinking down some of my cellar beers. For example last night I had a bottle of 2016 vintage Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Hindsight being 20/20 I wish I took a photo of that beer. I still have a number of those beers left so I will come back sometime later to further discuss it.

Cheers!

 

Great beer. have not seen in NJ
for a long time

 

Hmm, I didn't think about that. I will have to put on my 'thinking cap' to see if there are some classics that I have never tried. Maybe reading some posts in this thread will 'remind' me here?

Cheers!

 

Red Seal is no longer in my area. I doubt there would be enough of an audience for it here these days. I am always so happy to have it when traveling. When in California, I am happier to see it than Russian River. Nice thread idea.

 

There was a short period in the early 00s when I called Red Seal my favorite beer. I should revisit it again soon.

Splitting hairs, I definitely consider most of what North Coast puts out as “oldies but goodies.” I don’t know that I’d consider any of them a “classic.”

In my mind, a classic stands up to the test of time, holding its own among the best in class to this day, and is ideally something you enjoy fairly frequently. An oldie but goodie is still good, but part of its appreciation is remembering what it used to represent. It may have since been surpassed and isn’t necessarily something you’d pick up with any regularity.

 

I once saw a place in PA (or maybe NJ) serving cask Red Seal but I couldn’t fit it into my trip.

 

To tie up with the Rogue thread, Hazelnut Brown Nectar. Used to drink it a bunch back east before I moved out here in 2000.

I'd also mention Pike Brewings core line up: XXXXX Stout, Naughty Nellie, IPA, and Kiltlifter.

 

Ok, I was thinking I might chime in on this thread from time-to-time with revisits or "throwbacks" as the main content. However, just this week I did buy a beer this week that is on the Beers of Fame list here (#44 as of this post) specifically because it was well known and I hadn't reviewed it. I'd guess beer of fame list beers qualify, even if 3 Fonteinen's Oude Gueze is essentially "new to me" tonight (I think we had it at Monk's Café a few years ago).


I liked the nose on this one more than the taste, finding it to have a bit more enjoyable complexity out of the gate. That said, I liked this beer more as it warmed and grew in tartness versus the more tannic wood and herbal experience that colored the earlier part of the glass. The latter notes got a little more funky near the bottom, providing an evolving experience in a low volume of beer.

I don't think it made it towards being something I will revisit with much regularity, but I will probably get again when the planets align properly.

 

You'll just have to come back.
For a week.
With a couple days a hundred miles north.

 

Well, in the early 90s, sitting at the small bar of The Argonaut Hotel on The Wharf looking across at Alcatraz drinking Anchor Steam on tap. And later in the early 00s drinking Anchor Steam at the same bar eluding a nice looking lady that made me nervous. She was from Houston and apologized to me and told me her story. And later sitting there listening to the bleating seals, drinking several Anchor Steams and understanding the true history of the place and The Beer.

 

Thank you. Anchor Steam just motivated me to remember and it is an American classic

 

I 100% agree here!

But there will likely be some BAs who will claim Anchor Steam is not a classic!?! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have consumed many Anchor Steam beers over the years but I must confess it has been a number of years since I have drank one. If I see this beer in the singles section of one of my local beer retailers I will definitely buy one (or two) and discuss it in this thread.

Cheers!

 

Long Trail Double Bag is def. a classic. One of the breweries that got me into craft beer.

 

Great thread idea!

There are quite a number of such beers that I would consider classics;
Anchor Steam / Liberty Ale / Old Foghorn / Our Special Ale etc etc
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale / Celebration
Deschutes Black Butte Porter
Sam Adams Boston Ale and Lager
Lagunitas IPA
Great Lakes Dortmunder and Eddy Fitz
Bell's Two Hearted
Stone Arrogant Bastard
Guinness stout
North Coast Scrimshaw / Old Raspy / Red Seal

to name a few.....cheers!

 

I would love to find a fresh sixer of North Coast Red Seal Ale.

 

Great thread idea @jonphisher. I will participate with some Canadian classics. Some may not be widely known south of the border, but I suppose that is part of the fun. Cheers!

 

Worth considering too is how many beers a classic has given rise to. Take SNPA as an example. Entered here on BA in 2001. As of today there have been over 800 Sierra beers entered. Tried (but failed) to find a taplist from either the Sierra or Anchor breweries from that period but it's probably very modest compared to now.

 

Did you list a pic of a white beer sitting outside in a Canadian snowstorm? I can't see anything.

 

Beers in the 'classic' category have to come from breweries that have been around for a while. Bell's is one of them, and Two Hearted was mentioned above, but others from the brewery's line-up should also be included, such as Expedition Stout, Kalamazoo Stout, Porter, HopSlam, Oberon, etc.

Also in the 'older' brewery category would be 3 Floyds. Their beers are not widely distributed, but Zombie Dust is a classic in my mind. Gumball Head would be another.

 

I bought more Celebration this year than I have any individual beer in a very long time. SO good.