Finally, mainstream magazines are learning. A number of them, usually men’s magazines, publish an annual list of their picks for good beers, whether global or just American, and varying in the number on the list. But they go wrong by trying to call their lists the “top,” “best” or some similar hyperbole. With such a subjective sensation as taste, getting people to ever agree on a list is a fool’s errand, and ends up pissing people off whose favorite wasn’t included or wasn’t high enough on the list. Personally, I love lists but have found they can be dangerous enterprises.
GQ published one today they’re calling I’d Tap That! 50 Beers to Try Right Now. And despite the awkward “I’d tap that” beginning (why do mainstream beer stories always start with a bad pun?) I think they’re taking the right approach. Just presenting 50 beers they think are worth trying to an audience who may not be familiar with many of them is, I think, the way to go. There’s no rankings, no suggestion that these are the beers, or that they’re better than all the rest. They’re just suggestions. And there are some pretty good ones, too. Of course, there are some I wouldn’t have put on the list, but that’s the nature of these lists.
GQ’s 50 Beers to Try Right Now
- Allagash White
- Anchor Christmas Ale
- Anchor Steam
- BrewDog Smokehead
- Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout
- Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
- Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse
- Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold
- Hitachino Lacto Sweet Stout
- Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout
- Leelanau Whaleback White
- Lion Stout
- Ommegang Hennepin
- Oskar Blues Dales Pale Ale
- Oskar Blues Old Chubb
- Picobrouwerij Alvinne Melchior
- Pretty Things Jack D’Or
- Rodenbach Grand Cru
- Rogue Dead Guy Ale
- Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout
- Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale
- Sixpoint Sweet Action
- Smuttynose Barleywine
- Stone Imperial Russian Stout
- Stone Old Guardian
- Trumer Pils
- Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
- AleSmith Speedway Stout
- Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye
- The Bruery Saison Rue
- Cantillon Iris
- De Struise Pannepot
- Dieu du Ciel Route des Epices
- Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
- Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
- Marin Brewing Company IPA
- Orval
- Port Brewing Shark Attack Red
- Russian River Pliny the Elder
- Saison Dupont
- Schneider Aventinus
- Westvleteren Abt 12
- Harviestoun Old Engine Oil
- Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
- Double Mountain Black Irish Stout
- Samuel Adams Utopias
- Founders KBS
- Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier
- Russian River Beatification
- Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Ale
Then there are five more “bonus beers” under the sub-heading “In Defense of Bodega Beer,” which presumably means the downscale contrast to the upscale first fifty.
- Budweiser
- Tecate
- Magic Hat #9
- Red Stripe
- Yuengling Traditional Lager
#42. Westvleteren Abt 12
Yeah, go get it, right now. No problem.
Good list though.
Is it me or do I see Racer 5 in the picture but not on the list?
Pliny the Elder at 39, behind Marin IPA and Dogfish 120? No Pizza Port Hop-15, no Ballast Point Sculpin, no Avery Maharaja? Nary a Hop Stoopid? Indeed, not even a Racer 5? Clearly, we hopheads know how to regard this sort of list.
Form what I can tell, they’re not in any particular order at all, so don’t get hung up about the order. Notice how they seem to start out in alphabetical order, then all bet are off. It’s just 50 beers with no rankings.