Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Homebrewers Pick The Best Beers In America 2014

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For the 12th straight year, the readers of Zymurgy magazine were asked to send in a list of their 20 favorite commercially available beers. With a record number of votes in the poll’s twelfth year, over 1,600 different breweries were represented in the voting. The results were not exactly shocking, and most of the beers and breweries that got the most votes were what you’d expect, I think, but it’s an interesting list all the same. The results are, as usual, printed in the latest issue, July 2014.
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Top Rated Beers
KEY: T indicates tie / (#) indicates rank last year / No # indicates same rank as last year

Four of the top ten are California beers (there were seven last year), with 24 making the list. This is the sixth year in a row AHA members chose Pliny the Elder as the top beer. This also the fifth consecutive year that Bell’s Two Hearted Ale came in second.

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder
2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
3. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA (5)
4. Bell’s Hopslam
5. The Alchemist Heady Topper (16)
6. Lagunitas Sucks (9)
7. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (3)
8. Stone Enjoy By IPA (12)
9. Founders Breakfast Stout (6)
10. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (25)
11. Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (17)
12. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (15)
13. Firestone Walker Wookey Jack (20)
14. Three Floyds Zombie Dust (21)
T15. Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ (23)
T15. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (9)
17. Firestone Walker Double Jack
T18. Firestone Walker Union Jack (23)
T18. Arrogant Bastard Ale (7)
20. Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA (12)
21. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA (8)
22. Russian River Blind Pig I.P.A. (42)
T23. Deschutes Black Butte Porter (27)
T23. North Coast Old Rasputin (12)
25. Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (32)
26. Stone Ruination IPA (9)
27. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (not on last year’s list)
28. Russian River Pliny the Younger (39)
29. Left Hand Milk Stout (39)
30. Russian River Supplication (32)
31. Green Flash West Coast IPA (27)
32. Surly Furious (26)
33. New Belgium La Folie (32)
T34. Founders All Day IPA (not on last year’s list)
T34. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (30)
36. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale (19)
37. Stone IPA
38. Lagunitas IPA (36)
T39. Russian River Consecration (31)
T39. Troegs Nugget Nectar (27)
41. Deschutes the Abyss (48)
42. Cigar City Jai Alai IPA (not on last year’s list)
43. Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA (21)
44. Oskar Blues Ten Fidy (not on last year’s list)
45. Surly Abrasive IPA (not on last year’s list)
46. New Belgium Ranger IPA (not on last year’s list)
T47. Ommegang Three Philosophers (48)
T47. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (39)
T49. Founders Backwoods Bastard (not on last year’s list)
T49. Odell IPA (38)

Brewery Rankings

Brewery rankings are based on total votes received by each brewery’s beers. This year’s top brewery is Russian River Brewing Co., in Santa Rosa, Calif. Russian River placed five beers in the top 50, including both its Plinys. Bell’s Brewery finished second, while last year’s winner, Stone Brewing Co., came in third this year. Seven California breweries made the list, with six from Colorado, and two from Michigan. Again, (#) indicates their rank last year.

1. Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, Calif. (2)
2. Bell’s Brewery, Kalamazoo, Mich. (5)
3. Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, Calif. (1)
4. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Del.
5. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, Calif. (3)
6. Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. (6)
7. Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, Calif. (6)
8. Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, Calif.
9. Deschutes Brewery, Bend, Ore. (10)
10. New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo. (9)
11. Three Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, Ind. (12)
12. Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, Ill. (18)
13. Ballast Point Brewing Co., San Diego, Calif. (not on last year’s list)
14. Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo. (11)
15. The Boston Beer Co., Boston, Mass. (16)
16. Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, Mo. (17)
17. Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, Colo. (14)
18. New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, Wis. (19)
19. Victory Brewing Co., Downington, Pa. (24)
20. Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, Colo. (13)
21. Surly Brewing Co., Minneapolis, Minn. (not on last year’s list)
22. Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, Colo. (20)
23. Great Lakes Brewing Co., Cleveland, Ohio
24. The Bruery, Placentia, Calif. (not on last year’s list)
25. Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, Colo. (not on last year’s list)

Best Portfolio

They also determined which breweries got the most votes for different beers that they produce, and called that list “best portfolio.” The number following their name is how many of their beers got at least one vote. [#] indicates their rank last year.

1. New Belgium Brewing (60 beers) [7]
2. The Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams) (53 beers) [1]
3. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (49 beers) [5]
4. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (48 beers) [2]
5. Stone Brewing Co. (46 beers) [8]
T6. Bell’s Brewery (41 beers) [6]
T6. Short’s Brewing Co. (41 beers) [not on last year’s list]
8. Deschutes Brewery (40 beers) [10]
9. The Bruery (38 beers) [11]
T10. Avery Brewing Company (37 beers) [3]
T10. Boulevard Brewing Company (37 beers) [9]
T10. Goose Island Beer Company (26 beers) [8]

Top Imports

With a lot of ties, a few imports also received votes as readers’ favorite beers. As in years past, there was a decidedly all-American bent to the voting. Of the top 50 beers in the poll, none were produced by a foreign brewery, although Unibroue’s La Fin du Monde claimed the number one spot among imports. Again, [#] indicates their rank last year.

T1. Unibroue La Fin du Monde (Canada) [4]
T1. Guinness Draught (Ireland) [3]
3. St. Bernardus Abt 12 (Belgium) [6]
4. Westvletern XII (Belgium) [not on last year’s list]
T5. Rodenbach Grand Cru (Belgium) [4]
T5. Duvel (Belgium) [10]

Beer In Ads #1226: People Try It …

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Wednesday’s ad is for Carling Black Label Beer, from 1959. Part of Carling series of ads using the tagline “People Try It … And They Like It.” Interestingly, the ads usually feature a different type of glass. This one is a glass stein with an ornamental conical lid.

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Beer In Ads #1223: Dad Takes On All Comers

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Sunday’s Father’s Day ad is another trade ad by the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1956. This is #96 in the “Home Life in America” series, part of the Beer Belongs campaign by the USBF. It originally ran in prominent magazines in late June and early July of 1954. The artwork was by Douglass Crockwell, a well-known illustrator of the day, and was entitled “Dad Takes On All Comers.” And Dad’s sport of choice?: croquet. BUt he may have met his match. His daughter, one presumes, is going for the peg, as Mom shushes the crowd so she can concentrate on beating Dad. You have to admit, that’s a pretty impressive back yard. But who puts the barbecue right next to a tree? If I’m not mistaken, trees are what they make firewood out of.

096. Dad Takes On All Comers by Douglass Crockwell, 1954

Beer In Ads #1222: Good For You!

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Saturday’s ad is a trade ad by the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1959. Featuring a foursome bowling, the text starts with “What a great feeling to see all the pins go down…” followed by the tagline “Good for you!” “A strike! You did it.” Ah, bowling. But I especially love the end. “A glass of beer adds so much fun to so many occasions. And it really picks you up, too!”

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Beer 101 Poster

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This would make a great Father’s Day gift, if only I had found it sooner. This beautiful-looking poster was created by Russell van Kraayenburg for Chasing Delicious. It’s in their Kitchen 101 section, which is a series of educational culinary infographic posters. The Beer 101 poster is available in several sizes, including 8.5 x 11, 12 x 18 and 24 x 36. It’s not perfect. I didn’t look at every single beer on it, but they did call IPAs “Indian Pale Ale.” Given that for each of the 72 beers, they show color, carbonation, head characteristics, suggested glass, food pairing, alcohol range, hoppiness, maltiness, fruity esters and adjuncts, it’s an ambitious job. There’s bound to be things we can quibble with, but overall it seems to be a nice job, and it certainly packs a lot of information into its attractive design.

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Beer In Ads #1221: Pabst Gets The Call!

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Friday’s ad is for Pabst, from 1939. Set at what the refer to as “Boston’s Swank Copley-Plaza,” which today is part of the Fairmont chain, the ad features a couple dressed to the nines and out for a night on the town. But what really makes this ad a hoot, is how they refer to the beer. “For Keener Refreshment … It’s Lighter … Brighter … Brisk-Bodied, Not Logy!” Whew, well thank goodness it’s not logy. Wait, what the hell is “logy?” Apparently it means “dull and heavy in motion or thought; sluggish.”

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Next Session Dives Into Beer’s Role In History

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For our 89th Session, our host is Bill Kostkas, who is the Pittsburgh Beer Snob. For his topic, he’s chosen Beer in History, and he’s suggesting several paths you can take to participate in the July Session:

I love history. There’s just something about it. It’s fun. It’s interesting. It even gives me goosebumps. So, I only saw it to be fitting that I choose the topic of Beer in History.

Even better is the fact that the summer time is the main period of the calendar year that I absolutely delve into history. We just passed the 70th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy (Many of you know it as D-Day or Operation Overlord). The latter portions of June mark the beginning of the Gettysburg campaign which culminates on July 3. The following date is obviously the Fourth of July here in the states.

At many points in history you can look back and find alcohol intertwined. A lot of times that form of alcohol is beer. Beer is something that connects us with the past, our forefathers as well as some of our ancestors. I want this topic to be a really open-ended one. So, it should be fairly easy to come up with something and participate.

Do you want to write about an important beer event with great historical significance? Famous figures that were brewers? Have you visited an establishment that has some awesome historic value? Maybe a historically-themed brewpub? I wouldn’t be surprised to even see a few posts on Prohibition. It doesn’t really matter when it comes to history!

One of my favorite quotes will be my guide for this month’s Session. “History flows forward in rivers of beer.”

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So dive back in your time machine and go back in brewing history to whatever era or event you like. On Friday, July 4, let us know what a long, strange trip it had been, by posting your own link by commenting on his announcement. And tell us: how did you get back to the present, anyway?

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