The homebrewers have spoken. And when these maniacal brew geeks speak, you best listen.
For the 7th year in a row, members of the American Homebrewer’s Association cast their votes for their favorite beers. For the judging, the only rule was that the beer has to be commercially available somewhere in the US. The votes were tallied, and the top 50 beers were just announced in Zymurgy magazine.
This year, we witnessed a dethroning. After topping the list for the past two years in a row, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA was bested by Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Elder (a double IPA). By a mere TWO votes, Pliny took top honors and West Coast trumped the East Coast. The irony? Russian River did it on brewing equipment formerly owned by Dogfish.
As a proud homebrewer myself (which translates to a tiny NYC apartment crammed with carboys, buckets, bottles, thermometers, syphons and doo-dads galore), I took notice of this list. I mean what better group to gauge the merits of the beer world than a bunch of beer-loving fanatics who can hold court for hours on specific gravity readings, diacetyl esters and how to replicate the pH of Munich’s water if you live in Des Moines. And now, with no further delay, the results:
Top 50 Ranked Beers
1. Russian River Pliny the Elder
2. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
3. Stone Arrogant Bastard
4. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
5. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
6. Stone IPA
7. Stone Ruination
8. (Tie)
- Anchor Steam
- North Coast Old Rasputin
Due to the extreme northern climate and the steep inclines, the Mosel gets about a third of the sunlight hours as Provence. Bottom line: its a fight for survival. But its worth it, as nowhere else in the world is there such a concentration of prized vineyards. Dear Lord, if I spent my life fighting in such extreme conditions to squeeze out a few grapes, you know they’d be precious.
Old Ale, Theakston, Old Peculiar The Legend, Masham, North Yorkshire, UK
In Roman times, the ultimate show of power was to own a vineyard. In fact, one of the highest honors possible was for the Emperor himself to prepare you one–actually planting and pruning with his own two hands. Forget nude community baths or prized flocks of sheep, if the King throws a few rows of Sangiovese vines in my backyard, my neighbors will never again scoff when they ride by on their ox cart.
