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- by Kendall Jones, Washington Beer Blog -

Drum roll please… Zymurgy magazine just release its list of the 50 Best Beers in America, as voted on by its readers. We have the list below, along with the press release. Did your favorite make the list? Does anything about the list surprise you?

If nothing else, the list is a great conversation piece. This year Zymurgy tallied over 16,000 votes. Not surprisingly, the top of the list is lousy with heavily hopped beers. Is anyone really surprised at the lack of beers from the Pacific Northwest, other than three from Deschutes and one from Rogue? Our good friend Pliny finished at both the top and bottom of the list. That is interesting. I bet on the two Plinys to win and place.

Zymurgy is the area of applied science that addresses fermentation. Zymurgy magazine is the journal of the American Homebrewers Association. In other words, the people who vote in this poll are serious homebrewers from across the nation. Obviously, like any national publication, the majority of the readers likely reside in large population centers across the country. We all know where to find the greatest density of population in the United States. It is not the Pacific Northwest.

In my humble opinion, beer is almost entirely subjective. A good beer is one that I like. A bad beer is one that is spoiled or patently flawed. I tend to either like or dislike a particular beer. The word “best” doesn’t really work. I can pick a favorite, but I am not vainglorious enough to presume that I know which is best. But I get the point of the reader poll. It is what it is.

The 50 Best Beers in America

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder

2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

3. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

4. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

5. Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale

6. Bell’s Hopslam

7. Sierra Nevada Celebration

8. Stone Ruination IPA

9. Sierra Nevada Torpedo

10. North Coast Old Rasputin

11. Firestone Walker Union Jack

12. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye

13. Bear Republic Racer 5

14. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale

15. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

16. Firestone Walker Double Jack

T17. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

T17. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

19. Stone IPA

20. New Belgium Fat Tire

21. Deschutes Black Butte Porter

22. Avery Maharaja

23. Founders Breakfast Stout

24. Left Hand Milk Stout

T25. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

T25. New Belgium Ranger

T25. Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale

28. Deschutes The Abyss

29. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

30. Surly Furious

T31. Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin

T31. Rogue Dead Guy

T31. Samuel Adams Boston Lager

34. Troegs Nugget Nectar

T35. Lagunitas IPA

T35. New Belgium La Folie

T37. Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

T37. Founders KBS

T37. Russian River Blind Pig IPA

41. Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

42. Victory Prima Pils

43. Great Divide Yeti

T44. Alaskan Smoked Porter

T44. Anchor Steam

T44. Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

T44. Samuel Adams Noble Pils

T48. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

T48. Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

T48. Russian River Pliny the Younger

 

Hops captivate homebrewers’ hearts

Boulder, CO • June 27, 2012—A record number of 16,445 votes were tallied in Zymurgy magazine‘s “Best Commerical Beers in America” poll, and the message is loud and clear: American Homebrewers Association (AHA) love hoppy beers! Eight of the top 10 vote getters were IPAs, double IPAs or pale ales, and for the fourth straight year, Russian River Brewing Co.’s Pliny the Elder, a double IPA brewed in Santa Rosa, Calif., was named the “Best Commercial Beer in America.”

In its 10th year, Zymurgy’s annual survey saw increased participation, with readers voting online for their 20 favorite beers that are commercially available in the United States. Votes were received from some 1,500 Zymurgy readers around the world.

With a fierce field of hopped-up beers, Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo was very pleased to win a fourth accolade: “When we started brewing Pliny the Elder in 1999, there were almost no double IPAs on the market. Present day, there are so many great hoppy beers, it’s hard to put to words how honored we are.”

Just like last year, the second and third rankings were rounded out by Bell’s Two Hearted Ale (Kalamazoo, Mich.), and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s 90-Minute IPA (Milton, Del.) The only beers in the top 10 that didn’t fit into the categories of IPA, pale ale or double/imperial IPA were Stone Brewing Co.’s Arrogant Bastard (American strong ale) in fifth and North Coast’s Old Rasputin (Russian imperial stout) in 10th.

With more than 2,000 breweries now in the U.S. and more than 1,100 breweries in planning, according to statistics compiled by the Brewers Association, there are more choices than ever for beer lovers to explore, according to Jill Redding, editor of Zymurgy. “The Zymurgy readers’ poll grows in numbers and prestige each year,” said Redding. “As homebrewers and beer lovers, our readers have some of the most sophisticated and knowledgeable palates on the planet.”

 

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