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| Russian River's Pliny the Elder does it again! |
And I added a few others to spice things up!
I hope you had an
awesome weekend! I was honestly non-stop thanks to all of the beer-oriented
events I took part of since Friday night including celebrating the Wrecking
Bar’s anniversary (congrats Bob and Sandstorm!), the Nathan’s Hot Dog
Eating Contest I judged on Saturday, and my boy Lee Dickson’s going
away party at the Brick Store (you got an awesome rep, Boulevard!).
Now with a lot of detoxing happening, I was just sent this
press release on announcing that the American
Homebrewers Association’s has selected their 11th list
of what they consider the 10 “Best Commercial Beer in America” in the U.S. courtesy
of Zymurgy Magazine. Staying consistent with past
winners, brewing a stellar hoppy brew (especially Indian pale ales) is the best
bet for nomination and Russian River’s Pliny the Elder once again gets
top honors for its fifth year. Whoa!
“The homebrewers that make up the
membership of the AHA are amongst the most discerning craft beer drinkers in
the country,” said Gary Glass, director of the AHA. “For a brewery to be
recognized as making the best beer in American by this group is a high honor
indeed.”
Now overall,
these cats in the AHA know what they’re talking about and I have no problem with their
selections, but I would also add a few to the list including: Sierra Nevada
Hoptimum, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Green Flash Palate
Wrecker, Mother Earth Silent Night, Stone Enjoy By… series, Epic
Big Bad Baptist, North Coast Old Rasputin, and Westbrook Mexican
Cake to name a few. Keeping it in North America, Unibroue’s consistent
La Fin Du Monde is no joke either!
Feel free to send
me your top 10 in the comment section. There is no wrong answer! Anyway, here
are the brews that were selected by the AHA, plus some other winning nominations
in other categories.
The top-ranked
beers include:
1. Russian River Pliny the Elder
2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
3. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
4. Bell’s Hopslam Ale
5. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
6. Founders Breakfast Stout
7. Stone Brewing Co. Arrogant Bastard
Ale
8. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
IPA
T9. Lagunitas Sucks
T9. Sierra Nevada Celebration
Ale
T9. Stone Brewing Co. Ruination IPA
(T indicates tie)
Top 3 Breweries
The top breweries out of more than 1,100 locations were
also shown some love. Stone was the
top-ranked brewery boasting five brews in the top 50, followed by Russian River (who also had 5), and Sierra Nevada with the bronze (four
making the list). Since this trio is from Cali, I’m throwing up a manual “W” in
salute.
And last but not least, the Best Portfolio of Beers was awarded to the
Boston Beer Company aka Samuel Adams, who had 40 beers receive votes in the
poll. The top 5 award winners are below.
1. The Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)
2. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
3. Avery Brewing Co.
4. Cigar City Brewing
5. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Oh yeah, AHA also noted, “As was the case in 2012, no
beers produced by breweries outside of the U.S. made the top 50. The two top
vote-getters among foreign breweries both hailed from Belgium—Orval and Saison
Dupont tied for first place.”
Let me know who you think got shafted. Regardless, props go to all the winners. Keep brewing with excellence!
Cheers!
Ale
