Thinking about Anchor Liberty yesterday got me thinking more.
So here, off the top of my head and before I get to the real work of the day, are 10 Beers That Changed What’s In Our Glass.
Pretty bold, I know. And something I could easily regret, so be gentle with your flames. It’s a list of 10. Not the only 10 or the most important 10, but 10. For fun.
And something that maybe will get you thinking about the ones that changed how you think about beer.
The guidelines were pretty simple. We start with American beers in the modern era (no, not the introduction of the Cascade hop but with Fritz Maytag buying a stake in Anchor Brewing in 1965).
One beer per brewery (a rule I sorta broke) and no “dead beers.” So New Albion isn’t on the list, nor is the gueuze from Joe’s Brewery in Illinois (besides, a lot more people talk about that beer than ever drank it).
The tough call was Celis White, because Michigan Brewery bought the brand and Pierre Celis consulted on brewing the beer at its new home. But it’s not the one first brewed in Texas, and that original was important on so many counts. Would Blue Moon White – maybe poised to become the No. 1 selling American-brewed specialty beer – have followed? A good chance not.
Here we go (the order being when they were introduced):
1. Anchor Steam – Not only did Maytag save this indigenous American style, but Anchor introduced or re-introduced Americans to holiday beers, barley wines, American wheat beer and more.
2. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – It’s an ale revolution …
3. Samuel Adams Boston Lager – … but the leading ambassador has been a lager.
4. Fat Tire – The beer from New Belgium Brewing that’s so famous on its own that many people think it is the name of the brewery. Co-founder Jeff Lebesch expected Abbey, brewed in the manner of a Belgian dubbel, to be the flagship. Wrong.
5. New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red – It seems unlikely there will be a pivotal moment for American beer like the 1976 “Judgment of Paris” was for wine. But Belgian Red besting beers brewed in Belgium in the 1996 Brewing Industry International Awards was a pretty big deal.
6. Pliny the Elder – First brewed in 1994 at a different brewery and with a different name (Blind Pig Double IPA), but by the same brewer. The first Double IPA, and now Double/Imperial IPA is an official style. Served at the 1995 Great American Beer Festival, where the next beer also hit the radar. (The photo at the top is the glass, complete with the original recipe, used to serve the beer on its first anniversary.)
7. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout – A rarity in 1995, but if BusinessWeek is right then barrel-aged beers have reached the tipping point.
8. Dogfish Head World Wide Stout and Samuel Adams Utopias – Yes, a second beer from Sam Adams. In fact, Boston Beer started us down the Extreme Beer path by introducing Triple Bock at the 1993 GABF and to the public in 1994. It continued to brew stronger versions, but in 1999 Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head made a stronger beer. He held the record a few weeks before Sam Adams introduced Millennium (for the upcoming millennium). That morphed into Utopias, now stronger than 25% abv. The back-and-forth focused mainstream attention on the concept of Extreme Beers.
9. Cuvee de Tomme – Michael Jackson’s review in 2000 understates the influence this beer continues to exert.
10. Dale’s Pale Ale – The beer wasn’t new in 2002, but that it was packaged at the small brewery in Colorado and in a can was. How else does a beer from Lyons (a lovely town, but have you been there?) end up in a blind tasting conducted by the New York Times? And win?
Interesting theory. I can still remember my first tastes of the top 3 and how my thoughts on beer started to turn and evolve.
I’m looking forward to your list, Jack, and wasting your time ;>)
I just realized – as I face a print deadline – that if I keep responding in depth comments what a time eater this could be.
So, briefly, Fat Tire has introduced how many people to flavorful beer? And got them thinking about Belgian-inspired beer.
Seeing the local impact, taking your child to a Tour de Fat gathering, seeing people drink beer at a music festival from cups that will be recycled, makes you understand that Fat Tire/New Belgium reaches a segment of society that these different sort of beers* might not otherwise.
*Notice how I’ve tried not to cloud the conversation by introducing the phrase “craft beer.”
That’s a very interesting list…and concept. Now I’ll end up spending valuable time I should be using to upgrade my web presence figuring out what my list would be. I guess my biggest question to you would be your definition of “changed.” How did Fat Tire change things, for example? And is the packaging of Dale’s Pale Ale truly an example of a “beer that changed America” or is it something else?
Gee – if there was ever a good topic for “The Session” this is it. Sadly, I have only had four of these ten. I am hoping to get to the Mid-West this summer and correct some of the gaps in my beer buying to fix that. I do think Dales Pale Ale was a break-through as it proved a great beer can be arguably better preserved in a can. I think their Old Chubb is an even better example of that.
Yeah, thanks for the upcoming mind bender I’ll experience thinking about this. I think it’s a great list though, on first look, and a great idea for a conversation with friends and pints.
I hadn’t counted, but I’ve actually had 7 of the 10 on the list (can’t say I liked them all), I guess that’s sort of telling in a popularity or gettin’ the word out sort of way.
Anyone given thought to the “extreme” side of things with 3 Floyds’ hop monsters et al? I think I remember sampling Alpha King at a beer fest sometime around 1995 (IIRC), long before I’d heard of Dogfish Head.
BTW Stan, Bourbon County Stout — one less “r,” if you will.
“…I remember sampling Alpha King at a beer fest sometime around 1995”
Further research points to 1996, guess I wasn’t too far off.
Steve – Which didn’t you like?
I picked WWS and Utopias because of the attention they got and after the ABV Wars of late 1999 you saw the term “Extreme Beers” popping up more, and beginning to describe a wider range of beers.
And as far as hop pop from a Midwestern brewer I think Two-Hearted pre-dates Alpha King.
Yeah, thanks for the upcoming mind bender I’ll experience thinking about this.
Rick, I’ll look forward to your list.
I’ve had everything but the Wild Goose. Got some stored away to share will good buddies, Stan? I suspect it’ll take the top of your head off at this point. And I agree with Business Week in principle, but never say never in this world of amazing brewers. Has there ever been an era even close to this one?
After a few minutes thought here and there, I would only want to put in Deschutes’ Black Butte Porter in. That my be my west coast influence, but it seems to be the beer that shocks many mega-swill drinkers. As far as overall influence to national brewing or beer appreciation, I can’t help but think this beer has more to offer than… well, that’s the problem. Maybe it is number 11 on a top 10 list. The easy to drink black beer seemed pretty hard to find before this. Maybe Anchor Porter led the way in that?
The only beer I would see it displacing is Fat Tire, which is a popular beer to be sure, but not a beer I see influencing the national beer scene per se.
Additionally, I think the SA Triple Bock has more overall impact to the national beer conversation, simply because of its broad availability. Remember, this was out before Utopias and was at one time the highest ABV beer in the country – if my memory is correct.
Finally, as a broad category, Stone should have some mention. While I am not a huge Stone fan, they have really led the way in modern marketing for craft beers, challenging people to like their beers or be thought of as ‘unworthy’. Its brash, in your face, but influential.
Huh… guess that turned into more than a little thought after all.
And as far as hop pop from a Midwestern brewer I think Two-Hearted pre-dates Alpha King.
I think you’re correct there, but I find 2 Hearted much smoother than Alpha King.
AFA those I didn’t like, I’ve never been huge fan of the oft lauded Fat Tire, and — sorry to say it, but I’ve never denied it — I just don’t care for NG Belgian Red.
Jack, do you mean the Goose Island (Chicago, not Maryland) Bourbon County? Find some to try, it’s terrific.
Jack asked: Has there ever been an era even close to this one?
I don’t think so, which is why this my list is not just an off-the-top-of-my-head thing but bound to become dated.
Fast.
Rick,
How could a do a list without a John Maier beer or anything else from Oregon on it? Geez.
I can remember drinking Black Butte Porter at the 1993 GABF and asking when they’d be expanding distribution. Definitely a beer that changed things.
Agreed about the importance of Triple Bock – just cheating and considering it part of Utopias (some of what was made a dozen years ago is blended into Utopias, I think).
We could list 100 important beers without breaking a sweat, and that’s before we started getting regionally specific. Further supporting Jack’s suggestion there has never been a time like this.
Yeah, I’d scrap the Fat Tire, too. Fame isn’t really tantamount to influence, and I think most breweries meet the standard you lay out: “beer from New Belgium Brewing that’s so famous on its own that many people think it is the name of the brewery.” Breweries do get associated with their flagship–not unusual.
Black Butte’s a good suggestion. You could throw in Alaskan Smoked Porter, too. You also seem to privilege beers that mainly influenced breweries, not the market (New Glarus, Pliny). In that vein, a Hair of the Dog selection would be warranted–surely it is among the most influential breweries.
Wheats have also become a mainstay of American brewing, and you could pick a popular choice there, too. And I think you have to add BridgePort IPA, since it popularized one of the most popular styles on the West Coast. I’m completely compromised, but Oregon breweries have accomplished most of what you cite other breweries for, with the exception of the top three.
In fact, I’d say narrow the list to the top three and one or two more, or lengthen it to a score.
Stan asks “How could a do a list without a John Maier beer or anything else from Oregon on it?”
As a Southern Oregon born and raised brat, I’m still mad at them for leaving Ashland for Newport… a sad move that was. Its cool though, Caldera is filling the needs of the region quite well.
Seriously though, I was thinking about Rogue and trying to find their significance in the beer conversation of America – and they don’t have a single defining thing that was appropriate for the list you compiled – not like SN pale, or Anchor Steam, or… That said, there is no doubt that the man has inspired and helped our more brewers than I am fully aware of and Rogue has definitely done their part to shape the modern American beer scene.
Then I wonder about the role Portland Brewing Co has played in the Oregon beer scene and the OBF itself… and then I get tired and say that your list if far superior to one I’d make – I’d have to make myself stop at 100 and none of it would make sense to anyone, not even me.
Jeff – Agreed that the list is heavy on beers that influenced other brewers and then I tossed in Fat Tire on the basis of its influence with consumers (although you do seem to see an outbreak of new amber beers from local brewers when Fat Tire moved into a new market).
And how could I do a list without Alaskan Smoked Porter? No defense.
As to wheat beers, I thought about the stir Tabernash Weiss caused. But who do you will that to – Flying Dog since Eric Warner did the recipe (and wrote the book) or Left Hand, which first merged with Tabernash then absorbed and renamed the brands?
In fact, beyond the top three I’d argue hard for the importance of regional. Long run, how many people in the Northeast will remember Celis White, let alone have tasted it? Allagash White or Ommegang Witte or (whoever I am leaving out) is their benchmark.
But then you have the breweries – like Hair of the Dog or AleSmith – that have influence way beyond size and distribution area.
This seemed like a lot better idea at 5 o’clock this morning.
Stan wrote “This seemed like a lot better idea at 5 o’clock this morning.”
Almost everything does. Just as everything seems worse at 3am, the hour cited by Scott Fitzgerald: “in the dark night of the soul, it’s always 3am.”
What we need is a session beer for the hard-to-deal-with hours between 2am and 6am. Maybe a nice coffee stout…
I really like Eric Warner’s book about wheat beers, in fact it led to me tracking down some of the more obscure German ones like Huber and Unertl when I was over there, but Tabernash weiss as the most influential American wheat beer? I can’t believe that Widmer hasn’t even been mentioned, considering the amazing and continued popularity that stuff has, they even have commercials on ESPN now!
What we need is a session beer for the hard-to-deal-with hours between 2am and 6am. Maybe a nice coffee stout…
Of course if you are talking Eastern time then that is midnight to 4 a.m. in the forgotten (Mountain) time zone – just in case we want to email and make sure it is OK to pour that coffee stout. But I certainly am down with the concept.
but Tabernash weiss as the most influential American wheat beer? I can’t believe that Widmer hasn’t even been mentioned.
Mike, first I meant to include Widmer but was trying to get out of here to drink some beer …
Second, Tabernash managed to create considerable hubub back in ’95. Bavarian-style weiss is a beer I think should thrive on a local, fresh basis. But how many great regional/brewpub weiss beer do we find? Indicating I might well be wrong about the concept.
“…Just as everything seems worse at 3am, the hour cited by Scott Fitzgerald: ‘in the dark night of the soul, it’s always 3am.'”
Hmm, where does that put the Sinatra/Robbie Williams, “One For my Baby” standard?
Its a quarter to three,
Theres no one in the place ‘cept you and me
So set em up joe
I got a little story I think you oughtta know
Were drinking my friend
To the end of a brief episode
So make it one for my baby
And one more for the road
But how many great regional/brewpub weiss beer do we find?
In my own neck of the woods I can count Capital, Sprecher, Mickey Finn’s brew-pub — even Water Street and Delafield Brew House make great ones. Not to mention the wonderful Weizen brewed for Trader Joe’s by Gordon Biersch. Do they count?
S.
In my own neck of the woods I can count Capital, Sprecher, Mickey Finn’s brew-pub — even Water Street and Delafield Brew House make great ones.
S – The German Standard Time Zone beers (aka The Midwest) do not count. Seriously, it amazes me that Mickey Finn’s keeps up the weizen tradition no matter the brewer.
I love this list. Belgian Red an inspired choice. I’d forward the Alpha King as a candidate. If not the King, then Bridgeport IPA, maybe? Arrogant Bastard, just for the audacious surliness of it? Founders Kentucky Breakfast? Mr. Hieronymus, I understand (and in some ways agree with) your “German Standard Time Zone” comment, but please don’t dismiss the entire Midwest in one fell swoop.
Eddie – That was meant at a compliment.
Our appreciation for beer was sparked when we lived in the Midwest and could get a range of traditional beers in proper condition.
it amazes me that Mickey Finn’s keeps up the weizen tradition no matter the brewer.
I guess that when you have a good thing, or recipe, you stick with it. I haven’t sampled it in a little while, but it’s been historically good.
Interesting twist on the discussion by posing heritage influence within a region. Are there any regions with a high population of English immigrants where Pale Ales or (even) more popular?
Kindly old Mr. Curtin has posted his “improvements” to your list and added his own Philadelphia-centric version at
http://www.jackcurtin.com/index.htm
Interested parties are invited to comment/correct/point-at-and-laugh as they wish. There is no comments section there (yet) but there is an email link at the top left of the page and I’ll post any comments onsite. Or comment here, I doubt Stan will mind.
Steve,
I don’t know that Pale Ales are more popular in the Northeast than elsewhere, but I think the discussion about East vs. West and hops is related to the strong British influence seen in beers from the Northeast.
Jack suggests Geary’s Pale Ale rather than Dale’s on the list. A beer I considered for just the reasons he presents.
Steve, if you want to do for the Midwest what Jack did for Philadelphia I’ll even make it a separate entry.
Steve, if you want to do for the Midwest what Jack did for Philadelphia I’ll even make it a separate entry.
I’ll have to give it some thought – reminisce back to 1984 or 85 when I discovered August Schell and Cold Spring being distributed by Merchant DuVin, and lament the loss of Hibernia Brewing and Dubuque Star!
Another plug to read Jack’s Philadelphia list.
I was hoping somebody would bring up Yuengling.
And I seriously considered HopDevil for my 10. The first beer I heard about on the East Coast that had drinkers of Sierra Nevada Celebration excited.
As much as I hate to keep agreeing with Jack, I like Prima Pils better. But the one that first made me go “wow!” was the first one I had, Brandywine Lager at Cannons in Allentown.
Jeff – Agreed that the list is heavy on beers that influenced other brewers and then I tossed in Fat Tire on the basis of its influence with consumers (although you do seem to see an outbreak of new amber beers from local brewers when Fat Tire moved into a new market).
Well, of course we have Full Sail Amber here, which everyone thinks was the ur-amber. Fat Tire (derided as “Flat Tire” in Beervana) never caught on, though the distribution is astonishing.
As the comments have grown, people have begun to dig back into history for important beers, and that is indeed a different list. If we go before Anchor, things change a lot. (Ballantine, for example, is HIGH on the list.)
I think Celis is a must, now that you mention it. It was the first Belgian a lot of Americans had, and opened a portal into a whole new world. I’d argue it was more important than the New Glarus. For what it’s worth, I did a top ten best beers in Oregon, but that doesn’t actually track to importance. Maybe I’ll do one of those next.
Didn’t Drop Top Amber come out about the time Fat Tire headed into Oregon ;>)
I agree that were Celis White still made in Texas – even by Miller – it wuld belong on the list. The best, and best known, of the really good beers to die.
Of course, in 1994 or so you would have put Pete’s Wicked would have made the list …
Finally, I want to see the Oregon historically important list. Probably just living beers.
You folks probably don’t want to go in the Belgian direction in this discussion…unless you’re ready to just concede outright that Philadelphia is clearly the beer center of the U.S. based on incontrovertible evidence.
I know some of you cling to other opinions and I respect that, but, trust me, you can’t win.
With regard to the following, I was there every step of the way.
Open that Belgian door, and you have to consider the Summer of 1995 when Tom Peters, then bar manager of Copa Too! in center city, brought in 18 kegs of Kwak, the first ever Belgian (approved) draught release in the this country, and sold them all in a matter of a week or two.
Then you needs must jump ahead to April 1996, when Copa Too! held an unprecedented one-day special event with 14 Belgian beers on tap. Still one of the most amazing Saturday afternoons of my long and sordid life.
I think I need not go into the first ever (and only, then and in the future, according to Michael Jackson, who was present) all-Lambic beer dinner at Peter’s (and Fergus Carey’s) Monk’s Cafe in 2000, nor the all-Trappist dinner at which, yep, every Trappist beer extant was poured the following year, including Achel which had never before been served outside of Belgium itself (and very rarely there).
I mean, I’m ready to fight that battle, but it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.
Jack,
I’m willing to tick off the Belgians and declare Monks the best place in the world to drink Belgian and Belgian-inspired beers.
(I was at Copa in 1995.)
But as far as American-brewed beers taking their influence from Belgium there is not a center. Santa Rosa, San Marcos, Fort Collins, Albuquerque, Kansas City, San Diego, Omaha, Denver, Portland (Maine), Dexter, Pleasantville, Southampton, Chicago, etc.
All reasons what is occurring in the United States is extraordinary.
Tom Peters could start doing beer dinners weekly, featuring only American beers, and it would be a long time before he runs out.
Just poking a stick into the hive to see what would happen…
>(I was at Copa in 1995.)
For some reason, this got truncated.
>(I was at Copa in 1995.)
Didn’t Drop Top Amber come out about the time Fat Tire headed into Oregon ;>)
Possibly. But something like ten or fifteen years after Full Sail Amber and MacTarnahans had made their debut. They were, of course, precursors to the Johnny-Come-Latelies down Colorado way. But Colorado will always envy Oregon–and with justification. 😮
You folks probably don’t want to go in the Belgian direction in this discussion…unless you’re ready to just concede outright that Philadelphia is clearly the beer center of the U.S.
The coolest thing about American brewing in the 21st century is that so many regions believe this exact thing. We all feel our brewers were the first, the best, and woefully undercelebrated nationally. That might be the perfect definition of a healthy industry.
Of course, it is verifiably and objectively true that Oregon was the first and best at everything, and is woefully undercelebrated nationally. All the other regions are just confused.
Okay, I promise this will be my last silly booster comment on this thread.
Jeff – Does that mean that you subscribe to the theory that John Maier/Rogue invented the Double IPA?
Of course! You name the beer, I’ll tell you which Oregon brewer invented/popularized it.
Dude – Not to change the subject, but where can I get on of those glasses in the picture?
Raul
Raul – Sorry, but you probably had to be at Blind Pig for the first anniversary (1995) party. This picture is courtesy of Vinnie Cilurzo.
I ran into your website by accident. A happy accident indeed! My introduction to good beer was Sam Adams. I took a trip to boston in 1992
and ordered a Bud at pub. the waiter suggested I try Sam Adams. I did, the heavens oped and God blessed me. In the years since i’ve tried hundreds if not thousands of beers but I return to ‘Sam’ every now and then and still enjoy the flavor. Thanks to John Koch and the Boston brewing comunity.
If you haven’t had enough of this discussion, drop by the Burgundian Babble Belt for more.
Hey, Jeff. Which Oregon brewer invented Redhook Ale and Grant’s Scottish Ale? Just curious 😉
I still have a bottle of Sam’s 1995 triple bock I am planning on finally opening at my wedding on 10/27/07. I got it from Beer Camp. Why hasn’t someone taken the concept of Beer Camp and adapted it? But I digress.
My list would be similar to the original, but would include Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald and New Amsterdam. The Great Lakes, because that was my first brewpub and New Amsterdam (do they still make it?) because that was the first real American beer (I didn’t say craft beer) I ever had, that opened me up to the world of beer.
Stan,
On your Belgian influence, I think you forgot Cooperstown, NY and the Ommegang folk.
No Redhook ESB?
Nice list, though.
We actually met Pierre Celis on a visit to the original Celis brewery outside of Austin, TX back in the day.
My lil’ brush with fame –
Ben O.
Stan,
Thanks for giving an honorable mention to Alaskan’s Smoked Porter in your later comments. I was having a hard time giving your list justice without an entry from that fine brewery in Juneau…
Greg and Ben – Your comments are almost linked.
And beyond the fact that Redhook’s first efforts were Belgian-eqsue and Redhook was first thought of as a banana beer.
Celis obviously raise national awareness of Belgian beer, although New Belgium started at the same time and quickly grew larger.
While Ommegang shipped beer into markets East and West I’m guessing the East Coast effect was larger, paralleling New Belgium west of the Mississippi.