Five most important craft beers in American history
Food & Wine had a great idea. I’m borrowing it.
This winter the magazine asked 21 beer industry luminaries to rank the most important craft beers of all time. Not the best, which would have been a ridiculous and impossible undertaking — the most important.
As you might expect from a pack of luminaries, the list was fairly well-constructed. But after sharing it on social media and following with my own thoughts there was only one thing to do: make a list of my own.
What makes an “important” beer? To me, the definition is simple: It’s one that either changed consumer tastes or how breweries approach making beer. Some of the beers below have influenced both drinkers and brewers. Others hew more in one direction than the other. Others find their power in the brand or the package even more than the beer. I agree with much of the Food & Wine list but also take several exceptions.
I’m interested in your opinions too. Feel free to email with the beer that has been most important to you, personally, with a few sentences explaining why, and we’ll follow up in the coming weeks with the readers’ say.
Until then, here is my ranking of the American craft beer industry’s five most important beers ever(my original list goes to 25, but we’ll shorten it to five here):
1. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada Brewing)
As simple as the concept is now, Sierra Nevada’s flagship beer was revolutionary in 1980: a hop-forward pale ale showcasing the spry citrus character of Americangrown hops. Nothing like it had existed before on a commercial scale; now such beers line shelves of any and every reputable beer store in the country. There’s no other reasonable choice for the top spot. (Food & Wine rank: 1)
2. Sam Adams Boston Lager (Boston Beer)
Not the most exciting beer, but the company’s ambitious growth, crossed with founder Jim Koch’s marketing savvy — including a very public war of words with Anheuser-Busch during the 1990s — has arguably done more than any other brand to challenge the dominance of Bud, Miller and the old standbys. As Goose Island founder John Hall once told me: “Jim built a tent that the rest of us could step into.” (F&W: 2)
3. Bourbon County Stout (Goose Island Beer Co.)
When first released in 1995 (yes — it was 1995, not 1992 as the label says), an imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels might as well have been a lager brewed on Mars; it just didn’t exist. Goose Island gave the world a gift by coaxing those phenomenal flavors that result from imperial stout meeting whiskey barrel — vanilla, chocolate, coconut, marshmallow and oak. The evidence lies in the hundreds, if not thousands, of breweries that have followed suit. (F&W: 3)
4. Anchor Steam (Anchor Brewing)
The original American craft beer. End of story. (F&W: 11)
5. 90 Minute IPA (Dogfish Head Brewing)
Like “Jeopardy!” this spot began with an answer: hops. Hops have been the engine driving craft beer for more than a decade, and without an India pale in the top four, it was time for an India pale ale. Dozens of IPAs have been influential, which made zeroing in on one a challenge. But I settled on this classic, and without much consternation. Back in 1999, when many American craft breweries were still built on mimicking European beer styles, Delaware’s Dogfish Head changed how a nation thought about hops, with this boozy (9 percent alcohol), bitter (90 IBUs) and assertive imperial IPA. What made the beer even more important was the company’s aggressive distribution strategy, which made Dogfish the nation’s fastest-growing brewery by 2011 and put 90 Minute IPA in countless awestruck hands at a time that craft beer was building momentum toward the breakthrough that followed. (F&W: 23)
How about sizing up a comment made by my cousin’s husband? “I am convinced that interacting with animals instills a certain amount of common sense in children.”
When I heard it, I just smiled. In fact, it sounded a bit humorous or even maybe a little far-fetched to my way of thinking. But, you know, since he said that my mind keeps returning to that statement time and again. I’ll let you decide whether or not it is true.
As Julia, 5, keeps growing up and interacting with animals more and more we also notice a developing maturity in feeling able and responsible to care for our pets. Take, for example, Julia and Austin. Both were thrilled with delight when a friend presented a fish bowl, goldfish and pretty little stones to go with it, for their birthdays this past fall. Julia was especially impressed when Daddy explained to her that she is now the one responsible to feed the fish.
As she watches them grow and gives me reminders to change the water, she does really feel like she’s grown several inches. Every now and then she comes to me standing as straight as possible asking if I think she has grown some more.
In talking about animals, horses rank among the top of Julia’s favorites. No one is as faithfully committed to giving them words of affirmation that Julia. If we are going up a hill with the horse and buggy, she calls out encouragingly “Good girl, Sapphire!”
The cutest and best of all is Julia and her little puppies. She literally spends hours with them. Austin is right behind wanting to do everything Julia does whether it is cradling them in soft baby blankets or giving them rides in their toy dump truck. Of course with him being a 2-yearold boy I always need to “stay on his tail,” reminding him that pulling on the little puppies tails and things as such are not kind ways to treat these adorable little pets. Julia on the other hand is like a little mommy talking to them as if they understood each word.
A week ago Julia was absolutely in her glory when we told her she could take a puppy along to my parents where they were hosting a hymn singing for our church that evening. She danced with delight as I helped her pack a purse with an extra blanket and so forth just in case. Sitting on her little seat in the back of the buggy her grin reached ear to ear as she clutched her little bundle. Upon arriving Mom had prepared a tasty supper including a huge pot of soup with bologna slices on the side and jello salads and “company cake” for dessert. This was a perfect meal for a winter’s evening for the guests who had come for supper and singing.
Julia was a proud little mama as she showed her friends her little “girl,” which she had named Sugar.
This summer we also hope to get chickens so we can have our own eggs and perhaps a cow or a goat for milk. A kitten is also on Julia’s list for the spring.
While our discussion here is primarily about the children and their love of animals and how this helps them develop, I would like to inject that I too enjoy trailing after Daniel, helping with the animal chores, or building fences for them. As a young girl I loved the quiet freshness of the morning as I sometimes took a turning milk our goat or feeding the rabbits. Now since I am married Daniel takes the primary responsibility for the farm-related things, though I do enjoy joining him.
Now, rewinding to my mother’s supper I need to introduce you to my family’s “company cake” recipe. You can also drizzle a glaze over the cake if you desire, but the cake is also great without.
COMPANY CAKE
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients well and pour into two 8” greased cake pans. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Top all four cakes with crumbs. Cool and enjoy!