Best Beers in America
I just came across an article (via Digg) from Mens Journal titled 25 Best Beers In America. It’s a pretty great list and I must admit I’ve yet to try all the beers included. However, out of the many I am familiar with I’m not entirely in agreement with their height placement on the list. Thusly, I feel obliged to share with you my top 10 (I prefer 10 to 25) beers in America. I encourage you all to include your own lists within the comment section.
I warn you. My selections do have bias for Michigan brews.
- Imperial Stout – Dragonmead
Warren, MI - Nut Brown Ale – Motor City Brewing Works
Detroit, MI - Red Snapper Special Bitter – Arbor Brewing Company
Ann Arbor, MI - Oatmeal Stout – Wolaver’s
Middlebury, VT - Edmund Fitzgerald Porter – Great Lakes Brewing Company
Cleveland, OH - 60 Minute IPA – Dogfish Head
Milton, DE - Dragon Daze – Dragonmead
Warren, MI - Pils – Stoudt’s
Adamstown, PA - Oberon – Bell’s
Comstock, MI - Shakespeare Stout – Rogue
Newport, OR
There are a few others that could place pretty high on the list if I could remember what they were called…
Overall, my favorite brewpub (if it weren’t obvious) is Dragonmead in Warren, MI. My favorite “beer bar” is Brickskeller in DC. And my favorite type of beer is Stout (Imperial Stout, if you want to be specific).
Great list!
Out of the 25 listed at Digg, I’ve tried the following: Deschutes Broken Top Bock, Samuel Adams Black Lager, and Bell’s Expedition Stout. I saw that Lost Abbey (I didn’t even know they had changed names from their “stupid” Pizza Port name) has an entry. I haven’t been to Pizza Port yet (there are two within five miles of my place) because…well…why? I know my pizza and my beer choice is likely to be better. Also, I noticed that the Great Lakes is well represented on the list, especially against such heavy hitters as the Pacific Northwest and the New England states.
I’d, as you know, have to add Dragonmead’s Dead Monk Abbey Ale on to my personal list along with a few others. I’d have to think about it. Maybe I’ll post my choices….
Here is my top something-or-other list:
Dead Monk Abbey Ale – Dragonmead, Warren, MI
Export – Shipyard Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Bridgeport India Pale Ale – Bridgeport Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Jul Ol Christmas Ale – Dragonmead, Warren, MI
Whitsun Ale – Arcadia Brewing Co., Battle Creek, MI
My favorite “Big Brand” beers include Guinness, Boddington’s Cream Ale, Newcastle, and the fall/winter offerings from Samuel Adams.
once you’re up here, you’ll have to teach me some more about beer. my brother was up here for two weeks and we went to rogue down in newport. apparently the little brother and a pal are making their own brews and he’s a huge fan of rogue. anyway, i know a little about wine but very little about beer. since you’re older and wiser and all that, maybe you could teach me?
Definitely!
I’ll gladly go over the finer points of good beer. However, I do have to warn you that Portland beer is infamous for it’s hoppiness and it’s hard to circumvent that. Dragonmead in the Detroit area is the absolute best place to try different beers and styles thereof.
But Portland’s IPAs (a typically hopped up beer) are some of the best.. It’s just a matter of whether you prefer heavy hops or heavy malt (or both).
Yes, but what I was getting at is that when an average Joe like me orders, say, an amber ale or something down the line of a stout, in Portland it will most often turn out hoppy, which is not what I’m looking for. An IPA is supposed to pack the punch of hops while an amber is smoother and a stout is more hearty than sharp. The Pacific Northwest in general is the land of hops, so it’s understandable. But, in the creation of various styles of beer, I think care should be taken to convey the proper flavor without making everything an IPA hybrid.