Loyal readers will know of my antipathy to lists. So when I was forwarded the Food & Wine list of “most important” American Craft Beers, I almost did not click on it.
Most craft beer fans would put Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on said list along with Anchor Christmas and Widmer Hefeweizen, Russian River Blind Pig, Sam Adams Boston lager, Allagash White. All of which are part of the 25. I marked down ten beers off the top of my head that could make the cut and all were on the list. And anyone who has seen my March Madness bracket will know that I am not a prognosticator.
I guess, that I just don’t get the point of the piece. Every other interview a brewer mentions Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. We so know that it was a fixed point in beer time that future beer timelines will always mention, so yeah, it gets the #1 slot. Anchor has multiple mentions on the list but they are more known for the full story of how they were saved and then grew with the industry and for the future have even shown how buyouts affect a company. Probably more so than for their beer unless you are a fan of blackberry IPA’s. Dogfish Head and their Minute IPA’s are an integral part of lore as well.
My feeling are that the brewers and the breweries are the more “important” piece though. I don’t see Pale Ale, I see Chico and their eco choices and their Beer Camp program as so much more important. Maytag taking a leap of faith and resurrecting a forgotten beer style is what to take-away because that probably prompted the re-launch of Gose and Saisons in America. Widmer is tangled with community and home brewers and that will be what is told and not a wedge of fruit on a mis-nomered wheat beer.
There are more stories than a single beer can tell.