From flickr user Rakka

The hipsters at Paste magazine love to rate things, so they took a cut at rating the top 25 new American beers for 2010.  The list is actually pretty well rounded, though without trying every single beer, it’s hard to fully judge.

Their top five are below, but check out their website for the complete list of 25.

5. Little Sumpin’ Wild – Lagunitas
4. Bourbon County Vanilla Stout – Goose Island
3. Provisions Series: Premiere – The Bruery
2. Nemesis 2009 – Founders
1. Surly Four – Surly Brewing

From flickr user allerleiau

With the Christmas season officially started, Peter Genovese at the New Jersey Star Ledger decided to tackle the 30 beer days until Christmas.  Basically, it’s a 30-beer countdown — because the holidays could always use more beer.

In the continuing countdown in our 30 Beers until Christmas series, we’re going to go all patriotic this time, in the form of Samuel Adams Revolutionary Rye and Yards Brewing Co.’s Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale.

I had my first taste of the latter, appropriately enough, in Philadelphia, home to the Liberty Bell and Yards, long one of my favorite brewers. Thomas Jefferson’s Tavern Ale is a strong ale based on Jefferson’s original recipe. Seems like twice a year his wife, Martha, would brew a batch of beer at Monticello.

Check it out and follow along as he tries and reviews 30 beers on the way to Christmas.

From flickr user --Mark--

Beer Advocate has a list of the “Top Beers on Planet Earth.”  The list is below, and you can see the whole thing here, but I think some context is important.  First, the top ten:

1. Trappist Westvleteren 12, Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)
2. Pliny The Elder, Russian River Brewing Company
3. Pliny The Younger, Russian River Brewing Company
4. The Abyss, Deschutes Brewery
5. Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Founders Brewing Company
6. Trappistes Rochefort 10, Brasserie de Rochefort (Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy)
7. Trappist Westvleteren 8, Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)
8. Bell’s HopSlam Ale, Bell’s Brewery, Inc.
9. Stone Imperial Russian Stout, Stone Brewing Co.
10. St. Bernardus Abt 12, Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV

It’s a generally predictable list, but why the asterisk?  First of all, it’s just a list on the Internet.  If you like beer, there’s no better authority on what the best beers on the planet are than you.  You may not know what’s still out there, and you should definitely use lists like this as a good starting point, but don’t buy into it just because other people say you should.

Which leads to the second reason: agree or disagree with the list, the biggest threat to the future of craft beer is snobbery.  The last thing the craft beer fans need is to become more like wine drinkers.  Beer is the everyman’s drink, and whether you like Miller Lite or $20-per-bottle Belgians, we should enjoy it without being judgmental.  Sure, in terms of the art of brewing, some people are more ambitious and innovative than others, but it doesn’t necessarily make their beer any better.

Appreciate the process, love the product, but let’s not judge just because others may not enjoy everything on that list.  There are plenty of hard-core homebrewers who love deep, complex beer, but still drink Busch on the weekends.  There’s a place for everything, and at any given time, it may mean that Pilny the Younger is the best beer on the planet, or it may mean that a half-warm can of PBR is number one.

I stopped a my local liquor store on the way home last night to pick up a six pack of whatever I could find.  As it turns out, I walked out with one of the, if not the, best beer I’ve ever had: Tröegs Nugget Nectar Ale.

I’ve had Nugget Nectar before.  I’ve been to the Tröegs brewery five or six times, I’ve been to the Tröegs-sponsored Harrisburg Brewers Fest the past few years,  and I’m familiar with the entire Tröegs beer lineup.  But somehow, I re-discovered Nugget Nectar and it absolutely blew my mind.

I’m not one for beer reviews because I think they’re usually useless.  I like one thing, you like another, so what does me writing about a beer do for either of us?  But I need to write about this beer — it’s that good.  Nugget Nectar is almost addicting.  You take your first drink and instantly want another.  It’s hard not to just keep drinking, taking small breaks for air.  In some ways, that’s what I did: I bought a six pack 24 hours ago, and after forcing myself to stop at four consecutive last night, I just finished number six. And now I’m sitting here, writing about it, considering walking the two blocks in 35 degree weather for another one.

Tröegs says this about their beer:

Squeeze those hops for all they’re worth and prepare to pucker up: Nugget Nectar Ale, will take hopheads to nirvana with a heady collection of Nugget, Warrior and Tomahawk hops. Starting with the same base ingredients of our flagship HopBack Amber Ale, Nugget Nectar intensifies the malt and hop flavors to create an explosive hop experience.

And here’s the thing: I actually disagree with them.  “Prepare to pucker up?”  With most hoppy beers, yes.  But not this one.  Somehow, Tröegs has created a 95 IBU beer that isn’t bitter at all.  The hops don’t come off in that way — they come off as earthy, oily, and amazing.  I’m not fan of hops — I’m more of a malt guy, someone who appreciates the finer points of roasting and blending grain — but this beer makes me want even more.

I poured it into a pint glass, as suggested, and it smells like a pile of hops.  But there is absolutely no bitterness there, at least as I see it.  This is a perfectly balanced beer: one that is intentionally hopped further than most other beers care to go, but one that is backed by a maltly blend that gives it the amber color you want your beer to have.  When you drink it, it’s not sharp, but smooth, hitting you in the back of your mouth and lingering until you pick up the glass again.  Tröegs mentions pairing it with “Cheese (Sharp, Blue, and Cheddar)” or “Meat (Beef and Poultry),” but please don’t.  You’re just going to cover up that wonderful lingering flavor with whatever sub-par food you’re eating.

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