A little blast from the past... I was shuffling through some old files and came across the 2006 BeerAdvocate Top 100 Beers list. I've only included the Top 20 for now, but thought it was interesting nonetheless. Man, times they have a changed. It looks like roughly half of them have dropped off the Top 20. Note, the numbers to the far right are the ratings and then the number of reviews. 1 Trappist Westvleteren 12 (Yellow Cap) brewer: Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren) 4.53 329 2 Dark Lord Imperial Stout brewer: Three Floyds Brewing Co. / Brewery & Pub 4.45 196 3 Stone Imperial Russian Stout brewer: Stone Brewing Co. 4.44 635 4 Dreadnaught IPA brewer: Three Floyds Brewing Co. / Brewery & Pub 4.42 386 5 St. Bernardus Abt 12 brewer: Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV 4.41 648 6 Trappistes Rochefort 10 brewer: Brasserie de Rochefort (Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy) 4.41 550 7 Trappist Westvleteren 8 (Blue Cap) brewer: Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren) 4.41 220 8 Founders Breakfast Stout brewer: Founders Brewing Company 4.39 266 9 Storm King Stout brewer: Victory Brewing Company 4.38 871 10 AleSmith Speedway Stout brewer: AleSmith Brewing Company 4.36 208 11 Masala Mama India Pale Ale brewer: Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery 4.35 179 12 Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout brewer: Founders Brewing Company 4.35 126 13 Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock brewer: Privatbrauerei Franz Inselkammer KG / Brauerei Aying 4.34 712 14 YuleSmith brewer: AleSmith Brewing Company 4.32 232 15 Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock brewer: Kuhnhenn Brewing Company 4.31 105 16 Thomas Hooker Liberator Doppelbock brewer: Thomas Hooker Ales & Lagers (Troutbrook Brewing Company) 4.31 182 17 Abbaye Des Rocs Grand Cru brewer: Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs s.a. 4.31 249 18 Double Bastard Ale brewer: Stone Brewing Co. 4.3 455 19 Pliny The Elder brewer: Russian River Brewing Company 4.29 124 20 Pliny The Younger brewer: Russian River Brewing Company 4.29 68
Heck, why not include them all.... Here are the other 80 for you data geeks out there. 21 Shakespeare Stout brewer: Rogue Ales Brewery / Brewer's on the Bay 4.28 691 22 Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout brewer: Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster) 4.28 605 23 Chocolate Stout brewer: Rogue Ales Brewery / Brewer's on the Bay 4.27 617 24 Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier brewer: Brauerei Weihenstephan 4.27 475 25 AleSmith IPA brewer: AleSmith Brewing Company 4.27 183 26 Trappistes Rochefort 8 brewer: Brasserie de Rochefort (Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy) 4.26 413 27 Stone Ruination IPA brewer: Stone Brewing Co. 4.26 649 28 Aventinus brewer: Private Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH 4.26 659 29 Imperial Stout brewer: Rogue Ales Brewery / Brewer's on the Bay 4.26 415 30 Wisconsin Belgian Red brewer: New Glarus Brewing Company 4.26 178 31 La Fin Du Monde brewer: Unibroue 4.26 751 32 Duvel brewer: Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV 4.26 748 33 Old Ruffian Barley Wine brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company 4.26 251 34 Hop Rod Rye brewer: Bear Republic Brewing Co. 4.26 449 35 J.W. Lees Vintage Harvest Ale brewer: J.W. Lees & Co (Brewers) Ltd 4.26 266 36 Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel brewer: Klosterbrauerei Andechs 4.26 86 37 Péché Mortel (Imperial Stout Au Cafe) brewer: Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel 4.26 103 38 Bell's Expedition Stout brewer: Bell's Brewery, Inc / Eccentric Café & Beergarden 4.25 398 39 Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter brewer: Great Lakes Brewing Company 4.25 400 40 Two Hearted Ale brewer: Bell's Brewery, Inc / Eccentric Café & Beergarden 4.25 611 41 Tröegs Nugget Nectar brewer: Tröegs Brewing Company 4.25 217 42 Stone IPA (India Pale Ale) brewer: Stone Brewing Co. 4.25 729 43 Supplication brewer: Russian River Brewing Company 4.25 107 44 90 Minute IPA brewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4.24 865 45 Alpha King Pale Ale brewer: Three Floyds Brewing Co. / Brewery & Pub 4.24 491 46 Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout brewer: North Coast Brewing Co. 4.24 707 47 Cadillac Mtn. Stout brewer: Bar Harbor Brewing Company 4.23 141 48 Yeti Imperial Stout brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company 4.23 313 49 Hercules Double IPA brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company 4.23 364 50 Arrogant Bastard Ale brewer: Stone Brewing Co. 4.22 901 51 Alpha Klaus Xmas Porter brewer: Three Floyds Brewing Co. / Brewery & Pub 4.22 234 52 Brasserie Des Rocs Triple Impériale brewer: Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs s.a. 4.22 133 53 Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company 4.22 289 54 La Folie Wood Aged Beer brewer: New Belgium Brewing Inc. 4.22 110 55 Alaskan Smoked Porter brewer: Alaskan Brewing Co. 4.22 245 56 Fuller's London Porter brewer: Fuller Smith & Turner PLC 4.22 428 57 Temptation brewer: Russian River Brewing Company 4.22 107 58 Bell's Batch 7000 brewer: Bell's Brewery, Inc / Eccentric Café & Beergarden 4.21 186 59 Hennepin (Farmhouse Saison) brewer: Brewery Ommegang 4.21 624 60 Okocim Porter brewer: Browar Okocim S.A. (Carlsberg) 4.21 170 61 Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout brewer: Brooklyn Brewery 4.21 625 62 Trois Pistoles brewer: Unibroue 4.21 607 63 Westmalle Trappist Tripel brewer: Brouwerij Westmalle (Adbij der Trappisten van Westmalle) 4.2 448 64 Big Bear Black Stout brewer: Bear Republic Brewing Co. 4.2 312 65 Sinebrychoff Porter brewer: Oy Sinebrychoff Ab 4.2 272 66 Fantôme Saison brewer: Brasserie Fantôme 4.2 195 67 Gumballhead brewer: Three Floyds Brewing Co. / Brewery & Pub 4.2 353 68 Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout brewer: Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster) 4.2 687 69 St. Bernardus Tripel brewer: Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV 4.2 348 70 Southampton Grand Cru brewer: Southampton Publick House 4.2 83 71 Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale (Oaked Bastard) brewer: Stone Brewing Co. 4.2 103 72 Abbaye Des Rocs [Brasserie Des Rocs Brune] brewer: Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs s.a. 4.19 158 73 Gouden Carolus Carolus D'Or - Cuvée Van De Keizer brewer: Brouwerij Het Anker 4.19 173 74 Thirsty Dog Siberian Night Imperial Stout brewer: Thirsty Dog Brewing 4.19 155 75 Great Lakes Blackout Stout brewer: Great Lakes Brewing Company 4.19 231 76 Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue / Blauw) brewer: Bières de Chimay (Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont) 4.19 607 77 Weihenstephaner Korbinian brewer: Brauerei Weihenstephan 4.18 267 78 I2PA - Imperial India Pale Ale brewer: Rogue Ales Brewery / Brewer's on the Bay 4.18 433 79 Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale brewer: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 4.18 793 80 Avec Les Bons Voeux brewer: Brasserie Dupont sprl 4.18 110 81 Racer 5 India Pale Ale brewer: Bear Republic Brewing Co. 4.18 377 82 Tripel Karmeliet brewer: Brouwerij Bosteels 4.18 314 83 Celebration Ale brewer: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 4.18 867 84 Thomas Hooker Imperial Porter brewer: Thomas Hooker Ales & Lagers (Troutbrook Brewing Company) 4.17 119 85 World Wide Stout brewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4.17 458 86 Cantillon Saint Lamvinus brewer: Brasserie Cantillon 4.17 61 87 Imperial IPA brewer: Goose Island 4.17 108 88 Allagash Tripel Reserve brewer: Allagash Brewing Company 4.17 276 89 Maudite brewer: Unibroue 4.17 614 90 Fuller's Vintage Ale brewer: Fuller Smith & Turner PLC 4.17 238 91 HopDevil Ale brewer: Victory Brewing Company 4.17 856 92 Obsidian Stout brewer: Deschutes Brewery, Inc. 4.17 168 93 Old Horizontal brewer: Victory Brewing Company 4.16 431 94 Bourbon County Stout brewer: Goose Island 4.16 132 95 Ramstein Winter Wheat brewer: High Point Wheat Beer Company 4.16 129 96 Founders Red's Rye brewer: Founders Brewing Company 4.16 216 97 Titan IPA brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company 4.16 317 98 Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze brewer: Drie Fonteinen 4.16 73 99 Girardin Gueuze 1882 Black Label (unfiltered) brewer: Brouwerij Girardin 4.15 75 100 St. Bernardus Prior 8 brewer: Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV 4.15 298
Wow. I'm really surprised Storm King was ever that high. I have to say, though, that I find something "refreshing" about it. I'd love to see the whole 100 if the forum can support posts that long. Mind-read edit: The whole list makes me feel even better.
It's too bad the bros have disallowed the archive.org robots from crawling the site. It's fun to take a trip back through time to not only see how the list has changed over the years, but to also check out the site and see how it's evolved.
Wow some real surprises on here. The number of reviews has seen a huge boom in the last 5-6 years it looks like. Storm King was a top 10 beer? I like that! I wonder how much the drastic changes on the list have been a result of larger sample size, difference in beer, or just hype taking them in one direction or the other. Really cool to compare to today. Thanks for posting!
Yup , definitely a few surprises. Hooker Liberator at #16 was a surprise as well... Storm King used to be talked up quite a bit back then as a great Impy Stout (esp. for the $)
Storm King also had the highest number of reviews at 871. Hop Devil has the second highest number at 856.
That's a really solid list of beers. Lots of good off the shelf stuff. It's cool to compare that to the current top beers.
What I find most interesting is that so many of those beers are actually one's that you can find at stores. Makes the list more relevant to non-whale hunting mega trader BA's and I also think shows how mega hyped limited release stuff has taken over around here. I understand many current top 100 beers weren't around and maybe they actually are better than everything on the old list (many are not, IMO), but there's a ton of damn solid and accessible beers on the old list which makes me think of the good old days...
I understand Storm King is very unique compared to other Imperial Stouts and how certain qualities of the beer can turn people off, but I personally find it absolutely delicious, easily one of my favorite non barrel aged stouts out there. I don't get it very often any more (since my regular store doesn't have it) but every time I have one I thoroughly enjoy it.
Only the ratings of the top 14 beers on that list would be good enough to make the top 100 today. Wow. What will it be in another 5 years?
I think maybe part of this is the number of barrel aged beers on this list compared to today. Quick glance all I saw was KBS. Barrel aging I think tends to up the hype a fair bit.
Going to be funny if a glut of westy hits the USA and it drops down to #10 lol or lower. I predict it would hover around rochefort 10 land if they ever decided to export full time. Got any older lists?
You can go back through ratebeer's history (pre-2006 the lists were quite similar), but as I mentioned in a previous post, BA is blocked from being indexed by the wayback machine. You can click the yearly timeline across the top of the page to bring up a calendar showing all the snapshots that were captured in a given year. Here's a snap shot of RB circa July 2006 so people can compare the lists:
Oh yeah, and for those who think that having a "top X" dominated by stouts is a new phenomenon, here's the top 10 from the very first RB archive point in 2000: Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock Rogue Mocha Porter Rogue Shakespeare Stout Guinness Draft Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout Sam Smiths Imperial Stout Anchor Porter Guinness Draught (cans) Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout Fuller's ESB FWIW, the "most reviewed" beer at that point was Budweiser, with a whopping 34 reviews.
Nope, I'm missing the retired Goose Island Double IPA, I've reviewed the other 99....time to write Goose Island so I can close that gap.
I was surprised to see how many Rogue beers were on there. Forgot that they used to more of a force in the beer world (though the most certainly still are to a certain extent).
It's definitely an awesome resource. The best part is that they don't just archive websites, they also have over 1 million public domain books and magazines (including over 600 beer-related books/articles), millions of audio samples, speeches, and podcasts (including over 2,000 beer-related clips), and a live music archive with almost 100,000 concerts from 5,000+ bands that allow audience recordings of their shows. I can't really figure out a way to tie that one into beer, but maybe your favorite drinking songs are on the list.
What the hell happened to Dark Lord? I joined in 2009 and remember that even then DL was in the top 10 and super hyped. Was it the recipe change? Was 2009 or 2010 the first year at 15%?
Ditto! I really only started sampling beers in 2010 to present and I've actually sampled many on this 2006 list. I barely can find any in my area on the current top 100 (at least not in 12oz bottle options). I get frustrated looking at the current list but feel pretty good about what I love and have sampled comparing it to the past listings.
I think the part I like the most is that 3F Oude Gueuze is on there, where it should be. The fact that it gets left out of things blows my mind.
I think Pliny will head back down the charts again in a couple years. I enjoy both PtE and PtY but there are some IPAs out there that I think are just as good. Don't get me wrong, great beers but I think 90% of it is hype.
Thanks for posting. This list was my obsession when I joined. I tried tracking down all these beers. Then I had my OCD obsession crushed when the bros changed the rules on the Top 100. I spent the next week curled up on my bedroom floor crying.
