The White Whale List - 2012

Worthy additions to the voting pool. Will add them to the list for the next go around.

Was hoping Uplands Kiwi Lambic would be here on the list. O well. I will enjoy it anyways

I never really care too much about quality with a lot of these, since a decent amount are over the hill anyway, but Old Raspy X has to be awful right now considering XI and XII SUCK right now and frankly aren't worth drinking.

White Whale doesn't necessarily equal "tastes good" or even "good beer." End of the day, drink what makes you happy.

And yeah, if it came down to strictly taste, I'd take Upland Kiwi over a number of these beers.

Great beer, not worthy of this list though.

I can proudly say I'm going to shove beers from this list in your face the next time you and I are drinking in the same room =P

Rasputin X is absolutely awful as of a month ago. I wouldn't have ranked it very highly anyways because there doesn't seem to be very much desire for it.

So...people are fond of Cantillon I see.

Sorry an arbitrary list of beers has made you sick. Perhaps you are taking it the wrong way?

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Sorry that my arbitrary comment on the internet has made you snippy. Maybe you took it too seriously?

Let the wale hunting begin!

Thanks for the list, if anything it's always fun to check this out, makes fun debate. Shit top 100 list have kept vh1 in business

Very interesting, nice to see a 2012 list. I can hardly pronounce most of these... lol

Damn you public schooling

It's funny, for someone who must not care or agree with this list, you're all over it liking post after post that says anything negative. Like I said, it's a list that a group of people created for fun. No need to get sick over it, dude. I'm just looking out for your well being. Perhaps you should take some Advil and get some rest?

I see you've been here since May 2012...perhaps you can teach us something about "whales"?

I am no whale hunter but it is fun to browse the list. I have only had some vintage Fou F'oune as it has been a favorite for over 10 years, and 10 years ago Loons were shelf beers.

One beer that has long since been forgotten that is not on the list is Magic Hat Thumbsucker. This was always one of the top ten of mine, but I have given up on it.

Will add it to the next go around. I had it earlier this year, still holding up well, solid. I don't anticipate it would make the top 100, but I could be wrong. A lot of the ranking did not go how I expected.

It seems to have 2 things working against it: most recent reviews are saying solid at best and the other is it being a Magic Hat beer. Nothing againt Magic Hat but they would seem out of place on this list.

#8, #37, #42 (2), #81, #128, #142. Better go to work then.

Good work on the list, guys.

Thanks for all the hard work gents. It was a lot of fun putting this list together.

Cheers,
Jeff

Looks like i've had 64/100. Guess I've got something to work on for 2013.

VE 02-02-02, Cable Car Kriek and Bourbon Vanilla Dark Lord are what I have had from the top 100.

Perhaps you've had too much Jelly?

If I may make one suggestion that would help me and some other ppl. Could you add years in parenthesis next to batch numbers to make it a little easier to discern between vintages? Eg: batch 1 (2009). But this list looks great, truly amazing to have such an educated committee spend the time on this. We should have it pinned near the top 100 ba list if possible.

Nice work.

Any bottles that had to be excluded from the list cause there are no known bottles? Conversely, any bottles on the list that might not exist any more?

Ah, finally!, someone who understands the ineffable nature of the white whale. The lone assailable demon. My one and only purpose, that which I singularly, fanatically, and madly sought to extirpate; that which, I seeking, bound me by my own harpoon-line, dragging me into the unfathomable depths, my last breath spat at thee.

The whale’s whiteness a sign of the harrowing cosmic blankness that exists outside of the sphere of the mind; the great empty, disorderly universe—ignorant of our explanations for pursuing our ends, not caring for our obsessions, not seeking out our darker, unhinted-at reasons for acting. White, to be filled with the objects of our listful quests; a vehicle for our half-formed, unshareable self-realizations. That which we, feeling the entire delirious torment of life and thought, individually choose to pursue. To attempt to define such a thing, to try and force the objects of our monomania on others, to ascribe one meaning to the empty white symbol, to act as if our desires are knowable, shareable, universalizable . . . there could be no greater misunderstanding, no greater stupidity, no greater folly.

I have had 78 out of th 177 listed. Not too shabby.

Were are the 1980's DeDolle's on this list?

That's no fair counting past the top 100! But I did it too, and came up with 103/177.

My only problem with "White Whale" lists are that some of the beers are past their prime and not worth tracking down.

Granted, that doesn't mean every bottle of a white whale is over the top, but I'd much rather see someone do a "retired" White Whale list and a "active" White Whale list, differentiating between what is actually worth drinking/tracking down.

Nobody wants to kill the decrepit whale that's dying at the bottom of the ocean.

We didn't specifically exclude anything with no known bottles, but no one really suggested those for consideration.

Looking back at the top 100, I'm reasonably certain that everything on the list exists.

So who the fuck do I sue over de-valuing my cellar I worked so hard on?



Good work all, had to be a fun thing to do....and already looking forward to the 2013 list so people can argue over any changes!

It was a point that was debated over during the creation of the list. The goal was simple, to see what people's perception of a white whale was. Taste only mattered as much as the individual who ranked it thought it should. Some of these beers will undoubtedly not taste as good as something you could grab off your shelf, but that doesn't mean they aren't white whales, it may just mean they are bad beers.

Obviously a list like this is polarizing to many. I'm certainly not one to get caught up in the whale race, but I don't have a problem with these lists, and I don't really think anybody should. If it bothers you, there is an easy way to view it from a historical angle and it should make more sense.

When you think about a list like this, you have to realize that very little of it actually trades anyway. Thus while it is easy to claim that this is creating an artificially inflated market of hype, in reality, it's more about documenting the world's ultra-rare but excellent beers of the past. Without a list like this, names like Dave or M would have faded away into obscurity by now. But, because this keeps them in the conversation, new users can see a list like this and be able to appreciate a bit of modern beer history.

Ultimately this is the equivalent of some art house blog's Top 100 movies of all time. A highly subjective but interesting take.

I really think there should be "lambic" and "non-lambic" versions of this list. Otherwise, as time--->infinity contents of list--->Cantillon/3F.

I probably ticked some more to be honest. A lot of the Veritas stuff has been served at the EBF over the years but I don't always pay attention that that stuff at that fest.

I find the list very interesting. Thanks for the work! On a side note, since P3 is ranked low, anyone want to just give me one?

Since DDG is ranked so low, just want to give me one? Oh wait...

Nice that you prefaced the list by admitting there will be disagreements, but I'll toss in an observation in an attempt to keep you honest.

The list is heavily tilted towards sours/wilds. Either the committee is stacked in that direction or my beer style preferences are a little too narrow. I'm okay with either. Interesting thread though....

You need a demand, too

Also, I enjoy the lists. I'm a little out of the scene these days so it's fun to see what new stuff people are fascinated by, etc.

Yeah some of the stuff is not that good to be honest.

I am not sure I would even concider some of the stuff to be wales. Any of the Narke or Sweedish/Finnish Lambic one off stuff can easily be ticked with a trip to Helsinki or Stockholm and a couple grand to spend at the bar.

Real wales are beers that don't exist any more. If you can buy it isn't a whale IMHO. You just have to travell, have deep pockets ect. Nobody is selling Dave. Anywhere.

That's a good point. If its still sold at a bar, should it even be on the list?