My son is a craft beer fan and checks in at beer/wine shops when he travels. He brought home two bottles (two per customer limit) of "Pliny the Elder" from a local shop and I went and got two more.



Apparently there is a cult following for this stuff. It was rated #1 beer in the country for 8 years, then in 2017 fell to #2 ranking behind a Michigan beer called "Bell's Two Hearted." It's sold in many different stores but Greg said he has been looking for it for years and it's always out of stock. I didn't think the price was too bad - $9/bottle.

So I got to try it. About the only time I drink beer is when I go to a craft brewery with my son or son-in-law so the subtleties are probably wasted on me, but I can see why it's so highly rated. It's an IPA and tastes like one only more so. More flavor, more body (almost silky), not astringent. Great bouquet (do beers have bouquet?) If I see it again I'll buy some more.

Anyone know where I can get a few bottles of "Bell's Two Hearted?" I think they'd make great stocking stuffers.

Here's a list of the best craft beers in the America. Some of these breweries are so big it's hard to think of them as "craft" breweries any more and others have been bought out by the big guys. Still, I've had maybe 6 on this list and they are definitely a cut above regular American beer.

You?

Top-Ranked Beers

1. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
2. Russian River Pliny the Elder
3. Founders Breakfast Stout
4. Three Floyds Zombie Dust
5. Bell’s Hopslam
T6. Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)
T6. The Alchemist Heady Topper
T8. Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA
T8. Sierra Nevada Celebration
10. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
T11. Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale
T11. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
T13. Founders All Day IPA
T13. Lawson’s Finest Liquids Sip of Sunshine
15. Cigar City Jai Alai IPA
16. Deschutes Black Butte Porter
17. Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
18. Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro
T19. Lagunitas IPA
T19. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
T19. Stone IPA
T22. Tree House Julius
T22. Odell IPA
T22. Russian River Blind Pig IPA
T22. Toppling Goliath pseudoSue
26. Fat Head’s Hop Juju
T27. Fat Head’s Head Hunter IPA
T27. Firestone Walker Double Jack
T27. Melvin 2×4 DIPA
T27. New Belgium La Folie
T27. Odell 90 Shilling
T27. Russian River Pliny the Younger
T27. Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
T27. The Alchemist Focal Banger
T27. Tröegs Nugget Nectar
T27. Founders Backwoods Bastard
T27. Oskar Blues Ten FIDY
T38. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
T38. Deschutes The Abyss
T38. North Coast Old Rasputin
T38. Arrogant Bastard Ale
T38. Stone Enjoy By IPA
T43. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
T43. New Glarus Wisconsin Belgian Red
T43. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale
T43. Russian River Consecration
T47. Wicked Weed Pernicious
T47. Firestone Walker Union Jack
T47. New Holland Dragon’s Milk
T47. Oskar Blues Old Chub
T47. Three Floyds Alpha King

https://www.binnys.com/catalog...%27s+two+hearted+ale

(I don't think Binny's ships....you'll just have to come here and pick it up....)

I see where I can buy it on line. Not expensive at all, as it turns out.

One of the beers on the list is "Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter", which is brewed in Cleveland. Great label and I could hear Gordon Lightfoot in the background the whole time I drank it.

Never seen it but will look. Three or my faves are in the top 11 - Two Hearted Ale (a favorite for 10 years or so), Deschutes Fresh Squeezed (amazing on draft) and Sierra Nevada pale ale. Surprised Sweetwater is not represented. Their 420 Ale is delicious.

What? $9 a bottle? For beer?

Remind me what every day beer costs.

AND THEY WILL ONLY SELL 2 to you?

Where's the marketing in that?

Ah, but then again some do pay $18 for a bottle of wine.

But people guzzle beer don't they...gulp gulp gulp...and sip wine....

Or does one sip this beer?

Surprising how many of those I've tasted!

Wow. I have only drunk one of the beers on that list: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

I don't really like IPA or porter/stout which many of those are.

I'm kinda disappointed Red Hook ESB didn't make the list. That's my default. Oh, well... more for me.

Agreed with PJ. This is a very IPA-heavy list, and that’s not my favorite!

I've been to The Alchemist and bought my quota of Heady Topper. Motto: Be prepared, bring a cooler; it's unpasteurized. Totally delicious beer. It ranks very high in all lists I've seen.

I'm sure those ranked beers are wonderful. But I'm also into supporting local breweries (of which there are many across the country) and I'm in favor of going local.

That said, I'm not a big beer fan (although I used to home-brew). I'll have one at a bar now and then, but so many bars are off-putting with loud music and bro-types. I've learned I'm more into wine and wine bars these days. Quieter, and more women.