I have subscribed to BeerAdvocate since it started, and marveled at its dedication to be about the enjoyment, and study (i know, how ridiculous) of beer. It may not have much else, but the passion for the great taste and soul that can be found in beers made with love OOZES in each of the articles. Awesome to read.

A note on American Brewery domination: I've traveled to a bunch of Latin American Countries, with a specific focus to enjoy the beers of each land (special focus on the home/microbrewed variety). In addition to that, I have become versed (not well, but it takes time) in the history of European beer brewing. What seems to be a common trend (you can also see this with food), is that the United States is rare in its gift of diversity in flavors. It seems that all other nations (brewing exists in nations, not states) excel, or attempt to excel in few varieties in style, rarely more than four or five in grain brews.

The United States on the other hand has given rise to a movement in brewing during the past twenty five years that is unlike that has happened anywhere in the world, or the past for the matter. Honored methods of brewing have become experimentation, archeology, botany, microbiology, artistry, sociology, and pure chance. Rather, many other locals resort to not loving tradition, but bearing the burden of it, keeping recipes and methods static for the sake of tradition rather than the beer itself.

However, that's simply my take on why, currently, US beers rule. Sure it's beer snobbery, but it's love and life that are at the bottom of the glass.

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Well said, Austin, and I definitely agree that the breadth and depth of quality beer available in the US is stunning.

That said, the BA audience is largely US-based. The only foreign beers available to the majority are those that are actually exported. Just as a European BA wouldn't be familiar with all of Oskar Blues', Victory's, or Deschutes' offerings, American BAs aren't familiar with a large portion of craft beers available in the rest of the world.

Personally, though, I'll take American beer, hands-down, every time. Are there certain styles other nations' brewers do better? Absolutely. But if I could never drink another import, I'd still be happy.

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I've noticed that Beer Advocate is biased towards certain styles of beer. Its readers like beer that's very high in alcohol and either very sweet or very hoppy. That's what gets the high ratings. Of the top 25, 5 are below 7%, and 5 are below 10%! I'm not sure how much of that is caused by genuine preference for extreme beer, and how much is just snobbery.

Stone makes the kind of beer that Beer Advocate readers like. That doesn't make them the best brewery in the world; it makes them the best purveyor of super-strong beer that 99% of consumers wouldn't enjoy.

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These lists do a terrible disservice to beer culture. I wrote my thoughts earlier this week on my site, http://www.klutzbrau.com

My basic argument is that these lists are simply mis-labeled. I think there are bigger problems with BA though, as exemplified by Todd Alstrom (co-owner of BA) in follow up forum discussions. I won't repost everything I wrote, in the interest of brevity, but I encourage others to read it.

-Beau

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Thanks for the coverage ... just a little FYI. I know you were trying to find an angle on this but you obviously went down the wrong road IMO. The top lists are not polls ... they are generated from detailed reviews and scores unlike the best of lists on the site which updated on the min. Its not as simple as someone chiming in saying "this is my favorite beer" ... its a whole lot more complex than that.

As for having "not enough non-American beers." There are hundreds of German, Belgian, English, etc brands that are sent to the US. Perhaps the Germans should be sending their good stuff rather than just the processed grain and hop extracted pale lagers. Perhaps American brewers have finally caught up and surpassed the rest of the beer world as well.

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You said it right there ... "a list is a list" nothing more, nothing less. Even I don't personally agree with the picks ... but that is my personal preference. Its great to see all of this passion behind this industry, even if it is negative. It would be a boring world of if everyone held hands and agreed on everything.

The lists are there for discussion ... we never said it was a definitive end all list that everyone should follow. Its a simple snap shot of what is happening on BA and it is easy for some people to pick out the very and already obvious to gripe about. The list, the discussion, the disagreements ... I love it all.

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