[Dave Carpenter]

Zymurgy's 16th annual Best Beers in America survey is now live. AHA members can log in and vote here:

http://HomebrewersAssociation.org/zym-best-beers

You can name—in no particular order—as few as 1 or as many as 5 commercially brewed beers that you think deserve recognition. We'll obtain or develop clone recipes for those that readers particularly enjoy. Voting ends March 20, and all who cast votes are entered to win free AHA merch!

Thanks for all you do to make Zymurgy a valuable resource for homebrewers!

[klickitat jim]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE......can we change the name to Favorite beers in America?  How can it possibly be "Best" if none of us have tasted every beer?  What criteria do you use to decide the "best"?  I understand the marketing appeal of saying "best", but it really doesn't belong.

Most popular?

[Robert]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE......can we change the name to Favorite beers in America?  How can it possibly be "Best" if none of us have tasted every beer?  What criteria do you use to decide the "best"?  I understand the marketing appeal of saying "best", but it really doesn't belong.

Most popular?

Yeah, or that....

Most popular? Isn't that already taken by BMC Lite? Who wants to be popular anyway.   How about most drooled over by geeks. If we're being honest with ourselves!

[Gary Glass]

Hi there AHA members, I wanted to remind you all to vote in our annual Best Beers in America Survey.

http://homebrewersassociation.org/zym-best-beers

It’ll only take a few minutes of your time, and by submitting your votes you not only make your opinion heard, but also will be entered in a drawing to win fabulous AHA swag!

I know there are a lot of beer polls out there, and some question why we continue to do this every year, well here are some reasons:

1.   This poll is limited to the homebrewer members of the American Homebrewers Association—people who know quality beer.  Thus, this survey has more credibility than others, which is why…

2.   Nothing we do generates more mainstream media coverage for homebrewing than the results of this poll, not National Homebrew Competition results, not GABF pro-am, not Big Brew, not Homebrew Con.  Last year, the media outlets that covered the Best Beers survey results had a combined audience of 154 million.  That’s big-time exposure for homebrewing.  That kind of exposure gets more people into the hobby, meaning more customers for the LHBS, more members for the local homebrew club, and hopefully more members for the AHA.

3.   The Best Beers survey helps us generate the clone (tribute?) recipes that AHA members want.

4.   One thing that I find really satisfying about the results of this survey is that it isn’t just a bunch of white whale beers that can only be found on the black market for an exorbitant price or at an in-person event with a line a mile long.  Too many of those beers end up being over-rated precisely because the raters spent too much money/time on a beer. 

5.   Similar to the rant in #4, this survey isn’t just about the hottest trends, either.

It took me way longer to type this post than it will take you to vote.  So do me a favor and vote! 

Thanks for listening.

Your humble servant in homebrewing,
Gary Glass

[tommymorris]

Yellowhammer Brewing got two votes from me. Mayhew Junction Brewing got two votes from me also (props for Starkville, Mississippi.)

[Robert]

Gary's point #2 I hadn't thought of.  I will now think really hard to come up with 5 nominees, to help make this thing as big as possible.   In order to be sure of my selections, I may have to hit the locals and drinks some extra beers.

[riceral]

3.   The Best Beers survey helps us generate the clone (tribute?) recipes that AHA members want.

Hey Gary---The only question I have is what 2-3 IPAs recipes will they be this year? It seems that since IPAs dominate the list, there is very little style variation as to what recipes are printed. I am sure that something other than an IPA has been done the past few years but it seems that some different style other than IPA could possibly be chosen from the top 10 or 15 beers.

Just my opinion.

[Dave Carpenter]

3.   The Best Beers survey helps us generate the clone (tribute?) recipes that AHA members want.

Hey Gary---The only question I have is what 2-3 IPAs recipes will they be this year? It seems that since IPAs dominate the list, there is very little style variation as to what recipes are printed. I am sure that something other than an IPA has been done the past few years but it seems that some different style other than IPA could possibly be chosen from the top 10 or 15 beers.

Just my opinion.

I'll chime in here. The chosen clone recipes are based on a number of things, including how much info breweries are willing to share. We try to get as many details from the brewers as possible, and for whatever reason (possibly just statistics) that has meant having lots of IPA the last few years. It's just where the survey results have intersected with available info. We'll see where things land this year.

In the meantime, look for clone recipes for a couple of well-known Belgian dark strong ales in the upcoming May/June issue. And don't forget about the online database:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipes/?clones=true

There's a lot of good stuff in there. And last year we had a really cool online article featuring 50 clones from 50 states:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/top-50-commercial-clone-beer-recipes/

[udubdawg]

I'm going to go ahead and be pedantic because, well, I can...

is "Best Beers IN AMERICA" - 1) beers from American Breweries, 2) Beers that are Distributed in America, 3) Beers that People In America Say are Best? or 4) "We know we said America but anyone who pays AHA dues and lives in other countries can vote for their faves too"

Even though it sounds like it would be #1, I know I've voted for Orval before (and will again - in fact you all should too!), and I've seen foreign beers on the list. Just sayin'

as for Gary's #2 comment...while the numbers gave me pause, it feels like an "all publicity is good publicity" statement. And we've all seen the list denigrated in other places by people who had no idea that it was our list of favorite beers.

I'm going to go vote now...but, sorry Gary - I think it's silly.

/soapbox

cheers--
--Michael

[Dave Carpenter]

is "Best Beers IN AMERICA" - 1) beers from American Breweries, 2) Beers that are Distributed in America, 3) Beers that People In America Say are Best? or 4) "We know we said America but anyone who pays AHA dues and lives in other countries can vote for their faves too"

We aim for the second of those options. There's always the imports list, which is ranked separately from the US beers. As long as the beer is sold in the US, it's fair game.