Mike's Beer Ratings

What follows is, in order of preference, my ratings of beers that I've had. Of course, the ratings are biased, as they're based solely on my personal taste. The beers listed here are based on my bottle collection at home; I collect only bottles that I've actually drunk. This means that there are various beers that I've had in restaurants and at parties that are not on this list, as I don't have the bottle.

The relative distance between any two beers is not fixed. This list is still growing, so the current top may lose its place. I don't see the current bottom losing its place, as I don't intend to drink Budweiser, Coors, or Miller ever again. Those three do make good cheap slug-killer....

The picture at the top of this page is the label from Theakston Old Peculier, which is my top-ranked beer. Click on it to get the original scan from ftp.stanford.edu. Comments on this page are welcome, as are suggestions for beers not on this list. I'm mjbauer@lcs.mit.edu.

On a related subject, there is a beer page at the University of Michigan available for those interested in beermaking. Beer aficionados might also want to visit the Virtual Pub. The Real Beer Page has lots of beer-related information, and leans towards commercial brewing.

Disclaimer and notes on glass color and skunking.

Great beers

Theakston Old Peculier

Old Peculier is the best beer I have ever had. Wonderful flavor, decently bitter. Food Of The Gods. See the picture at the top of this page for what its label looks like.

Anchor Porter

This beer was surprising for its intense chocolate flavor and tasty head. Superior to Guinness in flavor, it lags behind Old Peculier in that the hops are a bit too strong. The best American beer I've had yet.

Guinness Extra Stout

A very close third, Guinness is a great beer. Slightly more bitter than I would like, which is what cost it a higher rating. Good flavor.

Pete's Wicked Ale

Not as thick or chewy as the first three (but still pretty chewy), Pete's is a magnificent American brew. Nicely bitter, good flavor, and probably the best of these to drink with dinner.

Pilsner Urquell

The best pilsner-style beer I've ever had. It looks like Budweiser (Budweiser is theoretically a pilsner), but tastes orders of magnitude better. An excellent, light-bodied beer, that has the misfortune of being shipped in green bottles.

Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale

Another good dark beer, good flavor, decent bitterness, and a pleasant yeasty aftertaste. Unfortunatley, this beer comes in a clear bottle, leaving it very susceptible to skunking.

Bass Pale Ale

Bass, for all its advertising hype, is actually worth drinking. It has good body, a nice flavor, and compliments Guinness well as the other half of a Black and Tan.

Mackeson Triple Stout

Mackeson Triple Stoute has a lovely malt flavor. The hops are extremely assertive, but not overpowering -- this is a nicely balanced brew. For those of you who are hop fiends, you should find this an excellent beer. I'm not a hop fiend....

Thomas Hardy's Ale

This beer comes in half-size bottles; it's rather pricey even then at about US$3 per half-size bottle (for a single; four-packs were US$10). This beer claims to age extremely well, and improve in flavor for up to 25 years. The one I bought was dated 1993, so it was at least seven months old when I drank it. If you do get this beer, I'd recommend letting it age for longer than I did -- the flavor was extremely sweet, although quite tasty. I suspect after a few years in the bottle, this would be a truly excellent beer. As it was, mine was young, and not as good.

Samuel Smith's Pure Brewed Lager Beer

Despite the pretentious-sounding name, this is a very nice beer. It is medium-bodied and extremely smooth, with a bit of an edge of hops that fits right in. Like the Nut Brown Ale, it had yeast in the bottom -- very pleasant. The bottle I had also had a slight sour flavor, with a very faint odor of skunk; I think it was minimally light-struck. (Green bottles are evil.) If it wasn't skunked, I think this would sit up near (or above!) Pilsner Urquell.

Newcastle Brown Ale

Nice flavor, nice bitterness, although a bit too much bitterness. Tasty, although not great with food. Sadly, it comes in a clear bottle.

Decent beers

Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager

Probably the darkest beer on this list, the name made the beer worth trying, although it wasn't all that its name would imply. Good, thick, chewy stuff, but not amazing.

Pete's Wicked Lager

Not as thick as Pete's Wicked Ale, but with more body than Pete's Wicked Red. Something other than body that's in Pete's Wicked Ale also seems to be missing from his Lager -- perhaps different hops? Another decent food beer, but I'd recommend Pete's Wicked Ale. Much better stuff.

Celis White

A lovely wheat beer, courtesy of a Belgian expatriate in Texas. It's light, and I expect rather refreshing in summer heat. (I've only had two, both on early spring days so far.) The wheat has interesting overtones of honey, but has an odd bite to it. It benefits from warming -- 50 degrees F is about right; refrigerator temperatures are too cold for it.

Fuller's ESB English Ale

When served refrigerator cold, Fuller's ESB has a strong hoppy flavor. When cellar cool (about 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit), it is very pleasant -- the hops and the malt balance each other nicely. Once it reaches room temperature, the hop flavor is strengthens, and the malt fades, making an unpleasantly hoppy beer. Definitely drink this one cellar cool; it rates much lower (somewhere near Harp Lager) otherwise. I've never before come across a beer that varies so much with temperature.

Pete's Wicked Red

Lighter-bodied than Pete's Wicked Ale, this beer could also be termed a Pale Ale without difficulty. Quite tasty, with the nice balance of hops and malt. It does leave something to be desired in flavor -- but it makes a wonderful pretzel beer.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale does not suffer the severe overhopping that seems to afflict everything else that comes out of the Sierra Nevada brewery. This is a pleasant ale, light and reasonably hoppy, although the hops get a bit too intense toward the end of the bottle.

Young's Old Nick

Don't let the mild flavor of this beer fool you. It's a barley wine, a beer that has near wine-level alcohol content. Old Nick is rather pleasant to drink, and lends itself nicely to food. Just don't have too many.

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

A relatively standard stout with an interesting extra flavor, which I believe was the oatmeal. Unlike other Samuel Smith products, this one didn't seem to have a noticeable yeast flavor or sediment. Pleasant, but the brewery makes better beers. And again, the beer comes in a clear bottle. Not good, guys....

Kirin Dry

This beer is the one that started the dry beer craze in the US. Of all the dry beers, it's probably the best. Decent flavor, slightly underhopped, and (the dry feature) no aftertaste. This is not something for those who like their beer to stick with them.

Anchor Steam Beer

This stuff has an interesting flavor; I'm not sure if it's the steam brewing process, or their recipe. It's good, whatever makes it taste that way.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Probably the best brew that Samuel Adams puts out. It's a good basic lager, with a nice level of hopping, and decent flavor. Sadly, it's nothing more than that.

Harp Lager

By itself, this is a really good beer that has too many hops in the recipe. As an alternative other half of a Black and Tan, it is better than Bass, as its flavor does something wonderful with Guinness and makes a really good drink.

Rolling Rock Bock

Bock is a German medium-bodied beer. As one such, this was decent, with a good strong flavor, and decent hoppiness. Nothing really grabbed my attention about it, though.

Saranac Black and Tan

This tries to be a black and tan (Guinness and Bass (or Harp) mixed) in one bottle. Unfortunately, it comes across as a medium-heavy lager with the full complement of hops for a strong stout. Hop lovers might like it better than I did; I thought the hops were too strong for the weight of the beer.

Saranac Adirondack Amber

This beer is too strong on the hops, too weak in the malt. Decent with food, not recommended by itself.

New Amsterdam New York Amber Beer

A nice beer that really doesn't distinguish itself. It seems technically correct, but without inspiration.

Ballantine India Pale Ale

An uninspiring hoppy pale ale. It does do well with food.

Harpoon India Pale Ale

Apologies in advance for this and the next two lame entries; I don't remember much about these. Nothing in this beer really stuck out in my mind; I need to try another one. (It's been a while.)

Watney's Red Barrel Beer

Nothing in this beer really stuck out in my mind; I need to try another one. (It's been a while.)

Belhaven Scottish Ale

Nothing in this beer really stuck out in my mind; I need to try another one. (It's been a while.)

Samuel Adams Boston Ale

Another fine product of the Samuel Adams line, and one of their better ones. Nice flavor, but not amazing.

Kirin Ichiban

Ichiban means "number one" in Japanese, although I disagree with their designation. Kirin Ichiban is a decent beer, although nothing to write home about. Kirin Dry is much better.

Commonwealth Brewing Company Boston Burton Ale

This is an ale made to imitate the ales produced in Burton-on-Trent, England. The style is largely based on reproducing the extremely hard water found in Burton; this lends a strong mineral flavor to the beer. I think the beer would have been much better without the extra stuff in the water.

Miller Velvet Stout

One of the megabrewers finally put together something decent. It has flavor beyond that of "yuck", good body, and is a little too bitter. Miller finally let a brewmaster make something other than their usual crud! Now maybe they'll stop making the slug-killer entirely, and just work on improving this.

Kappy's Premium Quality Beer

An indifferent beer with a nice level of hops and relatively assertive flavor -- I appreciate this. Indifferent beer that tries to camouflage itself behind hops is annoying. Ones that let the flavor come through at least lets you taste for yourself.

Brewski

I was hoping that this was a good beer with an amusing name. I was right about the amusing name part. This stuff is a pale imitation of Budweiser in that it has more flavor than Bud (which doesn't really say much for the beer). Other than that, this stuff is Budweiser, including the strong visual resemblance to a urine sample.

Duvel

Decent beer, although it doesn't have enough body for me. Duvel's disadvantage is that it is overhopped, nearly burying malt flavor.

Ironside Ale

My first impression of this beer was that is was very hoppy tonic water. However, as it warmed, it got a very small hint of malt, with the hop level staying about the same. Desperately in need of flavor.

Post Road Pale Ale

Post Road Pale Ale has far too many hops. Sadly, it doesn't have much flavor either -- although I'm not sure -- the hops were a bit too strong to tell.

Olde Heurich Maerzen Beer

An otherwise good beer that is missing something from its flavor. Unfortunately, I'm not a brewer [I've taken up homebrewing since I wrote this, but I'm not inclined to to go out and buy another bottle. -MJB], so I'm not quite sure what's missing. If the brewers fix the flavor problem, this will be a much better beer.

Samuel Adams Wheat

Thin, not much flavor. I've had far better wheat beers, and will be trying to find others.

Bad news beers

Oxford Class Amber Ale

I'm not quite sure what this beer's brewmaster was thinking when he produced this recipe. The beer smells slightly metallic, and tastes that way as well. As it warms, the smell gets stronger, and the act of drinking becomes more and more unpleasant. There's a relatively strong sweet-malt flavor, as if the beer hadn't fermented completely before it was bottled. This flavor sits on the tongue for quite some time after drinking. All in all, a distinctly strange beer. (A friend originally handed me the bottle and said: "Here. Write something bad about it.".)

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 1992

An indifferent beer, which would rank higher, except that the brewers went completely overboard on the hops. This beer was almost undrinkably bitter. My experience with Sierra Nevada Porter makes me believe that all Sierra Nevada products are heavily hopped.

Red Stripe Lager Beer

This has a bit more flavor than Budweiser, but has an unpleasant sour flavor that sticks around afterwards. If this is normal for this beer, I'm staying away from it. It's also possible that it may be skunked; I hope for the sake of the brewery that it is.

Griffon Extra Pale Ale

Looks like I found the Canadian equivalent of Budweiser. This stuff came across as water with hops and a heading agent in it. There was no discernible malt flavor. The hops got progressively less pleasant as I finished the beer; this is one of those that degenerates as it warms. Good thing I only got one.

Spaten Premium Lager

American Budweiser imported from Germany. I hope this is an example of Germany's worst. If this is the best Spaten can produce (as I would expect from the "premium" in the name), I don't want to drink anything from them. And in a green bottle, yet.