A famed painter on television made a career touting, “We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” The origin of smoked beers has been recorded as an accident, but it took several hundred years before the style, and resulting beers, made most beer drinkers happy. As smoked beer styles advanced it did not take long to realize their compatibility with other smoked goods – specifically barbecue. Today, pairing barbecue with smoked beer has become a match made in heaven.

Smoked beers, known originally as Rauchbier (German for “smoked beer”), started in Bamberg, Franconia, Germany in the early 15^th century. Two breweries there, Schlenkerla and Spezial, were founded in 1405 and 1536, respectively. Today these two breweries still exist and produce Rauchbier in the old way: drying malt over an open fire.

With the thousands of beers that are imbibed on a daily basis around the world, let’s take a look at the best beers that have ever been reviewed by The Beer Connoisseur in our Top 104 Beers of All Time.

Beer – it’s just the best, isn’t it? Here at The Beer Connoisseur, we certainly think so, and we hope that we convey that affection we have for the greatest beverage of all time to you on a daily basis.

Our Official Review features all of the beers that we have ever had the privilege to judge, and over the years, our judges have bestowed World Class ratings of 96 or above to upwards of 100 beers.

This is an extremely high honor, as the BJCP’s grading standards are quite strict and only the finest examples of each beer’s respective style is deemed worthy of a world-class rating.

Beers that are deemed World Class are believed to be “unmissable” by the BJCP rankings, and, certainly, the 104 beers contained within this story certainly fall under that category. Each of the Top 104 Beers of All Time are jewels of liquid bliss that can augment an auspicious summer afternoon or help you while away the hours of a winter snowstorm.

Many of these beers would pair well with any occasion, though some are limited-release masterpieces that deserve a special tasting just to experience the complex wealth of flavors that they can produce.

Judging Process
Our reviews are conducted in a single-blind tasting format. This method provides the best opportunity to rely on facts and to avoid favoritism, ensuring a level playing field for all brewers. It serves both the industry and the consumer to have unbiased and objective scores from qualified experts. To best implement this approach, the Judges Review is open to those with established experience as a Master Cicerone® from the Cicerone® Certification Program or as a judge that has accomplished the rank of National or higher from the Beer Judge Certification Program. In the single-blind tasting format, judges are presented with a chilled, properly poured beer and given its style category. Scoring is then done on the following basis using a 100-point scale:

There is always something newsworthy taking place in the beer industry. That's why we dedicate Monday of each week to publishing the top stories from the previous week in our Industry News e-newsletter. Here you'll find a compilation of all the news we've covered since the last issue, with links to the full stories.

We saddled up with the masterminds behind the highest rated brews and asked them about the inspiration behind the recipes. Follow the links below to the individual Q & A's, or you may access Q & A's from all editions here.

With warmer temperatures on the horizon, it's time once again for a brand new issue of The Beer Connoisseur Magazine!

As expected, we have all the brew that’s fit to drink in this issue, including our headlining story: Our Top 104 Beers of All Time. This list spans the history of our publication and features a whopping tally of 104 beers that were bestowed with a “World Class” rating of 96 or above by our judges.

Then, Jim Dykstra delves into the wonderful world of beer in sports stadiums in the United States – providing the list of the best stadiums for beer across all professional sports leagues.

Beyond that, Jay Brooks speaks with the inventor of the Brut IPA style to provide a definition of the burgeoning IPA spin-off in What is Brut IPA?

Furthermore, Seth Levy elucidates The Difference Between Saison and Farmhouse Ale, Jessie O’Brien explores The Rise of Rosé Beers and Malika Bowling offers up some Tips for Aging Beer for those looking to start cellaring their brews or expanding their existing collection.

It’s that time again! Welcome friends and travelers to this, the May/June Issue #42 of The Beer Connoisseur Magazine!

As expected, we have all the brew that’s fit to drink in this issue, including our headlining story: Our Top 104 Beers of All Time. This list spans the history of our publication and features a whopping tally of 104 beers that were bestowed with a “World Class” rating of 96 or above by our judges.

Then, Jim Dykstra delves into the wonderful world of beer in sports stadiums in the United States – providing the list of the best stadiums for beer across all professional sports leagues.

Beyond that, Jay Brooks speaks with the inventor of the Brut IPA style to provide a definition of the burgeoning IPA spin-off in What is Brut IPA?

Furthermore, Seth Levy elucidates The Difference Between Saison and Farmhouse Ale, Jessie O’Brien explores The Rise of Rosé Beers and Malika Bowling offers up some Tips for Aging Beer for those looking to start cellaring their brews or expanding their existing collection.

Lastly, Jonathan Ingram looks at the statistics and future of the Top 50 Breweries in the U.S., and Ryan Newhouse finishes up the issue with a deliciously smoky story regarding pairing the delightful flavors of barbecue with smoked beers in Pairing Barbecue with Smoked Beer.

Of course, our issue wouldn’t be complete without our usual Industry News, Official Review and corresponding Brewer Q&As sections.

Tröegs Independent Brewing in Hershey, Pennsylvania has announced the release of a new IPA with El Dorado, Mosaic and Citra hops called Field Study.

“Field Study began life as Scratch #327, when we first started tinkering with some new hopping techniques,” explains Tröegs brewmaster John Trogner in a release. “We built on those experiments over the next few Scratch releases and landed on a grain bill featuring a backbone of local Rustic Pale Malt.” 

The full release from the brewery is below.

HERSHEY, Pa. —Tröegs Independent Brewing announces the release of Field Study, a slightly hazy IPA dry-hopped with Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado featuring notes of ripe grapefruit, mango, pear, and melon.

The path to Field Study began with our small-batch, experimental Scratch Series, the same starting point for our recent Double IPA LolliHop.

“Field Study began life as Scratch #327, when we first started tinkering with some new hopping techniques,” explains Tröegs brewmaster John Trogner. “We built on those experiments over the next few Scratch releases and landed on a grain bill featuring a backbone of local Rustic Pale Malt.” Rustic Pale is grown in Mount Joy, PA, about 15 miles from the brewery and malted by Double Eagle near Philadelphia.