These Michigan Beers Among 101 Best In America

It’s a debate sure to leave some scratching their heads and others in tears. And no, this isn’t Yanny or Laurel (but it was Laurel).

This is about bragging rights for beer.

The Daily Meal did the impossible and came up with the definitive 101 best beers in America. So when your buddies want to start a bar fight over the top picks in Michigan, do us a favor: Tell them to take it up with the food and drink website.

In Michigan, five beers were listed among America’s best. Here they are:

• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• ABV: 11.8 percent
• Founders KBS is by no means a rare beer, but its release every spring still gets beer geeks excited. And for good reason. With hints of coffee and vanilla, this bourbon barrel-aged stout is smooth, silky, and effortless to drink. It’s scored the elusive 100 on RateBeer.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (CBS)

• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• ABV: 11.7 percent
• Founders KBS tends to get all the love on “best beers” list because it’s released annually, but in late 2017, beer geeks were blessed with a surprise release of a more elusive Founders breakfast stout: Canadian Breakfast Stout, better known as CBS. Made with the same base and aging process as KBS but with the addition of maple syrup as a nod to their neighbors up north, this brew is rich and velvety, and the hint of syrup adds the most astounding sweet flavor.

• Kalamazoo, Michigan
• ABV: 7 percent
• Named after the Two Hearted River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, this IPA is jam-packed with Centennial hops from the Pacific Northwest that waft pine and grapefruit aromas. With that being said, it’s not painstakingly bitter on the tongue and actually goes down quite smooth. Expect slightly syrupy, pungent grapefruit flavors with little to no alcohol taste — impressive for a 7 percent brew.

Bell's Black Note Stout

• Kalamazoo, Michigan
• ABV: 11.2 percent
• A mix of their Expedition Stout and Double Cream Stout, Bell’s highly sought-after Black Note Stout is complex, with notes of coffee, bourbon, and plums. The smooth, velvety texture and flavor is everything you want your bourbon barrel-aged stout to be.

Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout

• Marshall, Michigan
• ABV: 11 percent
• You have the right to remain silent. Plead the 5th has aromas of dark fruits, chocolate, and caramel. Similarly, roasted coffee and fruity chocolate takes over the palate. This imperial stout is thick — even a strong flashlight can’t penetrate the pitch-black brew. It’s slippery, oily, and sweet like a diner milkshake that doesn’t give drinkers that too-full feeling.

If you’re into the beer you might recognize some of the more popular or highly rated brews on the list, including Russian River Pliny the Elder — and Younger, of course — Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Allagash White, Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout and The Alchemist Heady Topper.

Overall, beer sales volume was down 1.2 percent in 2017, according to the Brewers Association.

But craft beer sales jumped 5 percent and accounted for 12.7 percent of the overall beer market. In Michigan, there are 330 craft breweries, the group found.

Good brewers and ingredients are essential to any great beer. But other factors — including something as small as the tap used to pour the beverage and the glassware used to drink it — also play a role.

To figure out which beers are America’s best, the authors cross-referenced beer ratings on the app Untappd and the sites BeerAdvocate and RateBeer. The site looked for beers that got the highest marks from both average joes — including your tatted up, bearded friend — and beer-tasting professionals. The authors also used their own “extensive tasting experience and knowledge,” giving preference to the best beers the site’s editors have had in the last year.

The Daily Meal also gave special consideration to states with a smaller number of brewers, including North Dakota and New Mexico.

“Thus, nearly every state in the union is represented on our list of the 101 best beers in America,” the authors wrote.

The beers are not ranked in any particular order, noting that it’s “frankly impossible” to compare one style against another.

So don’t worry, you can still debate which is actually the best. And Patch encourages you to do so. Head over to our Facebook page and let us know: Do you agree with the beers on this list? What's the best beer in Michigan?

Click hereto read the full article at The Daily Meal.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Image via Shutterstock