Belt's Beer Garden: Top 50 Countdown!

After six months and 50 beers, Norm and I have decided to re-rank every beer we've featured on Belt's Beer Garden.

As there were bound to be ties, we devised three tiebreakers to determine the final order. First, we'd both rate the beer and average the scores. If there was still a tie, we'd use Beer Advocate's (BA) rating, and finally, if there was STILL a tied after all that, we'd break it with Rate Beer's (RB) rating.

Every beer has been linked to the original review in case you want the full, detailed explanation of the beer.

Let us know if you agree with our rankings, disagree with them, or have a beer that you think could be #1 that we haven't reviewed yet.

Now on to the beers!

Pretty Good Brews

50: Nøgne Ø Winter Ale (or God Jul)

BBG: 6/10 BA: 91

49: Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye

BBG: 6/10 BA: 94

48: Bell's Lager of the Lakes

BBG: 6.5/10 BA: 82

47: Ballast Point Tongue Buckler

BBG: 6.5/10 BA: 88

46: Avery White Rascal

BBG: 6.75/10 BA: 82

45: Great Lakes Conway's Irish Ale

BBG: 6.75/10 BA: 85

44: Parallel 49 Old Boy

BBG: 7/10 BA: 81

43: Horny Goat Tango Delta

BBG: 7/10 BA: 82 RB: 39

42: Short's Autumn Ale

BBG: 7/10 BA: 82 RB: 54

41: Arcade Grapefruit IPA

BBG: 7/10 BA: 83

"Beer, it’s the best damn drink in the world." - Jack Nicholson

40: Solemn Oath Whisper Kisses

BBG: 7/10 BA: 86 RB: 88

39: Left Hand Warrior IPA

BBG: 7/10 BA: 86 RB: 94

38: Lagunitas The Hairy Eyeball

BBG: 7/10 BA: 86 RB: 95

37: Green Flash Green Bullet

BBG: 7/10 BA: 88

36: Tallgrass Ethos IPA

BBG: 7/10 BA: 90

35: Smuttynose Robust Porter

BBG: 7/10 BA: 92

34: Southern Tier Pumking

BBG: 7.25/10

33: Green Flash Cedar Plank

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 81

32: Evil Twin Molotov Cocktail SSH

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 85

31: Short's Dr. Zeus

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 86

"Go For the IPA" - Alex Alverado

30: Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 87

29: Revolution Jukebox-Hero

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 88

28: Sixpoint Bengali

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 90 RB: 94

27: 3 Floyd's YumYum

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 90 RB: 95

26: Founders Dark Penance

BBG: 7.5/10 BA: 90 RB: 98

25: Ale Asylum Bedlam!

BBG: 7.75/10 BA: 92

24: Bell's Hopslam (2015)

BBG: 7.75/10 BA: 99

Good Brews (You SHOULD Try)

23: Deschutes Zarabanda

BBG: 8/10 BA: 85 RB: 89

22: Southern Tier Grand Arbor

BBG: 8/10 BA: 85 RB: 94

21: Against The Grain Citra Ass Down

BBG: 8/10 BA: 88

"Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

20: Great Divide Fresh Hop

BBG: 8/10 BA: 91

19: Half Acre Daisy Cutter

BBG: 8/10 BA: 93

18: Deschutes Chasin' Freshies

BBG: 8/10 BA: 94

17: 3 Floyd's Space Station Middle Finger

BBG: 8.25/10

16: Dogfish Head Midas Touch

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 84

15: Uinta Cahoots

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 85

14: Flesk Big Pointy Teeth

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 86

13: Hailstorm Prairie Madness

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 88 RB: 73

12: Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 88 RB: 97

11: Stone Cali-Belgique

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 89

"There is no such thing as a bad beer. It's that some taste better than others." - Jimmy Carter

10: B. Nektar Kill All the Golfers

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 91 RB: 91

9: Port High Tide

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 91 RB: 99

8: Smuttynose Baltic Porter

BBG: 8.5/10 BA: 95

Great Beers (You NEED to Try)

7: Maine Beer Co. Another One

BBG: 8.75/10

"It smells beautifully of citrus and hops...There is a strong citrus flavor with some hints of pine. It’s a dry finish, but still refreshing and quite tasty...It’s a good, consistent beer that no one has heard about about – kind of like Toledo’s football team…only better! Much better! Actually…it’s more like the Huskies…yeah, it’s that good."

6: Revolution Local-Hero

BBG: 9/10 BA: 89

"Almost immediately citrus notes hit your nose, mostly grapefruit, with hints of orange and hops lingering in the background...The taste is what you'd expect - and I love it. Grapefruit, mango, a nice hoppiness, rather subdued malts, and, despite the loads of bubbles, only a tiny bit of carbonation.

5: Short's Huma Lupa Licious

BBG: 9/10 BA: 91

"Huma Lupa Licious comes with a slightly sweet citrusy aroma, and a flavor even bolder. The massive hops taste bears a strong similarity to grapefruit juice, though without the acidity...but if you’re into that kind of flavor, you certainly won’t regret drinking this one...though despite the strength, I think I could drink this as a session beer."

4: Pipeworks Black Tuna

BBG: 9/10 BA: 96

"[It's] a little sweeter than you may expect, but it plays well off the rich, dark roast flavor very nicely. Behind that is your typical, delicious IPA from Pipeworks - that citrus twang with hops. Put it all together and you have a delicious dark, roast, sweet citrus IIPA that is magnificent."

3: Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin

BBG: 9/10 BA: 97

"The first sip didn't disappoint. You get a strong, quite hoppy, grapefruit presence that bubbles on your tongue...I kept going back for more and more and, before I knew it, my glass was empty. The balance between the citrus and the IPA is near perfect. It's not overpowered by the grapefruit, as they've added just enough to improve on their old classic."

2: Lagunitas Born Yesterday

BBG: 9/10 BA: 99

"I could see it was different from an IPA the moment I poured one....The taste anticipation from that aroma was quickly, and happily, realized. You are expecting an initial burst of citrus flavor, and that's what you get. Sweet and tropical dominates your first taste. It's followed by a pine and hop bitterness on the backside. Not very bitter, but enough to let you know that, hey, I'm still a pale ale"

And finally, the #1 beer (so far...)

At 9.5/10: Mercenary's The Charlatan

"[As] soon as I opened the bottle, I knew I wanted to drink it. I was immediately hit with a beautiful tropical aroma with just a slight hint of hops in the background. When you pour The Charlatan, it is a golden copper color with only a dusting of foam on top. With my first sip, you could taste the citrus and grapefruit straightaway with a slight bitterness lingering for a moment or two after....

There is not much malt taste to it, it's almost all citrus and hops, which to me is sheer perfection. My suspicion of it being delicious was confirmed, and I quickly regretted only buying one bottle...but (to me at least) it is worth every cent....it is a beer you'll want to enjoy over and over and over - maybe even multiple times in one night...that's your call (and my plan)."