Top 10 Sipping Beers

Sublime Suds for Savoring Slowly

The Best Beers for Sipping

Beer has a lowbrow, blue-collar image, so luxury beer can sound like a contradiction in terms. However, much like wine and spirits, beer has a diverse and delicious premium tier, where quality is valued over quantity. Fine beer is enjoying a renaissance worldwide, from international classics to American micro-brews, and demand for truly great beer is on the rise. The icons of style hail from great European brewing traditions, like those of Belgium, the United Kingdom and Germany. Up-and-coming brewers in the "New World" are pushing the envelope too, dreaming up new categories and making world-class beers in their own right.

The finest brews range widely in color from straw gold to chocolate brown, but share tremendous flavor impact and a lingering, food-friendly finish. Most are strong ales that deliver heaping helpings of malty goodness and snappy hop bitterness. Others are bright beers brewed with fruit. But all are full-bodied sipping beers that invite good company and contemplation. For best results, serve these premium beers in a snifter, goblet or stemmed wine glass. Ideally, service temperature should be no colder than 50ºF. Price listed is average price per bottle.

by Bob Barnes