Torpedo

If I could drink only one kind of beer for the rest of my life -- well, I suppose I'd be grateful to have that one! Especially if it wasn't the worst beer I've ever tasted, Chinese-market Suntory, which makes Shanghai's own watery REEB seem like a rich double-strength porter and is the only beer I've ever spit out.

But I would move to a different level of gratitude if that one fated beer turned out to be this beer -- Sierra Nevada's "Torpedo Extra IPA." More about the beer, and the meaning of "torpedo," here, here, here, here, and here.

Significance: Sierra Nevada has become a big national company, and Torpedo has entered its array of year-around beers. There are special, local, and seasonal beers that deserve great devotion. (Eg: Three Floyd's Alpha King.) But for now Torpedo is my nominee for the title of "most impressive beer from a generally-available nationwide brand."

See for yourself. Beer-porn photo  courtesy of Sierra Nevada. Click for even more lovingly detailed view.

James Fallows is a staff writer for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. He and his wife, Deborah Fallows, are the authors of the new book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America, which has been a New York Times best seller and is the basis of a forthcoming HBO documentary.

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