American craft beer movement isn’t only about the brewers, founders and entrepreneurs who built the industry. It’s also about the beers that changed what a beer could be and, in some cases, what brewers even thought was possible.

That’s the thinking behind the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame’s Landmark Craft Beers program, which just announced its second annual class of historically significant beers.

The American Craft Beer Hall of Fame was established to recognize the people whose ideas, innovation and influence helped shape craft brewing in the United States. Its inaugural Hall of Fame class was announced in 2025, but the organization has also expanded its mission to recognize something equally important to the movement’s history: the beers themselves.

The Landmark Craft Beers initiative isn’t intended to simply celebrate bestsellers or beers that collected impressive medal counts. The Hall is looking for beers that moved American brewing forward, introduced drinkers to unfamiliar styles and flavors, beers that change the conversation entirely.

“Craft beer in America wasn’t only built by people. It was built on the foundations laid by beers of singular importance and influence,” said Marty Nachel, President and Founder of the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame. “We want to recognize the impact those beers had on what we drink, but also on how we look at beer itself, what it is, what it can be, and how we talk about it. That’s what these Landmark Beers represent.”

And the Hall’s 2026 class makes a pretty convincing case.

Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Elder is one of those beers whose influence can’t be overstated. The California Double IPA became a benchmark for intensely aromatic, bitter and hop-driven brewing. And over its many years it has become a destination beer with an almost cult-like following.

Allagash White took American beer drinkers in a more Europeon direction. Inspired by Belgian Witbier traditions, the Portland, Maine brewery’s signature beer helped introduce generations of Americans to the pleasures of wheat, coriander, orange peel and Belgian-style yeast character. At a time when much of craft beer’s identity was increasingly tied to hops, Allagash White quietly expanded the American palate and eventually became a modern classic.

Then there’s Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, a beer that helped launch an entire brewing tradition. The Chicago brewery’s groundbreaking approach introduced a nation to the many pleasures of barrel aging imperial stouts. Bourbon County helped turn the technique into a major force in American craft brewing and helped establish the modern culture of eagerly anticipated limited beer releases.

Pete’s Wicked Ale represents another side of craft beer history. First introduced in the 1980s, the brown ale became one of the early craft movement’s most recognizable national brands. Pete’s didn’t just sell flavorful beer. It showed that an emerging craft brewery could combine distinctive brewing with savvy marketing and reach drinkers well beyond its home market. The beer eventually disappeared, but its influence on the first great national expansion of American craft beer was profound.

Alaskan Smoked Porter rounds out the 2026 class. First brewed in 1988, the beer drew inspiration from Alaska’s historical brewing traditions and used malt smoked over local alder wood. One of the most decorated beers in American brewing history it was a beer that introduced craft beer fans to the wonders of smoked beer.

This year’s five selections tell a larger story about how American craft beer evolved, from the hop-forward influence of Pliny the Elder and the Belgian-inspired character of Allagash White to the barrel-aging innovation of Bourbon County Stout, the early national reach of Pete’s Wicked Ale and the revival of traditional brewing techniques represented by Alaskan Smoked Porter.

Five very different beers, each of which helped push American craft brewing in uncharted directions and helped make the industry what it is today.

###

And while we’re at it, there’s this…

American Craft Beer Hall of Fame Welcomes 2026 Induction Class