Ballard Bitter? "Ya sure-Ya betcha"!...so THAT'S what happened to it!

so far, ClaireBear, Gareth and Don Firth have mentioned really decent beer....(well, Anchor Steam, too, yeah...sorta)....most of the rest is just 'well-known beer'! No..being famous does NOT necessarily mean good..*grin*

There IS no one 'best', just like there is no best song. It's what you're in the mood for...and there are amazingly good choices on most categories..
Maybe Sam Smith's Ol Brewery Pale Ale, or Orval Trappist Ale or Thomas Hardy's or the almost impossible to find Celis Grand Cru or something like Riggwelter Ale from England would be right up there at the top...along with 40-50 others..

I have 'about' 800 bottles in my collection, all emptied by ME in the last 25 years since I discovered GOOD beer. My first really good beer was a German DoppleBock, and soon after that I had a New Albion Porter from the first American micro-brewery to start up in ages! (1977, I think)(that bottle is probably a real collectors item)...and away we went!

I love the weird beer/ale (Red Beer and Bios Copper Ale)from Belgium, the dark Bocks from Germany, and the lovely things with LOTS of hops from various new micro breweries in the USA, where you CAN now get great beer if you're willing to look! (and in Washington State, or California, it's easier.)

too many choices!