As fancy microbrews slowly make the transition to 16oz "pounder" cans, let us take pause and celebrate the macro forefathers that pioneered the God-given right to slug back a watery beer, then slam their containers over your head. They are the beers that guided you through college, the beers that make tailgates possible. They are the "ice", "lite", "high-gravity", and "heavy" beers that get no love from the brewing world... except behind closed doors. We salute you, oh pioneers, by ranking your 20 greatest hits. And then doing the head-crushing thing.

Where my 40 at???

The mother lodes:

http://40ouncebeer.com/40ouncebeer.html

http://www.40ozmaltliquor.com/brands/

6 degrees of Jay-Z.

14. Hamm'sPeople have been going Hamm since 1865, so Jay-Z really owes a debt of gratitude to the stalwart Midwesterners who created this serviceable lawnmower beer that's pretty bland despite a little bit of bite when you burp... Come to think of it, it may have inspired Magna Carta... Holy Grail, too.