The Top 10 Beers of 2017

Once again I find myself looking back at my last 365 days and I am in awe of some of the great beverages I have had the privilege to enjoy. This will mark my 4th installment of my Top 10 Beers list and it has been fun to go back and select only a choice 10 beers that I consider the best of 2017.

I am never satisfied with the number of reviews I do as I always wish to do more, but this was a pretty solid year for me and as with all of my Top 10's, some great beers had to be left off the list. As with every year, I adhere to some ground rules...

• The beer had to be reviewed on the blog in 2017. If I had it at a bar, a bottle share, fest, etc, then it doesn't qualify.
• No re-reviews...they had their chance!
• Multiple beers from one brewery are allowed. Frankly, if the brewery makes that many good beers (in my opinion) then I'm not going to fault them for it.

In addition to the 10 best, I also want to toss in some other categories  just to make things a bit more fun. As always, thank you for the continued support of the blog, but let's get to the fun stuff!

Most Disappointing Beers of 2017

While I understand that I am in no way, shape, or form allowed the right to expect a brewery to satisfy my needs, I will still say that we are all guilty of having lofty expectations which are inevitably shot down in glorious fashion. We've all been there: You read about the beer, you buy it, you drink it, and you are left slightly empty inside. Hey, it happens, we're all human, This is not to say the beer still isn't good in it's own right, but these are a few that just didn't quite scratch the itch I had.

Stone/Abnormal/Paul Bischeri & Patrick Martinez Neapolitan Dynamite

I have a hit and miss relationship with Stone. Some of their beers leave me wanting more while others have gotten the highest of praise from me. In this case with their ice cream inspired stout, I was a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece that was eaten by Curious George. Only this time, there was no Man in the Yellow Hat to take me to the hospital.

VOICE IN MY HEAD: What?

I applaud the fluffy milk chocolate taste, but all other Neapolitan flavors were either too subtle or too artificial. I thought it was a solid effort, but it did not execute as well as it could have.

Barreled Souls Bourbon Barrel Aged Stay Puft

I want to preface this with my full endorsement for Barreled Souls Brewing out of Saco, ME. It is one of my go-to stops when I am up in The Pine Tree State and I have enjoyed all of their offerings. Stay Puft is an Imperial Stout brewed with marshmallow and graham crackers, which sounds amazing. Throw it in a bourbon barrel? Hell yes! The result? Meh.

At the time of the review, I theorized that the barrel had killed off the flavors of the base stout as I barely got any marshmallow or graham crackers. Some alcohol was left from the bourbon, but the flavors just weren't there.

I can now personally say that after a visit to Barreled Souls last month for their Stay Puft beers and variants, I am patting myself on the back after having the base beer as it was an AMAZING beer without the barrel aging. So, while I hate being right (pfff, no I don't), it turns out my instincts were correct about the BA version.

Worst Beers of 2017

As I disclaim each year, I don't purposely seek out bad beers nor do I try and purposely be cynical in a review. I'm also not putting breweries on blast or trying to be mean for the sake of being mean. If I highlight the good, I'm going to highlight the bad. It's my opinion and mine alone. So, let's read some hate!

Other Half & The Veil Coir Boiz

 Both Other Half and The Veil have made some tasty beers, but this collaboration was a disaster.

I've found coconut to work best in porters and stouts, but not so much in IPA's. Coir Boiz was not an exception to the rule as this was not only an affirmation of my beliefs, but just a bad-tasting beer.

The coconut was overly sweet, metallic, and tasted like sun tan lotion. The creamy mouthfeel and moments of citra juice couldn't resuscitate this IPA from certain death.


Peak Organic Ripe

One of the last beers I reviewed in 2017 turned out to be the worst beer of 2017. While it pains me to dub this the worst beer of the year from a brewery that I love, the numbers simply do not lie.

A double IPA with no genuine hop flavor, but did have plenty of vegetable juice, seltzer water, and burnt popcorn to go around. I really hope this was just a bad can or bad batch because this beer is not indicative of what this brewery is capable of doing.

The Best Comeback of 2017: Other Half Brewing

If you have read my Top 10 of 2015 and 2016 lists, then you saw Other Half Brewing make multiple appearances in my "Disappointing" category. I have found their offerings to range from mediocre to ok at best, but never really got the hype. The year 2017 finally opened my eyes to Other Half as I reviewed eight of their beers (their own and collaborations). With the exception of their aforementioned Coir Boiz, OH really seemed to nail it as I rated five of their beers a 9.0 or higher.

Check out the links below to my 2017 OH reviews and I hope they keep churning out some great stuff in 2018. If you live in the area, go check them out, and if you don't, then work out a trade for these guys.

Twice Baked Potato
Fully Loaded Baked Potato
Two Hundred Thousand Trillion
DDH Double Mosaic Dream
DDH Mylar Bags
DDH Double Mosaic Daydream

Honorable Mentions

When compiling the best of the best, some worthy beers are unfortunately left behind. Here are a few that JUST missed making the Top 10.

Monkish Foggier Window

Citra, Nelson, and Galaxy hops blended beautifully as this Double IPA shined with the white wine and grapefruit from the Nelson and the juice/dank bomb from the Galaxy.

Monkish beers are very hard to come by, so I am glad to have been able to try a few this year. The price is getting steep to acquire these, but hopefully I can bring you some more Monkish reviews in 2018 because they are churning out some of the absolute best IPA's on the planet.



Firestone Walker Bravo

The craft beer world has exploded in the past decade and hundreds of new breweries are opening every year. It's easy to forget that Firestone Walker's barrel aged beers were held in the highest regard. It's a testament to the brewery that they still produce some of the best BA beers you will ever taste and Bravo was another home run.

It's a barrel-aged Brown Ale, but it didn't taste like anything standard for the style. I didn't care since the final product tasted so good anyways. Loads of sweet, sticky bourbon, dark fruits, and plenty of barrel character made Bravo worthy of high praise and proved why this was always part of their anniversary beers.

Other Half Double Dry Hopped Double Mosaic Dream

Other Half really impressed me in 2017 and
DDH Double Mosaic Dream was arguably the highlight.

It was a complex DIPA with juicy hops, but also dankness, and lots of spicy, herbaceous qualities. To top it off, I even got some Saison barnyard funk out of this. This one fired on all cylinders and was an example of OH killing it last year.





Shakesbeer The Tempest

A small contract brewing operation out of Hingham, MA, Shakebeer only has two beers to their name, but hot damn if the one I had wasn't a panty dropper.

A lot of IPA's I had in 2017 did not match the complexity that The Tempest had as it provided juicy mangoes, oranges, black pepper, mint, tree sap, and dankness all in one can. It one was of my favorites and definitely one of the biggest surprises of last year.




AAAAAANNNNNDDDDD Drumroll please.........

We have reached the time where I unveil the absolute best of the best of 2017. I hope you have enjoyed reading about them as much as I have had drinking them. As always, I want to thank everyone who follows the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages and chooses to like and comment on each post. I truly do appreciate all feedback I receive and am humbled by all contributions by all readers. Here is to another great year of beer in 2018. Cheers!

The Top 10 Beers of 2017

10. Barrel House Z & Vitamin Sea House Call

Cream Ales usually aren't my thing, but even I can't deny how great this collaboration was. Carton's Regular Coffee was once my favorite Cream Ale, but House Call officially took the title in 2017.

A rum barrel aged ale with raisins and vanilla imparted big marshmallow and whipped cream dessert flavors with some quad-like dark fruits all while masking the 9%+ abv and actually making for a highly drinkable experience.

BHZ is a unique operation worth visiting and hopefully you can also check out Vitamin Sea later in 2018.

9. New Holland Dragon's Milk

I get it. I am immersed deep enough in today's scene to know which breweries and beers are the most sought after and what it will cost you to acquire such rare brews. The problem with obsessing over small batch beers that are harder to find than Waldo in a field of candy canes is that you will miss out on greatness right in front of your face.

Dragon's Milk nails all of the requirements of a big, bourbon barrel aged stout and is just as good as any hard-to-get, special release from a smaller operation, but the great thing is that it is sitting on your local shelf right now and nobody cares.

Cherry, vanilla, roasted malts, sweet bourbon, dark fruits, and the list goes on. This beer might be one of the more unappreciated stouts I have ever come across.

8. Trillium and Prairie TRILLBOMB!

You might require a shot of insulin to go along with this imperial stout, but those willing to ride out the sugar overdose will find an incredible stout at the end of the rainbow.

The thick feel and chocolate overload made for a mouthful of brownie batter on each sip with a heaping dose of vanilla and coffee to go along with it.

This was basically a Trillium coffee stout being given the Prairie Bomb treatment, but hey, it was clearly a match made in heaven.


7. Baxter Wicked Dark

Flavored and barrel aged stouts get most of the attention, but when a standard, unflavored stout comes along and knocks your socks off, then you know you have something special.

An abundance of dark chocolate, coffee, cherries, and black licorice flooded the mouth at every turn and produced a stout packed with intense flavor and a thick, unforgiving mouthfeel that coated everything in sight.

Baxter's Wicked Dark outdid many BA stouts I had this year and that alone is worth a hearty pat on the back.

6. Angry Chair Woke

Hey, speaking of flavored stouts (great segue). Maple is now the new big thing when it comes to stouts and Angry Chair Woke is a superb example of how it is done right.

Maple syrup, coffee, vanilla, marshmallow, lactose sugar, and everything else that is part of a balanced breakfast made me wish it was socially acceptable to throw back a 10% stout each morning.

Angry Chair has a lot of hype, and with beers like this, it is easy to see why.


5. Austin Street Anniversary DIPA

On a trip to Maine I stopped by good ole Industrial Way to hit up all of the breweries. Almost as an afterthought, I stopped into Austin St and was immediately enamored with their 2nd Anniversary Double IPA. When I opened my growler at home and sipped on this sweet, sweet nectar, I fell in love all over again.

Mounds of pure hop juice, delicious bitterness, and a bounty of tropical fruits hit all the right notes and made for one of the most complex and delicious Double IPA's I had in 2017. Up until this beer, Austin Street was merely ok in my book, but this converted me to a believer.

4. Trillium Double Dry Hopped Stillings Street

Part of one of my "Versus" series, DDH Stillings absolutely obliterated it's non-DDH kid sister in aroma, taste, body, and anything else you can possibly think of.

A Nelson nuke if I've ever seen one, DDH Stillings brought forth an overwhelming amount of white wine, grapefruit, and orange sherbet. Not to be forgotten, the palate was also flooded with an appetizing bitterness that made for a complex, and nearly perfectly balanced IPA.



3. Exhibit "A" Swordfish

Here's another from the files of "I went to the brewery the day after the anniversary party". My initial experience with Swordfish was lukewarm at best when I had my sample at the brewery. Still, I took a growler home and let it sit for two weeks. The result? Just a pure whiskey orgasm.

Vanilla, toffee, caramel, and an uncanny amount of coconut from the barrels were only some, SOME of the flavors that came off of this intense Barleywine. The whiskey had no alcohol burn and it was just pure taste from the spirit and some hefty rye spice. This is one that NEEDS to be brought back.

*EDIT*: I have been informed that this is in fact on draft right now. SO GO GET IT!!!!!

2. New England Brewing Imperial Stout Trooper

Coming in just before closing time, IST was one of my last reviews of the year, but that only made me kick myself for sitting on this one for so long.

It's an unflavored stout, but the taste offers up so much more than just standard stout qualities of roasted malts as this was a dessert beer for the ages with tons of chocolate, coffee, and vanilla. The flavors and body were so fluffy and comfortable on the tongue it made you never want to stop drinking despite the 9.5% abv. Again, this is an unflavored stout.

Get your hands on this beer you must.

1. Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout

In today's world, the latest stout from the most trendy brewery will bring people in droves to a 10 A.M. release with people lining up at 4 A.M. two days before with their three beer mules in tow just hoping to get their hands on their one bottle allocation to trade away immediately. So, why do we do this when perfectly similar, or even better options are available on your local shelf? Who can explain our behavior these days? That being said, if you are looking for a mind-blowing, automatic, systematic, hydromatic Imperial Stout, then Dogfish Head's take on their classic World Wide Stout is one you simply cannot miss.

The standard WWS was a bit too hot for my liking despite still producing rich stout qualities. This version however left me nearly speechless and was an easy choice for the best beer of 2017.

A complex aroma and taste of chocolate, coffee, tobacco, char, massive amounts of vanilla, smoke, and smooth, refined alcohol made it more complex than any beer I had last year. It's a 15% stout great for dessert, or just for sipping on for hours during the colder nights. Dogfish Head has been an innovator for years with their high abv beers, and now they have given me the best beer of 2017.

I'll see you in 2018. Cheers!

Hop in the Delorean, time circuits on, rev it up to 88mph, and relive the past "Best of" lists...

Top 10 Beers of 2014
Top 10 Beers of 2015
Top 10 Beers of 2016

The Top 10 Beers of 2016

It's time for the 3rd installment of the Top 10 Beers list and 2016 was a pretty darn good year (pardon my French).

Admittedly, I did not review as many beers as I wanted, but I guess my resolution for 2017 would be to buckle down and produce more content. In spite of that, I still have put together a top-notch Top 10 and have had fun going back and reminiscing about so many good beers.

As with the years past, I did set some parameters for compiling this list...

• The beer had to be reviewed on the blog in 2016. If I had it at a bar, a bottle share, fest, etc, then it doesn't qualify.
• No re-reviews. I typically don't re-review beers, but sometimes an occasion calls for it. So sorry, Trillium Headroom, you do not qualify for the list.
• Multiple beers from one brewery are allowed. Frankly, if the brewery makes that many good beers (in my opinion) then I'm not going to fault them for it.

 As with last year, I will do Class-B categories before counting down the 10 best of the year. Thank you for your continued support and I hope to entertain you more in 2017.

Let's Go!

Most Disappointing Beers of 2016

Like last year, the following entries weren't necessarily bad, but to me, they fell below my expectations. We won't get into a philosophical argument over whether or not I (or anyone else) am entitled to expect nothing less than a great beer, but we all have those moments where you buy a beer and say "Oh, this sounds good", but then it doesn't knock your socks off. Again, not bad, but not what I personally expected.

3. Other Half 2nd Anniversary IPA

Other Half Brewing and I don't have a solid relationship. I have found almost all of their offerings to be middle-of-the-road, but I have remained hopeful. When I landed a can of their 2nd Anniversary IPA way back in February, I was hoping this would be the one to change my mind, but it didn't.

Like most of the others I have tried, this had a strong West Coast taste that leaned heavily on spicy, onion hops. The East Coast has built a reputation for hazy, juice bombs, but Other Half doesn't follow that lead. Granted, there's nothing wrong with trying to pay homage to classic West coast IPA's, but OH doesn't seem to please either side of the country.


2. Kern River Citra

 I got serious about craft beer about five years ago and one of the most sought-after DIPA's on the planet was Kern River Citra. I may be remembering this incorrectly, but back then (2012), this was a Top 10 beer on Beer Advocate (if not that, then a Top 20). Today the rating still holds steady thanks to years of high scores, but in a world today where everyone is producing hazy juice nukes, this West Coast offering doesn't stand out.

Those classic garlic and onion notes dominate throughout. I think with this all Citra DIPA, I was expecting pure juice, but this stayed true to its roots, which caught me off guard. It wasn't a bad beer, but its reputation preceded itself.

1. Lawson's Finest Liquids Double Sunshine

Now here's one I did not like (but not enough to get on the "Worst of" list).

I had this beer for the first time years and years ago and loved it...LOVED it. It was years ahead of a lot of the current Massachusetts breweries that have defined the typical "New England IPA". When I got my latest bottle this year, I was severely let down.

Gone were the tropical fruits and instead they were replaced with an odd assortment of butterscotch and burnt popcorn to go with dirty, grassy hops. The bottle I got was only a couple of weeks old, so freshness was not the issue. I don't know if the recipe had changed or something, but this was not the beer I once loved. It cost an arm and a leg to trade for, but I think I would have given them my other appendages (including "Death Proof") to take it back.

The Worst Beers of 2016

I've said it before, but I usually don't go out of my way to purposely review "bad" beers. I buy what I want and hope for the best with each beer review. Sadly, not everything goes as planned.

3. Ballast Point Pineapple Sculpin

I love me the standard Sculpin (though I've never reviewed it). The variations out there on the market are all okay for the most part. I enjoy the Grapefruit Sculpin, and the Habanero, while not my ideal flavor, was okay. Pineapple on the other hand was a different story.

As opposed to the others, this one tasted particularly artificial. More reminiscent of a pineapple shandy with a metallic aftertaste, Pineapple Sculpin was easily the least favorite of the series.



2. Samuel Adams Nitro White Ale

Earlier this year, Sam Adams released a series of Nitro beers. I reviewed all three and found their Coffee Stout to be a decent offering, but the other two were nearly undrinkable.

The Nitro White, while bad, still had touches of familiar macro brews like Miller Lite, which still helped the beer maintain some form of drinkability. This one at least started off with subtle (VERY subtle) orange and lemon, but they still disappeared in a flash. This was basically Nitro Same Summer, and that's not something I'd dive back into.


1. Samuel Adams Nitro IPA

As opposed to it's Nitro White brother, the Nitro IPA had no redeeming qualities.

I think a forest fire had burned inside the can because the taste was heavy on roasted everything. Caramelized malts, wet tree bark, metal, and dirty dishwater were the best adjectives I could bestow upon this.

Leave it to Sam Adam to try and get in on a trend and just produce something most people don't want to drink.

Honorable Mentions

Compiling these lists is never easy and some unfortunate (but deserving) souls must be left behind. So, here are a few that JUST missed the cut for the Top 10 list.

3. Trillium Double Dry Hopped Scaled

Trillium seems to be a sure bet to produce a fantastic IPA and this was no different.

A one-two punch of El Dorado (a personal favorite) and Citra hops made for an explosion of peaches, oranges, sherbet, and even some dank hops. Trillium likes to put out DDH versions of all their IPA's and it wouldn't suck if they brewed this one more often.

2. Monkish Relax Your Mind

If you're heavy into the craft beer world, then you know Monkish has become as sought-after as Tree House beers. I was lucky enough to get a variety of Monkish beers in a trade, and they did not let me down.

Relax Your Mind was a near perfect combo of both juice and hop nuke with tropical goodness and hop flavors joining forces to combat evil. The creamy mouthfeel and familiar milkshake appearance were all gravy on this mound of mashed potatoes. I really hope I get to try more Monkish beers in 2017.


1. Bissell Brothers Swish

Much like the previously mentioned Relax Your Mind, BB Swish was another sublime combo of dankness and tropical fruits.

Swish is hard to come by in trade. As a MA resident, anything I usually have to trade is something that people from Maine buying the Swish have already had. So, I personally had to make the trip up North to wait in line and get this. It was actually a nice time talking beer with the other people and in the end I got a world class DIPA.

So, does that mean that personal touch elevated this above the Monkish beer? Maybe so, but those intangibles are what push it over the edge.

Now for the big show...

No, not that one!

As you read over the Top 10 list, you may find that they aren't necessarily ranked by overall rating. Beer A might be rated lower than Beer B, but Beer A is ranked higher on the list. When I went back and looked through all of my reviews, I had to not only take into account rating, but also whether or not the beer was memorable. Scrolling through page after page, some beers had me going "Oh, that one was good" and other outbursts of joy. So while some beers may have scored higher at the time, the lasting impression they left on me was also a huge factor. But hey, they were all great and that's why we're here.

Now here is what we've all been waiting for...The Top 10 Best Beers of 2016. Thank you for visiting the blog, the Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, and Untappd and showing your support (FYI...please like and share all of these!). Here's to a 2017 full of great beer. Cheers!

10. Small Town Not Your Father's Root Beer (10.7%)

Ok, Ok, Ok, OKAY!!!! I can hear all of you screaming at your computer screens right now. What would a good list be without a little controversy? Yes, I get it. It's not technically a beer, but you need to hear me out.

While NYFRB isn't a beer in  your typical sense and might as well be lumped in with your Smirnoff Ice and Twisted Tea, the fact is I can't deny how delicious this really is.

I've ranted about this before, but in short, everyone loved NYFRB before it hit nation-wide distribution. Only when you were able to find it at every store that sold PBR, people revolted. Well, motherf***ers, I don't care because the 10.7% bigger brother is an accomplishment. With such a high gravity beverage being able to make the alcohol smell and taste and tasting exactly like god damn root beer, this was as pleasant to drink as it was impressively made. You can lie to yourself when you say you don't like the series, but I know the truth.

9. Cigar City Hunahpu

It seems like everyone is getting on this Mexican Hot Chocolate or Mole craze. Chances are, even the casual consumer has come across a stout on their local shelves that was brewed with chili peppers, cinnamon, vanilla, and cacao. Hunahpu was one of the first and it has not gone out of style just yet.

I used to never like the style, but this vintage was delicious in all aspects. Hot chocolate, fudge, cinnamon, and a lot of chili flavor (without the heat) all blended perfectly to add a kick in the pants to an already superb imperial stout.

It's hyped for a reason. If only I could get my hands on the barrel aged variants.

8. Carton Regular Coffee

I'll be the first to admit that I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on beer. When it comes to Cream Ales, I am even more clueless as it is not a particular type of beer that I have regularly had in my fridge. When it comes to the Cream Ales, Carton Brewing seems to have dialed it in and Regular Coffee is easily the best I've had of the style.

While not only a great coffee beer, this also had unexpected notes of vanilla, cream, and chocolate to make for a complex offering from a style not known for its world class library. At an unbelievable 12%, this is dangerously drinkable and it's really just a fun beer to experience.

7. Trillium Double Dry Hopped Congress Street

Congress St is already a Galaxy hop overload and one my favorite Trillium IPA's. The DDH version is beloved by fans and tends to sell out quickly. So quickly in fact that the most recent release last month saw Trillium put a limit on 4-packs just to make sure they could spread it around and frankly, I can see the hype.

I keep saying that I prefer my IPA's to have a balance between the tropical juices and dank hops. Some of the other beers mentioned had that great combo, but DDH did it slightly better with the marriage of pure hop juice and wave after wave of peaches, lemons, apricots, and grapefruit. It truly is one of the best uses of Galaxy hops that I have ever experienced.

6. Barrel House Z Sunny & 79 (Tequila Barrel Aged)

Pilsner? Barely knew her!

Still here? Thank you.

Have I ever reviewed a pilsner before this? I'm too lazy to check, but my gut feeling is a big, fat no. BHZ is a new brewery to Massachusetts and they barrel age everything. A truly unique operation, but I don't think I could have expected to be blown away by their very first offering.

A pilsner aged in tequila barrels? Yes, it works, and does so masterfully. The crisp pilsner base followed by some awesome lime, salt, and oak from the barrel, but without any heat, made for a truly memorable beer. I actually pounded two full crowlers in one night it was so good. I paid for it the next morning at work, but it was worth it.

5. Stone Enjoy By Unfiltered 2/14/16

I think I say this every year, but I'm not a big fan of Stone IPA's. Their generic West Coast style has been a constant in their hoppy beers and I didn't think I'd see them attempt to change. Now with the "New England IPA" taking the country by storm, even Stone had to give it a shot by releasing an unfiltered version of their Enjoy By series. Again, I was not a big fan of that series and couldn't expect leaving the beer unfiltered to have that big of an effect. I was pleasantly disappointed.

Tangerines and peaches swimming in pure hop juice made for an orgasm in a glass (which I'll never try again). Some nice dank qualities and incredible drinkability for a near Triple IPA, and this was easily my favorite IPA made by Stone.

4. Alchemist Heady Topper

As I said in my review: What else needs to be said about Heady Topper?

A can full of hop juice, pine needles, grapefruit, and it's all encased in this wonderful bitter, dank quality. So many IPA's try to be either juice bombs or hop bombs, but Heady is an example of perfectly balancing out the two worlds. It's influence on the beer scene is undeniable and it still holds up to every new brewery that tries to imitate it.




3. Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star

Easily the best BA Imperial Stout I had in 2016, Fremont BA Dark Star had everything you know and love about the style, but was also ahead of the competition.

Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, oak, vanilla, marshmallow, creme brulee, and the list goes on and on. Barrel complexity plus all of the dessert-like flavors made for a massive sipper that was a pleasure to imbibe on for hours and hours.

I recently reviewed the coffee version, but the straight BA Dark Star wins out big time and does so without needing any further flavors.


2. Tree House Very Hazy

I celebrated my birthday in 2016 with a trip to Tree House Brewing. Standing outside in line in the cold, February winter, I think the world imploded into itself when the employees announced that Very Hazy would be on the menu. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time to enjoy what is considered one of the best beers on the planet.

Taking the original Haze and cranking everything up 12 notches, Very Hazy is essentially a glass of orange juice and sherbet with a perfect bitter hop finish and no resinous aftertaste. Everything from the look, aroma, and taste was almost worthy of perfection. I'm not one to buy into hype, but one sip in and I understood why it had the reputation it did.

1. Castle Island Swipe Ripe

You can call it a homer pick all you want, but to that I will kindly say "Merry Christmas to all and to all shut the f**k up".

Beer trends come and go and 2016 saw an emergence of IPA's aged on or brewed with fruit. Seriously, I don't think a week goes by where you won't see a brewery's Facebook post that says something along the lines of: "Brewed with Galaxy, Citra (etc)...and a heapin' shitload of peaches, mangoes, apricots, etc etc etc" Instead of letting the hops do their work, we are seeing so many IPA's infused with tropical or stone fruits. A lot of the time the beer ends up more of a shandy than an IPA, but holy crap, when a beer comes along that uses the fruit to enhance rather than overpower, then you have found a gem. Swipe Ripe did it the best in 2016, and may stand alone for the foreseeable future.

One of my biggest factors in a great beer is: Would I buy it again? In this case, I bought my 4-pack, destroyed it, and went back to the brewery on three different occasions to get more. The sheer amount of apricots in this can was ludicrous, but not to be outdone, the overload of juicy and dank hops just added to the complexity. Swipe Ripe was part of Castle Island's rotating Imperial IPA series which produced so many complex DIPA's, but swipe Ripe was the clear winner for me not just for Castle Island beers, but for the best beer of 2016.

See you next time. Thank you for your support.

Memory Lane

2014 Top 10
2015 Top 10

Top 10 Beers of 2015

2015 marked the 2nd year of this blog and my first full 365 day commitment to it. I reviewed over 130 beers this time around and hopefully that number will be even higher for next year.

Instead of just doing a standard Top 10 best beers (don't worry we are still doing that), I want to add a couple of other categories and even toss in some honorable mentions. I do have some ground rules for the lists...

• The beer had to be reviewed on the blog in 2015. If I had it at a bar, a bottle share, fest, etc, then it doesn't qualify.
• No re-reviews. I think I only re-reviewed one beer that I had in 2014, but still, a re-review of a beer that has already been featured on here cannot make the list
• Multiple beers from one brewery are allowed. Frankly, if the brewery makes that many good beers (in my opinion) then I'm not going to fault them for it. Is this foreshadowing? Maybe...

Other than that, is there anything else I'd like to say? Sure!

Plans for 2016

Ideally I'd like to get more reviews out. I will confess that I do get lazy sometimes and choose not to review a beer and just drink it instead. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I know if I want more content then I have to make more of an effort to review more of what I drink. I think a goal of 200 reviews is reachable if I stick with it.

Additionally, I want to do more than just reviews. Not that I don't like doing them all the time, but I want to diversify my content. I visit breweries regularly and it makes sense to do a write-up on them with photos. I also did one "Versus" review this year where I compare and contrast two different beers and I want to make sure to get more of those in too.

Now let's get to it!

Biggest Disappointments of 2015

When you think of a disappointment in the beer world it more often than not has to do with the failure to live up to the hype. I think that's what happened in this small list. Granted, I didn't build any of these items up in my own mind as the be-all/end-all of existence, but when you hear about a beer's reputation you expect something good.

3. Lawson's Finest Liquids/Tree House Shhhhhhh...!

This was the 2nd collaboration between these two breweries with the 1st being an awesome DIPA called YAHHHRRRGGG! which I waited over seven hours in line for with a buddy. Yes we are that stupid. At the end of the day it was what you'd expect from two of the biggest hop powerhouses in New England: a super juice and hop explosion. When word got around that these two were going for it again, I thought the result would be similar. While it was by no means a bad beer, it still left me wondering how they didn't catch lightning in a bottle twice.

The taste was surprisingly more tree sap resin and hop oils as opposed to big citrus juices both breweries are known for packing into their beers. It was at best a satisfying beer, but not the world-class effort each brewery has put forward both on their own and together.

2. Other Half Brewing

Other beer reviewers and Beer Tubers (YouTube Reviewers) have blazed a trail before me and often times I use their reviews as suggestions for what to seek out. I had never heard of Other Half Brewing out of New york until this year and some of the aforementioned beer reviewers were going apeshit over their hoppy beers. Since they are not available in my area I had to work out some trades to get them in my belly. I reviewed multiple OH beers (and one of their collaborations which may or may not be seen later in this post) and found that almost all of them failed to blow wind up my dress.

The overall impression I got from their IPA's was a resinous, garlic/onion taste that I associate more with the West Coast rather than something from the East. Maybe that is the style New York/New Jersey IPA's have taken on, but for me they don't drink as easy. While my sample size was relatively small (and maybe OH's many other hoppy beers are better), I was not impressed with what I was able to have.

1. The Founders Backstage Series

At what point do you just give up on a series? When Founders started their (formerly) highly acclaimed Backstage Series of unique beers back in 2011, they produced one of the highest-rated beers in the history of mankind: Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout. Since then the series has put out a lot of pretty good to very good beers with a lot of "meh" thrown in. Last year one of the better ones I've ever had made my Best of List for 2014, but when it came to 2015, the series crapped out and frankly I don't think I care about it anymore.

There were three releases in 2015: Blushing Monk, ReDankulous, and Project Pam. Blushing Monk was actually a re-release of the first ever Backstage Series beer, but it was just a glass of raspberry juice. Re-Dankulous was a sticky malt bomb with no hop flavor, but most disappointing was Project Pam. This was supposed to be maple syrup and bourbon explosion over a base Imperial Black IPA. All it gave me was a sweet, thick, schnapps taste that left me crying myself to sleep. These releases used to be immediate "must haves", but now if I see them at my local stores, I will tread more lightly.

The Worst Beer of 2015

 I don't make it a point to seek out what are regarded as "bad beers". My thought process when I go into a store isn't to review something I'm sure I won't like in order to just give a low rating. Maybe I will review some of the more notorious macro beers (Bud, Miller, Coors, etc) in 2016, but for now I have to go with what I did review last year. Going through my reviews I didn't rate enough beers low enough to compile an entire "Worst of" list, so I decided to highlight just one, which got my lowest rating in 2015.

Miami Brewing Vice IPA

On a stupid side note, the photo for this beer has the best lighting of any photo I took in 2015. I have been unable to re-create the magic and its ironic the worst beer got the best photo. Ok, stupid rant over.

When I traded for some Funky Buddha beers last year this was thrown in as an extra. Miami Brewing was something I had never heard of and if I never have another beer from them again I won't complain. Vice IPA was possibly an infected can, but from what I read in other reviews, this is how the beer is supposed to taste. A chewy mouthfeel with odd flavors of stale Heath Bar, green beans, and V8, this was bordering on undrinkable, but I think the 12oz serving made it possible to finish. Any bigger and it might have gone down the drain.

There were some other beers I had that were flavored with fruits or poorly barrel-aged that almost were put in this spot, but Vice IPA was a standard IPA that was bad on its own. I only drank it because it was free of charge, but if you see it in a store or at a bar, do not spend your hard-earned money on it.

The Top 10 Beers of 2015

Before we get to the main course, here are some of the honorable mentions that just missed making the top 10.

Honorable Mentions

 

Cigar City Good Gourd

Pumpkin Ales get a bad rap among beer enthusiasts and I admit that 99% taste the same. Once in a while one comes along and blows your hair back. Enter Good Gourd by Cigar City - an imperial pumpkin ale with spices.

The genuine pumpkin taste combined with big cinnamon and vanilla will have you thinking of liquid pumpkin pie, but without the overly sugary sweetness that plague a lot of other examples of the style. I've also had the rum barrel-aged version of this beer, but the base beer wins out because the flavors shine brightly without the overpowering barrel character. Throw in easy drinkability and this pumpkin ale is at the top of the heap.

Trillium/Other Half Green Street

Previously I mentioned my underwhelming experiences with Other Half Brewing, but I guess they just needed Trillium to help them out.

Out of all the Trillium beers I had this year, this one stuck out due to it's incredibly sweeter demeanor as compared to other hoppy Trillium offerings. Lots of bubblegum taste with some lime and that notorious Trillium orange sherbet flavor had my mouth watering with each sip.

Collaborations are very hit-or-miss, but this one was stellar in all aspects.


Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout (2015 Vintage)

When the smoke cleared from Black Friday and I had all of my Bourbon County reviews done, there was one that stood out from the pack.

The base BCBS is amazing enough, but the addition of that coffee helped replace the base beer's smokey char and tobacco with rich espresso, chocolate, and coffee. It's almost like bourbon-soaked, chocolate-covered coffee beans and yes, it is as good as it sounds.

Hopefully I can also find some next year because I am officially hooked on this beer.


Now for the main event. You're here to see the best of the best and I will not hold out any longer. Thank you for your continued support of the blog and here's to a stellar 2016. Don't forget to like the Facebook page, follow me on Twitter (@threwredbutter) & Untappd (threwredbutter), and share with friends. Cheers!

10. Foundation Epiphany

What the hell is a "Maine IPA"? When I first read that on the can of Foundation Epiphany, I didn't know what to expect. The hop lineup had me excited with promises of Cascade, Citra, Columbus, Ella, and Mosaic and the result was the best IPA I had from Maine in 2015.

An explosion of orange and pineapple hit the tongue first and creates a juicy, refreshing feeling on the first half. That is until the back end which switches to an earthy bite with some pine. The mouthfeel is never dry and it drinks like a single IPA rather than an Imperial. It's so juice-forward that at times you forget that you are drinking beer. Maine may be the "Pine Tree State", but thanks to Epipany, it should be the "Orange Tree State".

9. Trillium Artaic

I've had so many Trillium IPA's that it's hard to keep track. From their stellar "Street" IPA's to their one-off Imperials, it is hard to find one that isn't good, so when one manages to distance itself from the pack, then that is an accomplishment.

Artiac is a DIPA brewed exclusively with Mosaic hops with an addition of raw wildflower honey. A near sensory overload, Artaic provided juicy pineapple, black pepper, cedar, and sugary honey to form one of the more unique flavor profiles I have experienced in a DIPA. To me 2015 saw an explosion of breweries using Mosaic hops, but Trillium (not surprisingly) seemed to utilize its potential best.

8. Firestone Walker 18th Anniversary Ale

The universally acclaimed Anniversary Ales from Firestone Walker blend together multiple FW beers which are aged in numerous spirit barrels. I've had the chance to try every Anniversary Ale since FW 14, but this year marked my first official review of one of these bad boys and frankly I wasn't surprised when it received one of my highest scores.

Despite having Parabola as its biggest component, the dark fruits and other Quad and Doppelbock qualities stood out most, but I wasn't complaining. The big punch of milk chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts also came through loud and clear as did the juicy hops of the Double Jack and Wookey Jack. Taking the best parts of Imperial Stouts, Quads, Barleywines, and then barrel-aging them made for an orgasmic experience. I can't wait to crack open my 19th Anniversary!

7. Avery Fortuna

It's not that I am opposed to the Wild Ale style, it's just that I prefer others in favor. Avery has a reputation for these massive, barrel-aged beers which can come off as too hot right out of the gate. When I heard they were making a tequila-aged beer, I was apprehensive to say the least. But since the beer was given to me for free as a gift, I knew there was no harm in trying. After having it, it was something I definitely would have spent my own money on.

The equivalent of a tequila shot with full salt lick and lime wedge, Fortuna was one of the best sour ales I've ever had. High quality, top-shelf tequila never at any point had an alcohol taste or burn and it matched perfectly with the lime zest and Gose-esque saltiness. Amazingly the sourness of the bacteria and the salt did not make the beer hard to drink nor did it make my mouth dry up as this was surprisingly refreshing for the style and the ingredients used. This was tequila aging done right.

6. Tree House In Perpetuity

Much like Trillium, I have had the chance to try a lot of Tree House IPA's and at this point I expect a great beer. I luckily one day had the time to drive to the brewery on a weekday to get this one-off IPA and man was I one lucky duck.

Supposedly brewed with both Nelson and Citra hops, I (for the most part) only picked up on the Nelson's dominating flavors, but the result was so good I didn't care at all. Overpowering (in a good way) white grape and white wine made for a Nelson Nuke, but a small amount of citrus was detectable as was a Trillium-esque orange creme taste. If you get hard for Nelson hops then this is where you want to be. Very reminiscent of Alpine Nelson, I really hope they decide to brew this one again.

5. Night Shift Darkling

Before rolling out my Bourbon County reviews, I dubbed this beer the "Bourbon County Killer". Now that I had a chance to give a full review of BCBS, and had the chance to compare the two, I must say that my opinion hasn't changed one bit.

Darkling had all the usual flavors you expect from BA stouts with the sweet bourbon, oak, char, and dark chocolate, but it also added in vanilla and even some caramel and quad-like dark fruits. What set it apart from others was that mouthfeel. It was the thickest imperial stout I've ever had and almost had a barium-like thickness that slowly moved over the tongue and covered everything in its path like The Blob. Night Shift has become known for their hoppy beers lately, but their barrel-aging program seems to be on point as well.

4. The Bruery Grey Monday

I received this in a trade and felt like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened the box. I knew this was going to be amazing even before I opened it as the sheer smell of the beer resonated from just the outside of the bottle. I could have held it to my face and smelled it all day and I would have been perfectly satisfied.

I've had Black Tuesday and Chocolate Rain from The Bruery and they made their mark as big-ass Imperial Stouts. While they were big and flavorful, they did tend to lean on alcohol taste and booziness to help move the sweeter aspects along. Grey Monday was the first Black Tuesday variant I had that didn't weigh me down and was light on the booze and heat.

This variant is made with hazelnuts and they added a nutty taste which accented the base beer's chocolate. The hazelnuts and chocolate made for liquid, bourbon-soaked Nutella and the additional coffee and vanilla turned this into a superb dessert beer. I was surprised at how drinkable an 18.0% beer was, but those hazelnuts neutralized the overly sweet/sugary flavors and masked the alcohol beautifully.

3. Toppling Goliath King Sue 

Toppling Goliath IPA's have much hype surrounding them. In my experience I have found them be ok for the most part, but not load-blowing by any means. Most recently I found their all-Mosaic DIPA to be a major letdown, but when it comes Citra-hopped DIPAs, then I think King Sue might be at the head of its class.

A pure Juice Nuke if I've ever had one, King Sue's aroma of orange and citrus was bursting from the bottle before I even poured into the glass. When I did, the aroma filled the room like an air freshener, but the taste told the whole story. If Hi-C was a beer, then it would be King Sue. The Citra hops are unrelenting from start to finish and there is never even a moment where the beer transitions to anything bitter, grassy, herbal etc. It's a flood of Citra at every turn and is just plain refreshing. It's hard to believe that it's even beer, but King Sue has earned its royal moniker with an elite DIPA.

2. New England Brewing Fuzzy Baby Ducks

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday than with a beer like this. It was worth the effort to do the in-person trade down in Rhode Island because this Citra bomb has all of the Citra flavor as King Sue, but FBD is a single IPA and not a DIPA which makes it even more impressive.

I'd compare it to the aforementioned King Sue, but also Tree House Julius and Hill Farmstead Susan with its onslaught of orange, mango, and fresh-squeezed hop juice. The subtle addition of hop flavors gave it a little more complexity than any IPA on this list. In a blind test I'd swear this was a Citra DIPA considering the sheer amount of flavor, but when a Single IPA crams in this much flavor, then the result is a one-of-a-kind IPA that can't be missed.

1. Bottle Logic Fundamental Observation

One of the final beers I reviewed in 2015 was not only the best, but it was my only perfect score for the year.

Probably the best use of vanilla beans I've seen in a stout, Fundamental Observation was a melted s'more in a glass, but soaked in delicious bourbon. Massive chocolate and creamy marshmallow made me feel like I was having a hot fudge sundae, but covered in the contents of the four bourbon barrels the beer was aged in. The mouthfeel was also thick like hot fudge and the kicker was that there was no alcohol taste to be found out of that 14.0% abv. Very rarely will an Imperial Stout this big be this drinkable and dessert-like, but that is why it earned the perfect 10/10.