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USA 2015: Top 40 Craft Beers |
As time wore on it eventually become my 'Top 40' list. It identifies all the craft beers that uniquely stood out. Each beer had an attraction that allowed you to become that beer. Each beer had their own characteristics that hypnotised you into drinking more. Each one of these craft beers had all the qualities that made them special.
It's these beers that I eventually fell in love with. Due to this, they have reached my Top 40 list. They have achieved something great that no other beer could accomplish. From New Jersey to Seattle, New York to Minnesota, below is my take on the top 40 beers that blew my mind.
This is the final installment, so sit back and enjoy my TOP 10 beers that includes my favourite #1 from the USA 2015 trip!
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| Peanut Butter Porter 5.5% |
Dangerous Man Brewing has come up with a Peanut Butter Porter that can only be described as outrageously wicked. I managed to find this beer at The Beer Dabbler Summer event located at CHS Field in St. Paul, Minnesota. Some 70+ breweries from across the US visited this venue to showcase their marvelous craft beer creations.
And this Peanut Butter Porter creation was, for me, the best of the lot. Trust me, there were lots of great beers out there with many different styles to choose from but this managed to get the nod.
Honestly, imagine cracking open a jar of peanut butter. You know that aroma you get? Well, that was this beer. Imagine now eating from the same peanut butter jar. You know the taste of peanut butter? Well, you get the same sensation from drinking this remarkably gifted beer.
So gifted, the additional flavours of chocolate, some coffee notes and subtle roast notes lifted this beer to a new level. The audacity of a brewer to pull off a beer like this and still have it taste this good?! I have the utmost respect for Dangerous Man, which means this Peanut Butter Porter gets to #10 in my list.
(My rating: 9/10)
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| Surly Blakkr |
I was fortunate to actually have Surly Brewing Blakkr both on tap and in a can. This black-as-black Imperial IPA is a collaboration with both Real Ale Brewing and Three Floyds Brewing. It's monumentally good, and it typifies Surly Brewing's attitude and brewing style: big, bold, brazen and damn fucking awesome.
So awesome, it reached my top 10 list. On tap this was just wonderfully crafted. It has a touch of 'bite', is hoppy and has a lighter body than you'd imagine. It's sensationally drinkable and extremely addictive, even on a hot Minnesotan day. It's rare that I can actually have an impressive black Imperial IPA, but this certainly seems to seal the deal.
For me, what really stood out about this beer is that it appears so simple yet is so complex. It has no aggressive features, can be sipped or drank quickly and is light enough to have during the hottest of days or the coolest of nights. This collaboration brewed by Surly is impeccably crafted. It's really a top-notch black Imperial IPA that I'm sure you'll also enjoy.
(My rating: 9/10)
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| Gothic American Stout |
This Limited Edition Gothic American Stout by Widmer Brothers was crazily good. Granted, stout beer is a hit-and-miss style that a lot of people don't like. Not only that but this style is also be extremely subjective. For me, I'd rate it as one of the best stouts I have had in a very long time.
Once again I was at Seattle's Yard House, the often frequented watering hole that gave so much pleasure. The Gothic American Stout is a classic style off tap that goes above and beyond anything imaginable. The subtle roast, chocolate and malt characteristics matched perfectly. It was light-medium bodied and had you wanting more.
The reason why, I feel, this beer stood out from the stout crowd is its blended ingredients melded into one. Everything was perfectly balanced, it was easy to drink and the flavour profile was just phenomenal. Each sip just complimented the next in such a way that my fascination for this beer ran wild. Honestly, for a really well-balanced American Stout then look no further. I love this beer.
(My rating: 9/10)
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| The Seer 5.9% |
#7: Holy Mountain The Seer (Foudre aged hoppy Saison)
If you hadn't read the beer menu, this beer would have you thinking twice. The Seer, from Holy Mountain Brewing in Seattle, is described as an "aggressively hopped Saison" with "galaxy hops". I can honestly tell you that it really is an awesomely intriguing beer.
Just imagine you've come up with a wicked plan for a beer. Well, multiply that by 5, throw in the Wicked Witch of the West, a pinch of Denny Crane and....et voilà! You now have your masterpiece from Holy Mountain Brewing. The Seer is sheer class.
It is fermented with one of Holy Mountain's Saison cultures and, as they say, "aged 3 months in our foudre with Brett and then dry hopped". For the uninitiated, a foudre is a large cask for storing or maturing wine.
Whatever and however they have brewed it, this is elegance at its best. I love the fact this beer is soft, hoppy, light, refreshing, a little tart and has the body of Elle Macpherson. I'll have to admit, this is a seriously good beer that is worth its weight in gold. A great effort by the gang at Holy Mountain.
(My rating: 9/10)
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| Polygamy Porter 6% |
Why just stop at one? Well, you can't. Wasatch Brewery has a Polygamy Porter that is on Nitro and is amazingly good. Its light, creamy and chocolate-like subtleties makes this beer a joy to drink.
And the drinkability of the Polygamy Porter is to be admired. A lot of people have issues with drinking beer of this nature, but what you'll find here is that all the ingredients are well-balanced and just blended ever so well in this Nitro fantasy. Yep, Nitro beer can have a tendency to expose faults in beers - but none were found in this beauty.
It's funny but there really aren't any superlatives to express how good this beer is. Such a damn shame that I wasn't able to have this beer on tap. If I had, who knows if this would have knocked up a few notches in my top beer list?
Regardless, this is a beer the perfect blend of malts, hops and yeast that enabled me to lick my lips after each sip. I have to admit that this came really close to the Left Hand Milk Stout, but there were qualities from this that just didn't quite match (spoiler alert!). Nonetheless, it's certainly a winner in my eyes.
(My rating: 9.25/10)
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| Sommelier 8.7% |
Castle Danger Brewery have come out with what can only be described as an extraordinarily complex beer. It also has the kick of an angry mule that had its testicles tickled by a naked, randy clown.
The Sommilier George Hunter Red Wine Barrel-Aged Stout (say that 10 times quickly) is something to actually write home about. Castle Danger say that: "George Hunter was our founder and brewer's great-great-grandfather who brewed in Tower, Minnesota in the early 1900's".
What makes this beer special? I'll let Castle Danger explain the beer: "Napa Valley Red Wine Barrel-aged George Hunter Stout, aged for 8 months. Flavors & aromas of molasses, licorice, maple, coffee & cream enhanced with red wine & oak". Now if that isn't complex to you, I'll run naked on Bondi Beach every week for a year!
The aroma is of a dark, red wine with flavours that really go deep down into the heart of the beer. You can definitely sense this was in a wine barrel, that's for sure. It had a complex array of texture, lots of unique characteristics and it was something you could drink again. It was an experience worth repeating. I really liked this amazing beer. (Note: After having this beer we did ask the actual percentage - we were at Castle Danger end of August, 2015 - and they said it was close to 12%? I'd love someone to correct me on that, please?)
(My rating: 9.25/10)
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| Shake Porter 5.9% |
This beer was like winning the last golden ticket in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Direct from Boulder Beer, this Shake Chocolate Porter was absolutely outstanding. It's not often I fall off my chair when I'm sober but this beer did it. Boulder Beer Shake Chocolate Porter has to be the best chocolate porter in the world.
I managed to park the peepers on this one while rambling through the beer menu at Old Chicago. Boy, was this a beer I was lucky to have. Lots of chocolate, and lots, lots more of chocolate. Simply breathtaking!
But this was a different chocolate beer, at least to my interpretation. It was very close to what I'd call a dark chocolate flavour. The usual beers out there have things like cocoa nibs and whatnot, but this was very much different. I am still astonished at how awesomely chocolate this beer was. If you haven't yet tried it, get off your ass and go down to your local liquor store. Get your hands on it (the beer, that is) and try it. You will not be disappointed.
(My rating: 9.5/10)
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| Apricot Sour 5% |
Located in Seattle, Holy Mountain Brewing delivered the perfect Summer beer: Apricot Table Sour. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would love, let along enjoy, a sour beer. I've tried many sours brewed by both home brewers and professionals, none of which even come close to this baby. Holy Mountain Apricot Table Sour is an astonishingly refreshing beer. It's quite tart, has malt character yet is smooth, well carbonated and has a fruit taste (apricot) that is perfectly balanced.
Holy Mountain describe this beer as "the first in a series of table sours, our apricot table was aged in oak barrels with a wild culture for 3 months, then racked onto apricots in a oak puncheon with brett where it aged 3 additional months. A refreshing, easy drinking sour".
Do I need to say any more? I absolutely loved this beer when I first tried it and cannot wait for the next time when I hit Seattle to get to Holy Mountain. It's the expectation of further sour beers to try that really blows my mind. I'll admit that it was just about the perfect beer on the perfect day with perfect friends. This was truly a world class beer.
(My rating: 9.5/10)
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| (Left) Pyrokinesis 9.6% |
Simply put: the best Double IPA in the United States of America. I searched high and low, far and wide, and I finally found my prize. Stand proud, Holy Mountain Brewing. This truly is one of the best beers in the country. Everything about the Pyrokinesis was phenomenal.
Its golden-orange hue, citrus hop aroma, exemplary malt to hop balance and body shapes this stunning Double IPA into depths of the brewing universe no one has dared to tread. It has a blend of Amarillo and Simcoe hops with some Columbus which allows this beer to shine brighter than our very own Sun.
There are not enough words in the Oxford English dictionary to describe how awesomely fantastic this Double IPA is. All my life I wanted to get my hands on the best Double IPA the world has ever seen. Did I taste it here in Seattle at Holy Mountain? I reckon I've come close.
(My rating: 9.75/10)
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| Left Hand Milk Stout 6% |
Sexy. Inspiring. Beautiful. Intuitive. Desirable. These are five words you wouldn't necessarily say about a craft beer, but I am. Left Hand Brewing have crafted one of the most magnificent beers in recent history. The Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro was certainly the most inspiring discovery throughout my travel in the US:
How good is this beer? If Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Jennifer Carpenter asked me to have a threesome together, I'd politely decline and ask for another Milk Stout Nitro, Okay, maybe I went a bit overboard on passing up a threesome with the two Jennifer's but this beer is that good. .
Actually, thinking about that now makes me have to sit down and cross my legs. So let's go back to talking about beer, shall we?
The smoothness, the texture, flavour, the subtle chocolate and even a touch of roast propels this work of art into the stratosphere. It is all encompassing, all empowering and all conquering. It is without a doubt one of the rare opportunities you get in life: to actually love a beer so much you could drink it anywhere and anytime.
This beer inspires you to greatness, and Left Hand Brewing certainly have proved this by brewing a sensational beer. I strongly recommend you give this beer a whirl.
(My rating: 10/10)
Thanks for reading my top beer list. Questions or comments?
Email me at: dannbrew@gmail.com
May you all have a very cool Xmas, a happy new year and I hope 2016 is nice to you all.
Cheers and craft beers to you all.
dann
