I don’t keep track of beer consumption the way I do wine, but this list should be fairly representative of my favorite beers of 2019 by style. Plus a few other fun categories thrown in. Rick - you are forewarned that some of these beers contain multiple levels of bullshit.
What beers floated your boat in 2019?
Best German Style Pilsner - Heater Allen Pils. There’s a reason I drink more of this than any other beer. Runners up - Zoiglhaus Brewing Zoigl-Pils and Suarez Family Brewery Qualify Pils
Best Italian Style Pilsner - Wayfinder/Heater Allen/Modern Times Terrifica Horror Pils. An outstanding beer that I can’t get enough. A nice change of pace from the German and Czech style Pilsners. A style I hope to see more of as the domestic versions I’ve tried (Von Ebert, Chuckanut) are quite nice, not to mention the Italian OGs that started the trend.
Best non-Pilsner Lager - Heater Allen Bobtoberfest Oktoberfest Lager. Runner up - Wayfinder Funeral Bock
Best Smoked Lager - Heater Allen/Wayfinder Rauchbier Hell. Perfect amount of smoke IMO. Some think smoked beers are to be consumed sparingly, but I’d happily drink this regularly.
Best Baltic Porter - For a straight BP, it would be Heater Allen Sandy Paws Baltic-Style Porter. But the Wayfinder Gravity Drop Guji Coffee Baltic Porter was insanely good and a textbook example of how coffee infused beers should be made.
Best non-Fruited Lambic - 3 Fonteinen Armand & Gaston. Runner up - Gueze Tilquin
Best Fruited Lambic - Cantillon Fou Foune. Always a magnificent beer. Just wish I could drink more than once or twice per year. An all-time fav beer
Best Mixed Fermentation Ale - Floodland Meditation on Light. Adam is working magic in his small brewery. I’m very lucky to be in the limited bottle club, but also to have the brewery within walking distance of my house.
Best non-fruited Saison - Floodland Superior Stabat Lupus. Mouthwatering citrus, somewhat hoppy and easily crushable. Hope Adam makes this beer again in 2020. Runners up - Floodland ALTAR, Floodland Grails & Waysigns, and Little Beast Fera Brett Saison
Best Trappist Style Beer - Westvleteren VIII. Hard beer to beat…and find
Best Hazy IPA - Tie between Revision Brewing Reno as Fuck, Structures Die in Haze, and Ruse Dial M for Mosaic. If I could recall their names, a few Modern Times beers I tried at the breweries in San Diego and Portland would make the list
Best non-Hazy IPA - I don’t drink many non-hazies these days, but Boneyard Beer RPM and Georgetown Brewing Lucille are always welcome
Best Hazy Pale Ale - Fremont Brewing Hazy Cowiche Canyon Fresh Hop Pale Ale. My all-time favorite fresh hop hoppy beer made hazy? Yes, please!
Best non-Hazy Pale Ale - Tie between Suarez Family Brewery Hecto, Chestnut Brewworks Halleck Road, and Ferment Brewing Pale Ale.
Best non-BA Stout - Fort George Waves of Silence Imperial Stout (Codename: Capsize) with coconut & maple syrup. Runner up - Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery La Truffe Stout with truffles and hazelnuts
Best BA Stout w/o adjuncts - Holy Mountain Brewing Inosculation (collaboration with Junebaby chef Edouardo Jordan) incorporating Einkorn, Millet, Black Rice, and Smoked Corn aged one KY Bourbon and TN Whiskey barrels
Best BA Stout w\ adjuncts - 2019 Holy Mountain Midnight Still with Coconut, coffee & vanilla. Runners up - various Modern Times beers I tried at the breweries in San Diego and Portland and whose names escape me, but coffee, coconut & vanilla were involved
Funniest beer - Tie between Level Beer Stable Genius Hazy IPA (can art was great) and Rooftop Brewing Impeachmint IIPA.
Worst beer - 2014 Cascade Kriek. Tasted like liquified trash. Was delicious on release, but obviously not meant to age.
Most disappointing beer - Tie between Anchorage Brewing Czech Pilsner and DeGarde The Noir Truffle. Anchorage because when I first had this beer on tap at the brewery in 2015, thought it was one of the best Czech-style Pilsner’s I’d tried. They finally canned it this year and it was merely ok. DeGarde because the bottle I had at the brewery in 2018 was a harmonious mix of the DeGarde funk and subtle, but noticeable, truffles. Three different bottles of the 2019 version, including one magnum, showed nothing but funk.
Best brewery experience - Benedictine Brewery. A new monastic brewery in Mt Angel, Oregon (approx 30 miles SW of McMinnville). The beers are just ok, but talking to the monks in the taproom was neat.
Best beer bar experience - Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia. Went with a group of friends and we spent an entire November afternoon and lots of $ drinking from a great tap list and deep cellar.