Your Top Beers for 2012

[Anthony_Lombardi]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

My list, in no particular order, is as follows, below. I made this list by going through the following threads:

• “What BEER…”
• “Kernel Brewery”
• “Gueuzes/Lambics”
• “Beer Lover’s Sojourn in Belgium and Germany”
• “2 Days of Heaven … at Akkurat Bar in Stockholm”
• “Beechwood Offline”

That means there’s almost certainly worthy beers that did not make this list, solely b/c I never made public note of having tasted them — yes, even incredibly excellent beers can get lost in my memory.

Sorry for the schizophrenic nature of this list — it would simply be too much work to organize it, so I thank you for your patience.

Any beers marked with an * are beers that I had never tasted prior to 2012 (*’s for vintage-dated beers are vintage-specific).

I’ve inserted some comments here and there. Without further ado …

1. Surly – “Furious” IPA ---- one of my top 3 single IPA’s
2. Magic Rock Brewing Co. - “Human Cannonball” DIPA * ---- incredibly well-made American-style English DIPA
3. Magic Rock Brewing Company - “Rapture Red Hop Ale” *
4. Magic Rock Brewing Co. - “Cannonball” IPA * — one of the best American-style English IPA’s I’ve had
5. Magic Rock Brewing Co. - “Magic 8 Ball” Black IPA * ---- the best Black IPA I’ve ever had.
6. Jolly Pumpkin – “Noel de Calabaza” (2010 bottling) * ---- A perfect beer, imo.
7. Mikkeller – “Nelson Sauvignon” * ---- A near-perfect beer, imo, and possibly the best Mikkeller I’ve ever tasted
8. Aecht Schlenkerla - Urbock Rauchbier ---- liquid bacon; perfect breakfast beer.
9. Spezial – Lagerbier Rauchbier ---- lighter and more crisp than the Schlenkerla brews
10. The Kernel – “100 Centennial” IPA * ---- The Kernel’s 100th batch; superb American-style DIPA
11. Southern Tier - Imperial Oatmeal Stout *
12. Ballast Point – “Sculpin” IPA ---- amazing stuff.
13. Browar Pinta – “Imperium Atakuje” Imperial IPA * ---- excellent American-style Polish DIPA; I might have been the first person to in the world to publicly taste this beer, as the round I bought for me, Ashley, and our buddy Z were the first pints pulled from the world-release cask at the Omerta bar in Kracow.
14. 2011 Harviestoun “Ola Dubh” Special 12 Year Reserve Ale *
15. Bell’s – “Oberon” Hefeweizen
16. Timothy Taylor – “Landlord” Strong Pale Ale
17. Fuller’s – “Past Masters” Double Stout *
18. Rooster’s – “Londinium” Coffee Porter * ---- these guys are my favorite Yorkshire brewery
19. Samuel Smith – Wheat Beer ---- good enough to more than hold its own amongst the best of its German counterparts
20. Surly - “Bender” Oatmeal Nut Brown ale *
21. Summit – “Saga” IPA * ---- new brew from these guys; nice, citrusy IPA; much better than their normal IPA, for my preferences.
22. Bell’s – “Two-Hearted Ale” IPA
23. Maui Brewing – “Big Swell” IPA ---- cherry on top that it comes in a can
24. Bear Republic – “Racer 5” IPA ---- c’mon, you didn’t think I wouldn’t, did you!?!
25. Port Brewing – “Mongo” DIPA ---- probably my favorite DIPA; yes, even more than PtE
26. Stone - Smoked Porter w/Chipotle Peppers * ---- odd, unique, and very interesting.
27. 2010 Tilquin - Oude Gueuze * ---- immediately launches itself into my top 5 gueuze producers
28. Haandbrygerriet - “Sur Megge” (Sour Bitch) * ---- From Norway. Very excellent.)
29. The Kernel Brewery - “Summit” IPA *
30. The Kernel Brewery - India Brown Ale * ---- my gut tells me this is in my Top 10 beers of the year; amazing stuff; a perfect beer, to my palate.
31. The Kernel Brewery - “Citra” IPA *
32. Cropton Brewery - “Blackout” Porter
33. St. Feuillien – Saison ---- it’s a perfect beer, imo.
34. 2012 Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar Peated Oak Aged Embrasse * ---- unique, very good, and I’m curious to see how it will age.
35. Brewdog -“Dead Pony Club” CA Pale Ale * ---- amazing how hoppy and well-balanced this brew is, especially at only 3.8%
36. 2012 Brouwers Verzet - Oud Bruin * ---- the most intensely sour Oud Bruin I’ve ever had. Phenomenal stuff.
37. Open Baladin - “Ducale” * ---- Italian microbrew; made in the dark Belgian strong ale style; excellent.
38. De Cam - Oude Lambiek (Jan. 2009 bottling) *
39. Barley John’s - “Old 8” Porter ---- I love this beer so much.
40. 2007 Cantillon – “Iris” *
41. Girardin - Gueuze Girardin (black label)
42. Cantillon - Gueuze (Febr. 3, 2012 bottling) *
43. The Kernel Brewery – “Nelson Sauvin, Citra” IPA *
44. The Kernel Brewery – “S.C.C.A.NS.” IPA *
45. The Kernel Brewery – “S.C.G.A.NS.” IPA * ---- slightly preferred this to the “S.C.C.A.NS.”, which is also excellent.
46. The Kernel Brewery – “London Imperial Brown Stout – London 1856” ---- possibly the best Imperial Stout I’ve ever had; to my palate, a perfect beer.
47. The Kernel Brewery – Export Stout “London 1890” ---- another entry my favorite English brewery.
48. 1997 Drie Fonteinen – Oude Gueuze *
49. Port Brewing - “Wipeout” IPA — one of my favorite single IPA’s
50. 2011 De Cam - Oude Framboise * ---- insanely awesome raspberry lambic
51. 2011 De Cam - Oude Kriek (tank sample) * ---- totally nuts! One of the best Oude Krieks I’ve ever had, if not the best.
52. 20?? De Cam – {Special Fruit Lambic} * ---- not yet released; De Cam’s brewer wouldn’t even tell me what it was; however, I can tell you that it was absolutely amazing.
53. 2011 Tilquin – Oude Gueuze “A l’ancienne” * ---- seriously serious stuff right here.
54. 2005 Cantillon – “Lou Pepe” Gueuze *
55. Tilquin – Faro * ---- best Faro I tasted while in Belgium, and ever
56. Tilquin – Gueuze * ---- practically lived on this and the Tilquin Faro while at the Delerium Café in Brussels.
57. Stone – “Ruination” DIPA ---- one of my favorite DIPA’s; love that Stone manages to keep this sub-8% abv.
58. Klosterbrau – Schwarzbier * ---- either the best, or second-best, Schwarzbier I’ve ever had.
59. 2008 Cantillon – Lambic Kriek *
60. 2000 Cantillon – Lambic Kriek *
61. 1997 Cantillon – Gueuze 100% Lambic *
62. 1998 Cantillon – Gueuze 100% Lambic * ---- insane; perfect beer.
63. 2001 De Cam – Oude Geuze * ---- first time with this producer, and the beer that inspired me to seek them out for a brewery visit while in Belgium.
64. Alpine - “Nelson” Rye IPA * ---- friggin’ fantastic stuff! I understand why this is to Bud what Racer 5 is to me. You didn’t think I’d leave this one off, did ya, Bud!?!

Damn Brian- nice list. Maybe I should give those Port IPA’s another try. I got pretty frustrated with their Carbonation issues and kinda gave up on them. I read your posts on English stuff with envy as I notice that even the BrewDog stuff we get isn’t very fresh & probably not representative of the quality of those beers.

When you get back to the states, I’ll send you a Hotd Blue dot IPA- I think you’d like.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Bud,
I will try harder this year – I promise!


Anthony,
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve never had a HotD IPA, so I’d gladly take you up on your offer and reciprocate in kind with something you’re interested in. And I don’t even know what carbonation issues you’re talking about w/r/t Port Brewing; of course, live in Yorkshire long enough and “carbonation issues” eventually becomes “Why is this beer carbonated?”

[Anthony_Lombardi]

Port/LA beers have seemingly become a game of Russian Roulette on which will be flat. The March 2012 Hop 15 batch was among the worst offenders. To the point that I was only drinking Old Viscosity as it never seemed affected.

Ironically, as much a mark as I am for Hotd, they used to have the same problem.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Did they taste “off”, too, or were they merely lacking carbonation? Do you feel the Nose suffered as a result of no/low carbonation? I ask only b/c I’ve had tons of low/no carbonation beers that don’t suffer on the Nose or Palate as a result; of course, some of them are not intended to be carbonated in the first place, so … uh, yeah … just thinking out loud and asking a question at the same time.

[Anthony_Lombardi]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

Did they taste “off”, too, or were they merely lacking carbonation? Do you feel the Nose suffered as a result of no/low carbonation? I ask only b/c I’ve had tons of low/no carbonation beers that don’t suffer on the Nose or Palate as a result; of course, some of them are not intended to be carbonated in the first place, so … uh, yeah … just thinking out loud and asking a question at the same time.

Not necessarily off- the Hop 15 batch from March 2012 was really flat in the bottle and the extreme hoppiness was hard to enjoy without the effervescence to back it up. Deliverance just ends up tasting like a tired port.

I was able to taste the same batch of Hop 15 on tap, and it was perfect. It seems to be a bottling issue for them.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Hmmm, that’s interesting – in a really unfortunate way. It’s always a bummer when a quality product is ruined by an easily-solvable problem. Port Brewing probably makes my favorite IPA range of any brewery in the world, with The Kernel Brewery, RRBC, and Bear Republic nipping at their heels.

[BobH]

I am likely heading to the beer store tomorrow, Brian, and I am going to see if they have any of these breweries that you mention like Magic Rock, Brewdog and Kernal. I’d love to find some good Rye PA’s as well- I haveonly ever had one and I liked it- but I didn’t see any last time I was there.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Pass on the Brewdog, unless you actually come across the Dead Pony Club brew. Good luck with Kernel and Magic Rock.

[Brad_B_a_l_l_i_n_g_e_r]

Odell Mountain Standard
Rush River Lyndale Brown Ale
Two Brothers Heavy Handed Wet Hop IPA
Lager: Surly Hell

[Kent_Zimmerman]

@Thomas Keim

Here are the American beers that impressed me greatly -

FLAT 12 BIERWERKS - El Diablo Blanco Roble

I’m curious to know where you had this. Tasting room in Indy? They just started bottling, but only their regular beer lineup.

[Thomas_Keim]

@Kent Zimmerman

@Thomas Keim

Here are the American beers that impressed me greatly -

FLAT 12 BIERWERKS - El Diablo Blanco Roble

I’m curious to know where you had this. Tasting room in Indy? They just started bottling, but only their regular beer lineup.

I met these guys at the GREAT TASTE OF THE MIDWEST in Madison Wisconsin last August. I represent Atwater Brewery out of Detroit and our booth wasn’t far from them - it was probably the most impressive lineup from a new brewery I’ve run into in years. I tasted a number of oak-aged offerings from them - but the EL DIABLO BLANCO ROBLE was simply magnificent and my beer of the year for 2012 - Really nice guys as well -

[Kent_Zimmerman]

@Thomas Keim

@Kent Zimmerman

@Thomas Keim

Here are the American beers that impressed me greatly -

FLAT 12 BIERWERKS - El Diablo Blanco Roble

I’m curious to know where you had this. Tasting room in Indy? They just started bottling, but only their regular beer lineup.

I met these guys at the GREAT TASTE OF THE MIDWEST in Madison Wisconsin last August. I represent Atwater Brewery out of Detroit and our booth wasn’t far from them - it was probably the most impressive lineup from a new brewery I’ve run into in years. I tasted a number of oak-aged offerings from them - but the EL DIABLO BLANCO ROBLE was simply magnificent and my beer of the year for 2012 - Really nice guys as well -

They are a great crew, and just celebrated their 2nd anniversary this week. They’re right down the street from Sun King, which won the most medals of any brewery at the 2011 GABF. It’s nice to benefit from their friendly rivalry.

If Atwater is going to be at Winterfest in Indy later this month, look me up!

[Brian_Zamkotowicz]

@Joe Hauck

I’n not even going to waste my time listing several great beers I’ve had this year, only one stands out above the rest.

2012 Parabola- head and shoulders above all else.

Agree with this, thought their Wookey Jack was pretty stellar as well.