Top 10 Beers (and Bevs) of the Year
Here Today Hold the Phone (Seattle) This collab with Formula was the best bartender recommendation of the year. (Thanks, Texas Dave.). All-English ingredients come together for a supremely classic, well-constructed best bitter that I could have consumed by the gallon. The character of the toasted-bread malts was so fresh and inviting yet perfectly reined-in by a whip-crack of bitterness.
Marlowe What’s Been Before (Mamaroneck, New York) Zesty oregano- and basil-like hops pop right off the pour of this kellerbier, playing harmoniously with light stone-fruit esters. The creamy, just-short-of-chewy malts are still light on the palate and highly drinkable thanks to some delicate but lively natural carbonation. A perfect beer for when you want a helles… but a little more.
Backslope Opulence (Columbia Falls, Montana) I judged this cherry-studded wild ale at the Montana Beer Awards, and it blew us all away with how Belgian it tasted. Every part of the cherry, from blossom to pit to juice, found itself reflected alongside some elegant dusty-cocoa malt notes. Decadent, elegant, refined.
The Seed Buckwheat Pale Lager (Atlantic City, New Jersey) There are a couple of notable ingredients—buckwheat and German Diamant hops—that really make this lager stand out. I love what the buckwheat does alongside the Rabbit Hill malt, lending a slightly nutty, acorn-ish wrinkle, along with gorgeous mousse-like texture. More beers with Diamant, please.
Amalgam Another Realm (Denver) There are no adjuncts in this imperial stout, so it must be the 36 months in Bernheim Original Wheat and Elijah Craig bourbon barrels doing all the work. Besides the typical vanilla and cocoa tones, there’s a distinct glacée-cherry high note that sings through clearly and brightly—not at all sticky or syrupy—providing a little acidic levity to a seriously indulgent stout. It drinks like a cocktail.
MAP Great Wave Sake Lager (Bozeman, Montana) Every choice here is so smart and intentional—the marriage of Nelson Sauvin and sake-yeast character produces a memorable bouquet of lemongrass and lychee, while the effervescent carbonation slides in at just the right level to lift flavors off the palate while keeping the body satisfying. It’s the most fun beer I drank this year.
Alesong Cuvée Soleil (Eugene, Oregon) French oak, tangerine, and pinot gris grapes sound like a slightly off-the-wall combination, but they work flawlessly in this wild ale: The wood lends a vanilla dollop that attaches to the tangerine to evoke Orange Julius. The beer is so gentle on the palate while being mega-quenching; waves of sweet clementine and some lemon zest from the pinot gris make this endlessly refreshing.
Suncatcher Pub Ale (Chicago) This beautifully balanced beer would have been stellar no matter the context, but drinking it in Suncatcher’s cozy taproom on a rainy weekday afternoon made it all the more special. The elegant dry malts wrap you up like a well-loved hoodie, while appreciable peppery hops provide some intrigue. I want to teleport back in time to drink this beer again for the first time.
Kick Fizz Evening Buzz Black Cherry Vanilla THC Seltzer (Las Vegas) Hemp-derived THC beverages fell into my regular rotation this year, but Kick Fizz’s evening formulation is one of the rare cans whose flavor is as good as its effects. The cherry-vanilla soda is straightforwardly delicious, and the low doses (2 mg THC, 2 mg CBD) act as a chill wind-down ritual before bed. A lovely little dessert treat.
Outer Range Alpine Dreams Hazy IPA (Frisco, Colorado) The floral-citrus combo in the aroma immediately evokes honeysuckle and orange blossom. Yet there’s a vanilla-like note to this beer on the tongue—no vanilla was harmed in its brewing—that enrobes the orange flavor in a pastry-like way, suggesting an apricot Danish. The malt character is super-soft and pillowy, extending the impression of unbaked Pillsbury dough.
The Beer I Probably Drank the Most this Year
My local bar/grill/casino—shoutout to Flipper’s, never change!—always has Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on draft, and that beer is never the wrong order. It scratches my C-hop itch in sessionable form, and when served right, it’s still a beer I legitimately crave.
What Convinced Me that Craft Beer Is Not Dead
Late last year, I attended a conference at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, California, alongside a lot of important chefs and wine experts from around the world. Amazingly, the beverage I saw attendees totally geek on was Brooklyn’s Fonio Rising pale ale. They were familiar with fonio from the culinary side and were deeply curious about its potential as a brewing ingredient and about the flavors and textures it contributes. It was heartening to see such a diverse group of people get excited by beer through ingredients and storytelling.
A Song, A Beer, A Moment
I’ve been deeply grateful for moments of serenity lately, so I’m choosing “I Walked with You a Ways” by Plains. This song is so earnestly beautiful and a little melancholic, like sunset on one of those last warm late-summer days. I’m probably singing along (inadvisable) while paddleboarding a river with friends, drinking KettleHouse Fish On! pale ale.
The Pedantic Beer Hill upon Which I’ll Die
Head retention is massively underappreciated in IPAs. It’s not just aesthetic—though aesthetics certainly matter—but foam also plays such a critical role in delivering aroma and flavor. The profusion of advanced hop products at the expense of pellets is leading to a proliferation of IPAs with hardly any foam, and that’s not cool.
