Saturday, December 31, 2005
Best of the Beer World, 2005
Ok, I'm only going from what I sampled. And some things were new to me, but I want to keep it to relatively new entries. I live near Philly and I can't get some magnificent brews in other parts of the country or world.
Ok, I'm only going from what I sampled. And some things were new to me, but I want to keep it to relatively new entries. I live near Philly and I can't get some magnificent brews in other parts of the country or world.
- Hennepin is now on-draft. Plus, I won a Hennepin canoe from Brewery Ommegang. I got 2nd place in the contest promoting Hennepin on-draft. The canoe was hit by a falling tree, but that's another story.
- Rodenbach is back! Rodenbach Flemish Sour beers are back in America. And they are reasonably priced too.
- Victory's Braumeister Harvest Pils and Deschutes' Hop Trip Harvest Ale. Both used fresh hops, which impart amazing hop flavor without bitterness. I love hop bitterness, but the other hop flavors are great as well.
- Weyerbacher's Prophecy. Weyerbacher continued their bourbon-aging series with impressive results.
- Russian River's wild ales (Supplication, Temptation, etc., etc.) became well-known and reached the Philly area. They are works of art.
- Heavyweight's One Time One Place series. First they did saisons, which was cool. Then they did milds. This country does need more milds. I had a couple on-cask and they were tasty.
- Sam Adam's made an imperial pilsener. A German hop bomb.
- Panil Barriquee. Best Flemish Sour Red I've ever had. And it's made in Italy. Cool.
- Last but certainly not least, Fuller's Special Edition ESB. Freaking amazing. My favorite all-time beer. Please, please, please. Fuller's, if you are listening, please make more of this.
