August and September 2024

First and foremost, my heart is broken for the communities of Western North Carolina and beyond that have been devastated by Hurricane Helene. Here is a good list of spots to donate funds and a list of spots to donate goods to help recovery efforts. Here is my PorchDrinking article on how you can help breweries + their teams and what their level of impact from the storm is. Thank you for supporting these communities that I love and adore in this catastrophic time.

This edition of my top beers is two months combined because I was traveling at the start of last month. August and September brought an international trip to Finland, Sweden and Norway, a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in Roanoke and Smith Mountain Lake, and three bottle shares with friends—but also covid and a flu/stomach bug so a couple of weeks with no beers tried.

Over the past two months I tried 125 different beers, and here were the best of the best—all of which I rated a 4.5 or 5 on Untappd, meaning I believe them to be extraordinary:

Triple Vegan and The Vegan from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

The Vegan is an Imperial IPA with Citra in the whirlpool and dry hopped with Galaxy and Nelson. Triple Vegan is, as you might expect, the triple version of this beer—a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Nelson hops. I’m sure both of these have been in my top beer lists before, but having them side-by-side in August was a treat!

Anytime You Are Anywhere Always and Never Asked To Be This Way from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

Anytime You Are Anywhere Always is a Quadruple Dream Resin IPA. Quadruple dry hopped with Citra, Citra Cryo, Nectaron, and Galaxy. This beer blew me away. I had it first in a can from my friend who snagged it while I was out of town, and was shook at how good it was. So then I went to have it on tap… three more times haha. A QIPA is not something I would normally go for—it screams overly boozy and malty. Burial’s first ever QIPA was the exact opposite of that norm. Creamy, juicy, and delicious!

Never Asked To Be This Way is a Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with 70% 13 month aged Willet Bourbon Barrel, 16% 18 month old Double Buffalo Trace and Willets Barrel, and 14% young Stout. No adjuncts, all fantastic barrel flavor.

Flora Pear from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Flora Pear is a top beer for me, and my friends. It’s a Farmhouse Wheat barrel aged on organic dessert and Siberian pears and bottle conditioned to perfection. Seek this one out (and share it with me!).

The Same Eternity from Blindhouse Beer in Roanoke, VA

The Same Eternity is a blend of aged Mixed Culture beer and fresh, hoppy Saison. Blindhouse Beer is a gem and I loved every beer I had there—so much so that I visited twice while in town and bought a bottle of everything that had to go.

Talos from Conclave Brewing in Flemington, NJ

Talos is a Triple IPA packing a very tasty punch. Conclave Brewing is a top notch spot flying under the radar—if you haven’t checked them out yet I would definitely recommend!

Pronghorn from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

Pronghorn is an unfiltered Bavarian-style Helles best enjoyed on a hike with a killer view. This was the perfect crusher as I reached Pulpit Rock.

Maiden collaboration brew from Track Brewing Company in Manchester, England and Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

Maiden is an Imperial IPA with Citra (YCH 702 Trial, T90, and Cryo), Nelson, Nectaron, Peacharine, and Riwaka Sub Zero Hop Kief. When I saw a Fidens collaboration in Finland that was an obvious choice for me and it did not disappoint! This was my last beer of the trip and an absolute banger. Definitely recommend Beer Room Haka in the Kallio neighborhood.

Sunrises collaboration from Side Project Brewing in St. Louis, MO and Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola, CA

This 2023 edition of Sunrises is a blend of oak-aged Lager and Saison. As a product of two of the best breweries in the country, it’s no surprise this is a delight. Light yet full of flavor with a powerful nose.

Imperial German Chocolate Cupcake Stout from Angry Chair Brewing in Tampa, FL

This is an Imperial Sweet Stout with coconut, Haitian cacao nibs, vanilla beans and lactose. It might sound like a sugar bomb, and yes sure it’s decadent, but it’s a delicious combination of flavors. Fantastic, as always, from Angry Chair!

See you next month for more delicious beers! Cheers —Alexis

July 2024

July! Whew this year is flying by. In July I took trips to Idaho and the Asheville area. I tried 84 different beers this past month, and in no particular order, here were the top beers I had in July:

Flip Fly Flows from Monkish Brewing in TorRance, CA

Flip Fly Flows is a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin hops. Monkish is always a delight, but having this juicy goodness with a view in the Sawtooth Mountains is tough to beat!

Wilfred from Angry Chair Brewing in Tampa, FL

Wilfred is an Imperial German Chocolate Cupcake Stout with maple. Angry Chair’s Stout game is always at the top of the game, and this was a great reminder to get my hands on their beers more often. I enjoyed this at Replay Brewing’s annual Jurassic Bark while Mosaic enjoyed her dog beer!

Eugene’s Axe from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

Eugene’s Axe is a Double IPA with Citra and Galaxy hops. I’ve had this beer a few times from Fidens and I always love it! So easy to drink, so full of flavor. Need a Fidens restock stat.

Kentuckley 2 Year (2023) from Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

Kentuckley is Transient’s Buckley Imperial Breakfast Stout aged in Buffalo Trace & Four Roses Bourbon Barrels. Their Stouts always impress me, but this one was superb. Highly recommend seeking out these guys!

I Used To Be An Athlete collaboration brew from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC and Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY

I Used To Be An Athlete is a Double IPA Double Dry-Hopped with Sabro, Citra, Vic's Secret and Simcoe hops. They’ve made this beer before and it was an instant classic, so I was very excited to see another batch released. It’s no surprise that an Other Half x Burial collaboration is killer!

Bella Vita from Schilling Beer Co. in Littleton, NH

Bella Vita is an Italian Pilsner from one of the top Lager breweries in the country. Crisp, flavorful, and a delight. Perfect on a hot summer day in Charlotte!

The next edition will be August & September together due to some travel, so keep your eyes peeled! Cheers —Alexis

February 2023

February flew by in a breeze but I somehow tried 152 different beers in this quick month. Bottle shares and beer flights always mean getting to try a wider variety of beers which I love! This list of beers has the best of the best that I had over the past 4 weeks which I rated a 4.5 or above on Untappd.

This month included a trip to Savannah and the Jacksonville Beach, Florida area to hang at the beach and explore the local brew scene as well as the local beer fest Queen City Brewers Festival, a bottle share, a Superbowl share, many visits to local breweries and lots of great beers at home in between.

In no particular order, here are the best beers I had in February 2023:

Even More Daily Servings from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA and Evil Twin Brewing in New York, NY

Even More Daily Servings is a Fruited Sour with raspberries and marshmallow. This is an amped up version of Twice the Daily Serving which is already my favorite Sour, so add more fruit and marshmallow and it can only get better! Another superb collaboration from Trillium and Evil Twin.

Paulus from Schilling Beer Company in Littleton, NH

Paulus is a Helles Lager with Noble hops. Schilling crushes the Lager game and I am so excited to be seeing more of their beers around North Carolina. I enjoyed this at Salud Beer Shop in Charlotte, in a big ole dimple mug as it should be done.

Medium Raw from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Medium Raw is a multi-oat/wheat Triple IPA with Citra and Freestyle Motueka hops. This was a fantastic brew from Root and Branch. Especially for it being a Triple IPA this was way too easy to drink and I wish I had more cans of it!

Searching For The Proof That We’ve Truly Lived from Percent Tap House in Harrisburg, NC and Forgotten Road Ales in Graham, NC

This is a wine barrel aged Farmhouse Saison with pairs, honey and locally grown Green Szechuan. It is pictured right in the photo above. These two breweries tend to be a little quieter in the North Carolina brew scene but are always cranking out delicious beers! This was a very interesting collaboration with superb flavor.

Flora (Batch 10) from Hill Farmstead Brewing in Greensboro Bend, VT

Flora is the wine barrel aged version of Florence, a wheat Farmstead Ale. This was barrel aged for over two years. Hill Farmstead continues to crush this style of beer.

Double Barrel Coconut Fionn from Angry Chair Brewing in Tampa, FL

Double Barrel Coconut Fionn is a rum and bourbon barrel aged Imperial Porter with hazelnut coffee and coconut. While in Florida a dark beer from Angry Chair is always a must. I enjoyed this one at 9 Zero Pour in Jacksonville, FL. The rich notes of coconut were fantastic!

Infiltrator from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Infiltrator is a multi-oat/wheat IPA brewed and dry hopped with New Zealand grown hops from Freestyle Hops. Normally it is difficult for a single IPA to be overly impressive when you can pack so much more flavor into a Double or Triple IPA, but Infiltrator is a top-notch beer. I’ve had this beer in the past and am always impressed by just how incredible it is!

Genealogy of Morals: Buena Vista Organic from Hill Farmstead Brewing in Greensboro Bend, VT

From Hill Farmstead: “We have chosen three barrels as the base for this single country origin coffee and cacao nib variation. After aging more than 26 months in select bourbon barrels, we conditioned the beer atop organic Buena Vista beans from Caranavi, Bolivia, sourced and roasted by our friends at The Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as organic Bolivian cacao nibs.”

Check back next month to see my top beers of March! Cheers—Alexis