October and November 2024

October and November were a wild ride. Things started off with a 12 day stomach bug for me before visiting Knoxville, The Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains, Dayton, Grand Rapids, Southwest Michigan, and Hawaii (check out my Hawaii recommendations here). I watched the end of the regular season of college football, kicked off college basketball season, and arguably watched more NFL in the past month than I have in my entire life combined. I attended the inaugural Hops and Horsepower festival at the Charlotte Auto Show, shared beers with friends, celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time since college, and soaked up the remaining warms days in CLT. Over the course of the last two months I tried 186 different beers.

In no particular order, here were the best beers I had in October and November 2024:

Scorching Pledges of An Irreversible Nature; And In This, My Final Flame; For Memories We Made Together in Asheville; from Burial Beer Co. in Asheville, NC

Scorching Pledges of an Irreversible Nature is a Bourbon Barrel-Aged Barleywine with Congolese Vanilla Beans brewed in collaboration with Anchorage Brewing Company from Anchorage, Alaska. This is a blend of 12 to 24 month Barleywine aged in Buffalo Trace Rye and Wild Turkey Bourbon barrels with a small addition of Vanilla from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Barleywine is not always my favorite, but if Anchorage has their hands in it you know it’s going to slap. This is a phenomenal beer that blew me away.

And In This, My Final Flame is a Cuvée of Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout and Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine Ale. This beer was originally meant to be a Burnpile 2024-VIP Exclusive offering, but with the cancellation of the festival due to the hurricane, it was released to the general public. This is a blend of Barleywine aged for 12 months in Willett Bourbon Barrels and 16 month Imperial Stout aged in Heaven Hill Bourbon Barrels. Superb!

For Memories We Made in Asheville is a blend of Barrel-Aged Imperial Stouts from Burial, Other Half, Creature Comforts, Edmunds Oast, Halfway Crooks and Pinthouse. Each collaboration brewery sent a barrel to Burial while they could not brew after the hurricane to help. On top of this being an incredibly unique beer with world-class collaborators created after a tragedy, this is also the first in a series from Burial to help the Asheville brewing community recover from Hurricane Helene. From Burial, “We started Manifest Eternity, a fundraising program aimed to raise money for the hurting AVL brewing world, with the help of visiting brewers who have fell in love with our little town.”

Another Sip of Fear collaboration from North Park Beer Company in San Diego CA, Troon Brewing in Hopewell NJ, Brujos Brewing in Portland OR, and Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

Another Sip of Fear is a Triple IPA Triple Dry Hopped with Citra, Eclipse and Manilita. With these heavy-hitter breweries involved is it any surprise that this is an absolute banger?

The Lovely Pumpkin from Percent Tap House in Harrisburg, NC

The Lovely Pumpkin is #13 in Percent’s Thrift Shop Series. It is an Imperial Berliner base heavily fruited with double pumpkin, triple marshmallow, vanilla soft serve, graham cracker, and pumpkin spices. It tastes exactly like pumpkin pie in a glass and is a true delight for this season. We also learned recently that they are opening a second location in Concord—can’t wait!

Bourbon Barrel Aged Ego Death Cashew Cluster and Bourbon Barrel Aged Ego Death Compost Cookie from Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

The release of Bourbon Barrel Aged Ego Death is always an exciting time in Charlotte, and this year brought one new exciting variant and the return of a favorite:

The Cashew Cluster edition of Bourbon Barrel Aged Ego Death is a new version this year and delicious. It is a blend of Imperial Stouts aged in Willett Sour Mash Bourbon, Willett Sour Mash Rye, and Yellowstone Kentucky Bourbon barrels for a period of 18-27 months then conditioned on toasted hazelnuts and cacao nibs, then further conditioned on salted cashews and toffee.

The Compost Cookie edition is always a favorite. This is a blend of Imperial Stouts aged in Willett Sour Mash Bourbon, Willett Sour Mash Rye, and Yellowstone Kentucky Bourbon barrels for a period of 18-27 months then conditioned on toasted hazelnuts and cacao nibs, then further conditioned on butterscotch chips, dark chocolate chips, potato chips, pretzels, and graham crackers.

Even More Hydra: ETNYC Edition collaboration from Evil Twin Brewing Company in New York, NY and Mortalis Brewing in Avon, NY

Evil Twin NYC and Mortalis teamed up to create this Fruited Sour with blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, and cacao nibs. Chocolate in Sours is not usually my favorite but this was a surprise winner. The flavors balanced well and created a delicious result! I got this can via Tavour, straight to my doorstep.

Mitten Life; Old And Wise; Dunkelweizen from Seedz Brewery in Union Pier, MI

When visiting Seedz it’s impossible to have just one favorite beer. Their slow pours are magical and during my most recent trip to Southwest Michigan I had three particularly superb beers: Mitten Life is an American Lager, Old and Wise is an Einkorn Saison, and of course the Dunkelweizen is a classic Dunkelweizen. If you have not added this gem of a spot to your must-visit list, what are you waiting for?

Sweet Appalachia from Phase Three Brewing in Lake Zurich, IL

Sweet Appalachia is a Double Dry Hopped Hazy Double IPA brewed to support Western North Carolina after the devastation of Hurricane Helene, with a portion of proceeds going to BeLoved Asheville. This is a stellar brew, and the fact that it is for such a good cause just makes it even better. Also a shout out to Arabesque (2024) and Minutiae (2020) from Phase Three that I had tasters of at Salud’s Phase Three tap takeover—these were both fantastic!

Check back next month for my top beers of december! Cheers—Alexis

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

May and June 2024

The last two months were absolutely stacked with incredible beer for me. I started May in Charlotte with brewery hopping and bottle sharing before heading out for a 29 day road trip across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia.

Mosaic and I visited some of the top breweries in the country (& world) so it is quite difficult to narrow down a list of top beers. This list will look a little different from my normal—in some cases I am listing more than one beer from a brewery because they were that good.

I rated all of these at least a 4.5 on Untappd, for reference. In no particular order, out of 310 beers tried, here were my top beers from May and June 2024:

Triple Vegan + DDH Eugene’s Axe + The Butcher+ Triple Jasper with Nelson from Fidens Brewing Company in Albany, NY

Fidens has been a favorite for me over the past couple of years, so I was stoked to visit their taproom. Their beer on tap is just simply superb, and of course I stocked up on cans to bring home as well. They were also pouring at Nucleate from HOMES which I attended while in Michigan, so I have been quite spoiled with Fidens over the past couple of months!

Triple Vegan is a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Nelson hops. DDH Eugene’s Axe is a double dry hopped Double IPA with Citra and Galaxy hops. The Butcher is a Double IPA with Mosaic hops in the whirlpool and dry hopped with Galaxy and Nelson. Triple Jasper with Nelson is a Triple IPA with Citra and Nelson hops.

Samuel (Batches 2 and 5) + Wheat Blanc (2022) from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Visiting Hill Farmstead is a remarkably peaceful and relaxing experience. Their taproom is essentially in the middle of nowhere and offers draft pours but also bottle pours.

Samuel is a Saison with organic buckwheat, organic spelt, and Vermont wildflower honey aged in wine barrels and bottle conditioned. I enjoyed Batch 2 and Batch 5 in a side-by-side tasting thanks to some great friends before heading out on my trip, and then I was lucky enough that Hill was pouring Batch 5 while I was at the taproom as well.

Wheat Blanc is a Farmhouse Ale aged in oak and hopped with Hallertauer Blanc. This beer is a little more basic but an absolute delight.

Staglore + Penumbra from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

Freak Folk is a wildly underrated brewery in the wildly underrated small town of Waterbury. Their beers, no matter the style, are superb. Two of my favorites from my visit were Staglore and Penumbra. Staglore is a Saison brewed with foraged staghorn sumac and conditioned in oak puncheons with mixed culture. Penumbra is a Saison fermented with mixed culture and matured in oak for 28 months then aged nearly 5 years.

A Test of Awareness + Crown of Illusions + Let’s Get Out of Here from Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ

Troon! Hyped and worthy. They don’t have a taproom, but you’re able to try their beers on draft at Brick Farm Tavern on their property + they release crowlers occasionally. I tried all of their beers on tap and loved the entire experience.

Each of these top three beers I had from them are deemed “Hoppy Ales” as they don’t giveaway much of anything, but they were all superb. I was lucky enough to have Let’s Get Out of Here on draft and in a crowler and it was top tier.

Ninth Passing from Burial Beer Company in Asheville, NC

Ninth passing is a Rum and Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with toasted coconut, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans brewed to celebrate Burial’s ninth anniversary. They’ve since celebrated 11 years, so I figured it was time to crack this bad boy open. Absolutely delicious!

Barrel Aged Space Cuvée from Equilibrium Brewery in Middletown, NY

EQ is a tried and true favorite. While in the Hudson Valley area I knew I had to pay another visit to this gem. The beers, food, and vibes are all great! This particular brew is an Imperial Stout aged in a Weller barrel for 34 months with a vanilla cuvée, vanilla granola and caramel toasted coconut added.

Doubleganger + Golden Fern from Tree House Brewing Company in Charlton, MA

Tree House is one of the OGs in the Hazy IPA game and it felt like a right of passage to visit their beautiful taprooms across Massachusetts. Their location on the beach of Cape Cod in Sandwich is tough to beat with gorgeous views and chill vibes. The main space in Charlton is gorgeous and massive. Deerfield is newer and quite peaceful.

I enjoyed numerous great beers from them on my taproom journey, but Doubleganger and Goldern Fern were my top two. Doubleganger is a Double IPA that is the amped up version of Doppelganger. Golden Fern is a Double IPA with Nelson, Peacharine, Motueka, and Waimea hops

‘Nana This from CLAG Brewing Company in Sandusky, OH

‘Nana This is an Imperial Stout aged 15 months in Old Carter barrels, conditioned on coconut, coffee, vanilla beans, cinnamon, cocoa nibs and banana. CLAG can do it all—IPAs, Lagers, and this decadent Stout. Their taproom is out of the way (unless you’re visiting Cedar Point!) but absolutely worth a visit!

Say Yes from Lua Brewing in Des Moines, IA

Say Yes is a Fruited Sour with blackberry, boysenberry, and blue raspberry. Lua always has great beers and I was very happy to see them at Nucleate from HOMES. This Sour was superb—packed with flavor and easily a favorite of the festival.

Second Hand Coffins collaboration brew from Foam Brewers in Burlington, VT and Widowmaker Brewing in Braintree, MA

This Oat Triple IPA from two New England greats. I enjoyed it on tap at Foam, which helped make up for the fact that Widowmaker was closed when I was in the area. Deliciously juicy and great with views of Lake Champlain.

Parlance: 2022 Harvest Shiro from Suarez Family Brewery in Hudson, NY

Suarez is an interesting spot to visit with just two beers on tap and a handful of onsite bottles. Their beer is always top-notch. Coincidentally right before I left Charlotte and was able to visit Suarez I decided to crack this bottle. This is a Country beer with Shiro plums and is absolutely delicious!

April 2024

April! I took a trip to western Texas and southern New Mexico, explored Johnson City, Tennessee, made a stop in Asheville, and hung out in Winston-Salem for a day. All in all I tried 109 different beers this month, and crazily two of the best were Helles Lagers. In no particular order, here were the best beers I had over the past month:

4 Meters from Lesser-Known Beer Co. in Winston-Salem, NC

Lesser-Known has been one of my favorites for about a year and a half now. They make wildly delicious Lagers in a cute little taproom in Winston-Salem. This Helles was a tank pour and absolutely superb.

Chocolate Rain (2016) from The Bruery in Placentia, CA

Chocolate Rain is a Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with cacao nibs and vanilla beans. The 2016 edition comes in at 19.7% ABV (!!!) and packs a punch. It was full of flavor which was pretty surprising given the age and ABV. Thanks to Ricky for sharing this one at Pop The Top’s anniversary celebration!

Trailing Souls collaboration brew from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA and Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Trailing Souls is a Triple IPA with Citra, Strata and Simcoe hops. I knew this was going to be a great Hazy based on the two breweries involved, but it exceeded expectations. Absolutely delicious!

Heartsease from Keepsake Brewery in Gastonia, NC

Heartsease is an unfiltered Helles Lager that was the perfect post-hike brew. Keepsake opened in the Charlotte suburbs in February and I made the trek to Gastonia at the beginning of this month. I was very impressed with the beers and will definitely be back!

Plum: 2021 Harvest from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

I love a fruited Saison from Hill Farmstead and this version of Plum was great! The oak from barrel aging and fruity flavor both combine for a great well-rounded taste. I am so very excited to finally be visiting them next month!

Check back next month to see my top Beers in May! Cheers —Alexis

March 2024

March! Warm weather officially landed on us this month in Charlotte which meant plenty of backyard beers, especially while watching March Madness and tennis. I kicked off the month in Hendersonville and Asheville, NC with many brewery visits and also headed to Wilmington for Feast Wilmington, then ended the month with a bottle share. Of the 115 beers I tried this month, here were the best of the best:

Take Me Higher collaboration brew from DSSOLVR in Asheville, NC and Corporate Ladder Brewing in Palmetto, FL

Take Me Higher is a Double Barrel Aged Brown Sugar Barleywine that was barrel aged 40 months in wood. It rested first in 8-year Elijah Craig Bourbon Barrels for 20 months and then Apple Brandy Barrels for another 20 months. This packed a punch but was a delightful flavor combination.

Doom Loop from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

Doom Loop is a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Strata CGX hops. This was my favorite Freak Folk Bier to date! What a delicious, juicy, smooth TIPA.

Life and Fate XXV from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

The Life and Fate experimental multi-oat/wheat Double IPA series from Root and Branch can’t miss! It is wild to see they are already at number 25—if you haven’t gotten your hands on one of these yet it is time to seek one out!

Hormesis from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC

Hormesis is an Imperial Stout aged 1 Year and 11 Months in a Laird's Apple Brandy barrel with toasted coconut, Scotch Bonnet peppers, Habanero peppers and Tahitian vanilla. I somehow stumbled upon this via some friends at a beer release and it was a great blend of heat and apple brandy!

Void Nectar from Brujos Brewing in Portland, OR

Void Nectar is an Imperial Hazy India Pale Ale Double Dry Hopped with Galaxy, Citra and Nectaron hops. Another juice bomb from Brujos that was just a little tooooo easy to drink.

Barrel Aged Coconut Pistachio Cheesecake collaboration brew from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY and Southern Grist Brewing in Nashville, TN

This was a creamy, flavorful delight from two greats! Pistachio is not usually my favorite adjunct but this was very well balanced and delicious.

Check back next month for my top beers of April! Cheers—Alexis

February 2024

February was a month full of fire beers! Between Super Bowl parties, a bottle share, beer releases, Queen City Brewers Festival, @wanderinghops coming to visit, and a trip to Greenville—I tried 145 different beers this month. There were some real delights!

In no particular order, here were the best beers I had over the past month:

Seven from The Veil Brewing in Richmond, VA

Seven is an Imperial Stout aged In Willett, Utopias, Maple And Weller Bourbon Barrels for an average of 21 months and conditioned on chocolate sandwich cookies, toasted coconut, Tahitian vanilla and truffle. I gave this a 4.75 on Untappd, meaning it was absolutely incredible.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Not Your Nana’s Pudding from Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

Resident Culture put out several variants of this beer, and the Banana Pudding edition was my favorite! This is an Imperial Stout aged in Willett Bourbon barrels for 12-20 months then conditioned on wild Thai bananas, vanilla, and Nilla wafers.

Backpack Full of Cans from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Backpack Full of Cans is a Triple IPA with Citra, Motueka, and Simcoe hops. Another Monkish banger, no surprise there! Best paired with a fantastic book from Book of the Month.

Wormhole Junction from Newgrass Brewing in Shelby, NC

Wormhole Junction is a solera of elaborate imperial stout bases, with 37.5% aged for 37 months in Old Forester Bourbon barrels, another 37.5% aged in Willett Bourbon barrels for 23 months, and the final 25% aged in MGP Bourbon barrels for 18 months. After blending, the solera base was conditioned with a curated selection of Ugandan and Comoros vanilla bean. This was my top beer at Queen City Brewers Fest and extremely delicious!

Brabantiæ (2018) from Cantillon in Brussels, Belgium

Brabantiæ is a Gueuze that was finished in Port wine barrels. Upon description I would not think it would be quite my cup of tea, but this was superb. It was incredibly well-rounded and light.

Nucleate (2019) collaboration brew from HOMES Brewery in Ann Arbor MI, Speciation Artisan Ales in Grand Rapids MI and Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

HOMES creates this beer each year in celebration of their annual Nucleate Beer Festival. They collaborate with different breweries each time, and the 2019 version happened to bring together my 3 favorite breweries in Michigan! This is a Mixed Culture Sour Ale with a blend of the house culture from each brewery, then refermented on strawberry, blackberry and raspberry and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast.

Three Times Three from North Park Beer Company in San Diego, CA

This is a collaboration with Omnipollo, Monkish, Trillium, Other Half, Troon, Brujos & North Park, and it is North Park’s version of the collab. Three Times Three is a Triple Dry Hopped Hazy Triple IPA with Citra, Citra Cryo, Motueka, Nelson Sauvin and Riwaka hops. After doing a side by side of 5 different versions of this beer, North Park’s was above and beyond the best! Our entire group at the bottle share agreed.

Microcosm IV, No. 4 from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC

Shout out to Jesse at The Whale in Greenville for sharing this wild brew! Microcosm IV, Number 4 is a Strong Ale Blend consisting of: 4-Year-Old Barleywine aged in a Laird's Apple Brandy barrel, 3-Year-Old Imperial Stout aged in a Maple BLiS barrel, 2-Year and 3-Month-Old Imperial Stout aged in a Single Pick Four Roses barrel and conditioned on roasted pecans, New Hampshire maple syrup, Tahitian vanilla and toasted coconut. The barrel flavor and adjuncts come through nicely without one note overpowering the others. A really well done beer. Also a special shout out to Neck and Neck (Batch 3) from Eighth State, which was another fantastic beer I had during my Greenville visit, but I had to narrow down the list. Check out my Greenville beer and travel guide here.

10th Anniversary Collaboration #7 Smoothie Sour from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn NY, Mortalis Brewing in Avon NY, J. Wakefield Brewing in Miami FL, Hoof Hearted Brewing in Marengo OH and Omnipollo in Stockholm, Sweden

For Other Half’s 10th Anniversary they released 10 different collaboration beers, only one of which was a Smoothie Sour. Other Half’s IPAs and Stouts are usually my favorite, so my expectations were not overly high when I cracked this can, but wow was I wrong. Collaboration #7 blends anejo tequila aged seltzer into the base beer along with strawberries, lime, a hint of tangerine puree, and some soft serve ice cream. It was tart, yet sweet. Full of body, yet smooth and light. Fruity, yet tequila-y. Sheesh!

Check back next month for my top beers in March! —Cheers, Alexis

January 2024

January was a wild ride! I started off 2024 in Brazil before getting back home to Charlotte right in time for my birthday and then spent a couple of weeks bopping around Charlotte. In January I tried 99 different beers. Here were the best beers I had over the past month, in no particular order:

Pear Sauvie from The Ale Apothecary in Bend, OR

This is a Wild Ale with Mecca Grad Estate barley and rye malts, combined with Sauvie Island’s Crystal hops, brewed wild and naturally in the woods of Central Oregon. 100% naturally carbonated with pear juice. Unfiltered, open-fermented & barrel-aged. The Ale Apothecary’s unique brews are always a delight! I am a particular sucker for all things pear, so it is no surprise that this was one of my favorites this month.

A Rather Profane Sentiment Towards Things of This Kind collaboration beer from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC and TRVE Brewing in Denver, CO

This is an Imperial Stout with Toasted Hazelnuts, Madagascar Vanilla Bean, and Flamed Orange Peel. This collaboration was created to celebrate TRVE’s expansion to Asheville. Their new North Carolina taproom is slotted to open in early 2024.

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie is a Triple IPA dry hopped with El Dorado and Galaxy. Monkish continues to put out the bangers, particularly their Triples.

Methods of Excavation III from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY

Methods of Excavation is a Imperial Stout with almonds, cacao nibs, caramel chocolate ice cream, cinnamon, coffee, coconut, freeze dried ice cream, macadamia nuts, maple, marshmallows, molasses, Tahitian vanilla, vanilla wafers, walnuts, wild Thai bananas, and Madagascar vanilla. A wild amount of adjuncts come together in this brew to meld into a delicious beverage. Other Half has really nailed this style and I continue to be impressed.

Bueze (2023) from Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

Bueze is a blend of 1, 2, and 3 year Weller Bourbon Barrel Aged Kentuckley Imperial Breakfast Stout with Comoros Vanilla Beans, Tugboat Coffee, and Maple Syrup. I snagged this while I was in Michigan last summer and was very impressed. The bottle came in a fun purple velvet bag which added some extra flair.

Fun Beer, Lovely Guys collaboration brew from Percent Tap House in Harrisburg, NC and Funguys Brewing in Raleigh, NC

Fun Beer, Lovely Guys is a Kiwi Topped Strawberry Birthday Cake Smoothie Sour with Double Strawberry, Kiwi, Strawberry Cake Filling, Yellow Cake Batter, and Marshmallow. This was a superb Sour—the cake elements were incredible. I could drink far too much of this!

Coating Consistency collaboration brew from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC, WeldWerks Brewing in Greeley, Co, Tripping Animals Brewing in Doral, FL, Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY, Moksa Brewing in Rocklin, CA and Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, CA

Coating Consistency is an Imperial Stout with Toasted Coconut, Raw Coconut, Almonds, Walnuts, Muscovado Sugar, Vanuatu Vanilla, Indonesian Vanilla, West Papua Vanilla and Mayotte Vanilla Beans. Sheesh! What a killer collaboration. The vanilla really comes through strongly, but in a great way. It is no surprise that this was delicious given the fantastic breweries involved.

Check back next month for my top beers in February! Cheers —Alexis

November 2023

November was a month full of travel! I visited Charleston SC, Hickory NC, and took a road trip through Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. I tried 130 different beers in November, and here were the best beers I had over the past month:

A Decade Under the IPA collaboration brew from Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, NC

A Decade Under the IPA is a celebratory IPA dry-hopped with 10 different hops, selected by 10 different breweries for Fonta Flora’s 10th anniversary. This was easily the best West Cosat IPA I have ever had. The hops were: Bearded Iris - Mosaic, Burial - Simcoe, Fast Fashion - Anchovy, Firestone Walker - Azacca, Green Cheek - HBC 582, Highland Park - Nelson Sauvin, Monkish - Chinook, Other Half - Motueka, Russian River - Amarillo, and Trillium - Citra.

Houtenhamer (2021) from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

Houtenhamer is a Double Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout aged twice in bourbon barrels. The 2021 edition came in at a whopping 16.2% ABV. Houtenhamer is Burial’s classic no-adjunct Stout and always a favorite. I had been hanging onto this bottle for a while and was very impressed!

Mixed Berry Cobbler from Southern Grist Brewing in Nashville, TN

Mixed Berry Cobbler is a Fruited Sour with lactose, vanilla, cinnamon, blueberry, blackberry and strawberry purees. Southern Grist always makes great Sours but I loved all of the different fruits in this one in particular.

TenneSPON Traditionelle from Barrique Brewing and Blending in Nashville, TN

TenneSPON Traditionelle is a Wild Ale that is a blend of one, two and three year old spontaneously fermented Lambic-inspired ales. My visit to Barrique was filled with delicious beers but this one took the top spot. I love a non-fruited Lambic and this blend was superb.

PB&J Mixtape from Xul Brewing in Knoxville, TN

PB&J Mixtape is a Fruited Sour inspired by peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I have been lucky enough to have this beer several times in 2023 and every time it is fantastic. It truly tastes like you’re just biting into a sandwich, in all of the best ways.

Bone in the Throat from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This was Batch 6 October 2023 of Bone in the Throat, an Imperial IPA. I have lost count of how many times a Root and Branch IPA has made my “best beers” list—they absolutely crush the IPA game.

Pressed from Phase Three Brewing in Lake Zurich, IL

This was the Maple Batch 2 version of Press from Phase Three. It is an Imperial Porter with Tugboat Coffee and maple syrup. Normally I don’t love Porters but the coffee/maple combination in this one was absolutely delightful.

Check back in February for my top beers from December and January! Cheers —Alexis

October 2023

October! Fall is here and it’s my favorite time of year to sit in the backyard and watch football with some delicious beers. October was a very busy month mostly in Charlotte but with mountain trips to Bryson City, NC and Boone, NC. I tried 134 different beers this past month and in no particular order, here were the best ones:

Magos del Subterráneo collaboration brew from Brujos Brewing in Portland, OR and Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ

This is a Hoppy Ale with raw Oregon honey and double dry hopped with Nelson CGX, Nelson, Motueka CGX, Motueka & Citra. This is the second time I have been lucky enough to have this brew and it is absolutely superb.

Cellar Creeper collaboration brew from Side Project Brewing in Maplewood, MO and Tired Hands Brewing in Ardmore, PA

Cellar Creeper is a Barrel Fermented Wild Ale aged with mangoes. Side Project always crushes the Wild Ale game and this was a delight. Mango is not usually my favorite fruit to be added to a beer but it worked really well here.

Shibui from Cellarest Beer Project in Asheville, NC

This slow pour of Shibui was both beautiful and tasty. It is made from a base of Chesapeake pilsner and chit malt and hopped with Styrian Celeia and then rested cold in oak puncheons. Crushable!

Bourbon Barrel Aged Ego Death with Vanilla from Resident Culture Brewing Company in Charlotte, NC

Ego Death is Resident Culture’s annual anniversary release and the vanilla version is always a winner. The 2023 vintage base is a blend of Imperial Stouts aged in Willett Bourbon, Willett Rye, Heaven Hill Wheated Bourbon, Weller Bourbon, and Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels for 18-42 months, then conditioned on Toasted Hazelnuts, Cacao nibs and Comoros Vanilla Beans.

Behold The Affixation Of Magnificence To Very Unglorious Things from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

This is a Triple IPA with wheat, barley, and candi sugar with Motueka, Amarillo, and Citra hops. It was one of Burial’s Burnpile festival releases and an absolute banger.

Axle from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Axle is a Triple Dry Hopped Quadruple IPA with Citra, Galaxy, and Motueka hops. Monkish can do no wrong, even with a bold move like a Quadruple IPA!

Beyond Forever from Private Press Brewing in Santa Cruz, CA

Beyond Forever Batch 2 showcases all rye barrels and an average aging time of 17 months and then the blend was conditioned on the signature Private Press vanilla blend of Ugandan, Tahitian, and Ecuadorian vanilla beans. This was a rich brew packed with flavor yet incredibly easy to drink.

Einfluss collaboration brew from Fox Farm Brewery in Salem, CT and Schilling Beer Co. in Littleton, NH

Einfluss is a “Landbier that draws inspiration from the lagers of Franconia but is made with 100% Connecticut and New Hampshire malt including a hearty dose of Triticale, a wheat/rye hybrid grain.” This is a very unique beer and extremely delicious—crushable and enjoyable.

ChecK Back next month for my top beers of November! Cheers —Alexis

August and September 2023

August & September started off with 2 weeks in Charlotte before heading out for a 6 week adventure! I spent time in Michigan and Washington before heading back to CLT at the end of September. In this time I tried 232 different beers via a couple of bottle shares and visiting a lot of different breweries in my travels.

In no particular order, here were the best beers I had over the past two months:

Magos Del Subterraneo collaboration brew from Brujos Brewing in Portland, OR and Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ

This is an Imperial IPA with raw Oregon honey and is double dry hopped with Nelson CGX, Nelson, Motueka CGX, Motueka and Citra hops. This is a superb beer. I was lucky enough to have it twice in August and I gave it a 5 on Untappd both times. The honey was a fantastic addition!

No Sleep Means Insomnia from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

No Sleep Means Insomnia is a Triple IPA with Motueka & Citra hops. Monkish Triples are just unbeatable. I had a few great ones over the past two months so it was hard to select just one for the list, but this one stood out for it’s superb flavor.

Lorraine from Fair Isle Brewing in Seattle, WA

Lorraine is a Farmhouse Ale with Gewürztraminer grapes and Syrah pomace. Fair Isle is one of my favorite breweries in the country so I was extremely excited to get to visit their taproom again. I had several beers during my visit (and grabbed a few to-go bottles too!) and Lorraine was spectacular!

Chainsaw from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Chainsaw is a Triple IPA with wildflower honey and dry hopped with Cashmere, Citra and Simcoe hops. This is the second IPA with honey on the list so perhaps this is how my taste buds are leaning as of late. Another killer brew from R&B.

Edge of the Dessert from Great Notion Brewing in Portland, OR

This is a Smoothie Sour with pineapple, mango and cheesecake. It’s been a little while since I have had a Great Notion Sour and this was a great reminder of how delicious they are. We’ve been getting some Great Notion distribution in Charlotte so I had debated whether or not to visit the Ballard taproom in Seattle, but I am so glad I did! Great brews and chill vibes.

MMXXI Chardonnay from Floodland Brewing in Seattle, WA

Description from the brewery: “This 2021 harvest beer was made through a native fermentation of Chardonnay grapes from French Creek Vineyard on the slopes of the Yakima River. The grapes from were destemmed and crushed and kept in contact with the skins for some time before being pressed and then blended with well aged spelt saison as well as saison brewed with wheat and oats. This beer was refermented to condition in the bottle with raw honey from Cougar Canyon Apiary, harvest on Rattlesnake Point 10/01/2021.”

Floodland! I was very excited to see Ridgewood Bottle and Tap had this hard-to-find brewery on tap while I was in Seattle. Stellar brew, as expected.

Solo Exhibition (Citra) from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY

This is a Triple IPA with Citra hops. It’s a classic Other Half style brew with all Citra hops which is hard to beat. Smooth, flavorful, delicious.

Check back next month for my top beers of October! Cheers—Alexis

July 2023

July was a busy month! I tried 215 beers in July which is potentially the most I’ve ever had because of a beer fest, bottle share and lots of beer flights while traveling.

July started off with Free The Whales beer fest on which was full of delicious brews and was hosted at HopFly Brewing with Resident Culture Brewing. After that Mosaic and I headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains in north Georgia for the fourth of July week. We came home to a bottle share with friends and then left again for a 13 day road trip to the Outer Banks, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Maryland, Delaware, and Shenandoah National Park. All of that resulted in some high quality beers and it was quite difficult to narrow down this list.

In no particular order, here were my top beers in July:

Raspberry Marmalade from Dewey Beer Company in Dewey Beach, DE

Raspberry marmalade is a Fruited Sour with raspberries. I had this at Dewey’s original taproom at the beach and absolutely loved it. It truly tastes like raspberry marmalade in the best way possible.

Hang My Boots from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Hang My Boots is a Triple IPA with Nelson Sauvin hops. I cracked this the night before departing for my road trip and it certainly kicked the journey off on the right note. A truly fantastic brew.

Blu Jamz from Seedz Brewery in Union Pier, MI

Blu Jamz is a blended Saison refermented with Michigan grown blueberries. I am absolutely stoked to finally be visiting Seedz in a couple of weeks after they’ve been on my list for years. Everything I’ve ever had from them has been great and Blu Jamz was another superb brew.

More Jasper Than All Jasper collaboration brew from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY and Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

This is a Triple IPA with Citra hops. It is a blend of Other Half’s More Than series and Fiden’s Jasper. This is far too easy to drink for a Triple and full of juicy notes.

PB&J Mixtape from Xul Brewing in Knoxville, TN

PB&J Mixtape is a peanut butter and jelly Sour. A lot of breweries make pb&j beers but this was easily the best I have ever had. It tastes exactly like you’re eating the sandwich and is ridiculously great.

Double Dry Hopped King Sue from Toppling Goliath Brewing in Decorah, IA

DDH King Sue is an Imperial IPA with Citra hops. I was lucky enough to have this beer twice recently because Toppling Goliath is now distributing to North Carolina! So excited for this and for all of their fantastic beers to make there way over here.

Monolith collaboration brew from Lua Brewing in Des Moines, IA and Little Cottage Brewing in Atlanta, GA

Monolith is an Imperial Stout with coconut, hazelnuts, marshmallow, and cacao nibs. At 15.2% ABV this is a heavy beer, but it is absolutely delicious. This was easily the best beer at the Free The Whales festival and everyone was talking about how great it was. Lua continues to impress!

Darkness at Noon from Root + Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This was the May 2023, Batch 4 version of Darkness at Noon and absolutely superb. It is a multi-oat/wheat Triple IPA and we had this in a growler, so it was delightful to have a fresh Root and Branch not out of a can.

Check back next month for my top beers in August! Cheers —Alexis

June 2023

June was a pretty lowkey month—I spent most of June in Charlotte aside from a work trip to the beach and checked out some new spots in CLT and hung out with Mosaic at home. I tried 101 beers over the past month and this list has the best of the best. 3 of the 6 beers on this list are Saisons, which I think just points to how incredibly hot it has been in Charlotte and the need for light, delicious beers.

In no particular order, here were my top beers in June 2023:

Raspberry Tart from New Glarus Brewing in New Glarus, WI

Raspberry Tart is a Framboise Lambic with Oregon raspberries spontaneously fermented. I’ve been holding on to this since my visit to New Glarus last summer and finally decided to crack it open. This beer was insanely delicious and far exceeded my expectations. I wish I had more of this one to enjoy all summer long!

I Used To Consider The Consequences collaboration from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC and Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY

This is a Double Dry-Hopped Imperial IPA with Citra and Cashmere and finished with Motueka and Citra Cryo hops. Burial recreated this brew that originally dropped in 2020 and it is delightful. Packed with flavor, juicy and well-rounded.

Saison du BlÉ (Blend #13) from Side Project Brewing in Maplewood, MO

Saison du Blé is a oak aged Saison that is then bottle conditioned. Side Project can do no wrong and this is a classic, delicious brew from them. Long live Saison Summers!

Donut from Nebuleus Beer in Portland, OR

Donut is a blend of gin and chardonnay barrel aged Saisons refermented on donut peaches. This was my first time hearing of Nebuleus and I was super impressed by this brew. I don’t always love things that have peach but this was well balanced and fantastic.

Clover (2020) from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Clover is a Saison that is a blend of Ann, Art, and Flora aged between 16 to 27 months independently and then combined before aging another 2 years. Clover is one of Hill Farmstead’s most sought after beers and for good reason—this was superb!

Probably Existing with Coconut from Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

Probably Existing is a bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels for 24 months then conditioned on toasted pistachios, cocoa butter, cacao nibs and vanilla. This version also has toasted coconut, giving it the perfect combination of barrel flavor, sweetness, and smoothness.

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

May 2023

May brought less beer consumption for me—I tried 72 different beers over the past month—but there were still some truly delicious beers. This month’s list is comprised of 100% IPAs which is pretty odd for me! Overall since I didn’t have that many beers this month, I didn’t go to many breweries, and the weather has warmed up, I guess that led to a need for more haze craze than anything else. Plus, I spent 12 days adventuring around southern Utah and northern Arizona going on stellar hikes and not drinking very many beers, and the ones I did have were more so trail beers than fantastic sippers.

Here are the best beers I had over the past month:

Triple Farmer from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY

Triple Farmer is a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic and Nelson hops. This was the best beer I had in May—I rated it a 4.75 on Untappd. It was smooth, juicy and delicious!

Bloom and Blossom from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Bloom and Blossom is a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Galaxy, Rakau and Mosaic hops. I was lucky enough to have several Monkish beers in May and they were all superb, but this one was particularly packed with flavor.

Water Balloon Fight Club from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

This is a double dry-hopped version of their Water Balloon Fighters Double IPA with Mosaic, Citra, and Simcoe hops. Another fantastic beer from the folks at Monkish!

Do We Live in A Society of Spectacle? from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This is the Citra batch 5 version of Do We Live In A Society of Spectacle. It is a multi-oat/wheat Double IPA with all Citra hops. It’s hard to not love a fully Citra hopped beer, they are always fantastic!

What Changed? from Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, NC

What Changed? is a Double IPA dry-hopped with citra incognito, motueka, rakau and topaz hops. I love that Fonta Flora has just recently entered the Hazy IPA game and is already putting out absolutely fantastic beers! This was super crushable.

Double Grid from Hop Butcher for the World in Chicago, IL

Double Grid is a Double IPA with Citra and Mosaic hops. I don’t get my hands on enough beers from Hop Butcher, and this brew reminded me of how amazing they are. I was thrilled that Pop The Top had this on tap!

April 2023

April was a fun month with trips to Austin, Texas, Holbox Island in Mexico, and Richmond, Virginia! I also had a couple friends visit Charlotte and got to show them around town and then also participated in a couple if bottle shares. All in all I tried 117 beers in April. In no particular order here were my top beers of the past month:

Everyone Stands Beneath Their Own Dome of Heaven from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This is the classic “multi-oat/wheat double IPA” as Root and Branch likes to describe it. They like to hold their secrets close to their chest without revealing any hops or much information, but this one was a banger. It was batch 6 of the brew and truly superb. I enjoyed this one at the pool of our Airbnb in Holbox which was delightful!

Seven from The Veil Brewing in Richmond, VA

Seven was one of The Veil’s 7th anniversary beer releases and phenomenal. Lucky for me I visited their taproom in RVA a week after the anniversary and was still able to try it on tap and grab a bottle to take home. Seven is an Imperial Stout aged in Willett, Utopias, Maple and Weller Bourbon Barrels for an average of 21 months then conditioned on chocolate sandwich cookies, toasted coconut, Tahitian vanilla and truffle.

The Laurentian Series: Cuvee Des Grands Lacs with Marquette Grapes from Speciation Artisan Ales in Grand Rapids, MI

This complex beer is a blend of 5 barrels filled with spontaneously fermented beer that was cooled in a coolship near each of the 5 Great Lakes and fermented exclusively with the wild cultures caught in the air at each site, Marquette grapes were then added. I’ve had this beer before and was blown away by how fantastic it was so when I saw another bottle at a shop in Michigan I knew I had to have it!

Flora (Cherry, Raspberry, Northern Kiwi) from Hill Farmstead in Greensboro, VT

Flora is the wine barrel aged version Florence and always one of my favorite beers. I love the different varieties they Hill Farmstead makes of it! This version was aged on hand-picked Vermont-grown Montmorency cherries, raspberries and northern kiwi.

I Hope This Is The Endgame from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

Burial’s adjuncted Stouts are hard to beat! This one is an Imperial Stout with toasted pecans, Thai banana, vanilla bean, cinnamon, maple syrup and sea salt. As I am sure you know by know I am a sucker for anything with Thai banana so when they released this beer I knew I had to snag a bottle. It was absolutely delicious!

Snow Giant from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Snow Giant is a Triple IPA with Citra and Nectaron hops. I enjoyed this on tap at The Veil’s new taproom since they had some guest taps for their anniversary on. Monkish always crushes the juice game and this one was delightful—easy drinking and packed with flavor.

Check back next month for my top beers in May! Cheers! —Alexis

March 2023

March was a packed beer month with a few days in Hendersonville and Asheville, NC and then a week in Greenville, SC—check out my Greenville beer and travel guide here. I tried 198 different beers in March, a lot of which were consumed while watching March Madness, at Altered States festival from The Eighth State Brewing Company (check out my recap here) and at bottle shares.

In no particular order here are the best beers I had in March:

JFK2LAX: SFO Layover collaboration brew from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA and Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

This is a Triple IPA with Citra, Simcoe and Motueka hops. I am a huge fan of the JFK2LAX series and this edition was a delight! I rated this a 4.75 on Untappd because it was so ridiculously good.

Damage: Batch 100 from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This is a multi-oat/wheat Triple IPA from one of the best IPA breweries in the country. Root + Branch crushed this brew and I am very happy to have one more can of it in my fridge. It is extremely smooth and flavorful.

The Morbid Comfort of a Welcome Regression from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

The Morbid Comfort of a Welcome Regression is a Triple Dry Hopped Triple IPA with Simcoe, Vic Secret and Eclipse hops. Anytime Burial drops a new Triple IPA I am excited but this one was superb. It has that classic Burial hint of sweetness without being overly boozy.

Triple Vegan from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY

Triple Vegan is a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Nelson hops. As you may know, it is the triple version of their iconic brew The Vegan. Coincidentally I just had the original brew, The Vegan, yesterday and it pales in comparison to Triple Vegan. This is rich in flavor and incredibly easy to drink.

Hyperbolic from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC

Hyperbolic is an Apple Brandy Barrel Aged Imperial Stout aged 1 year and 11 months in a Laird's Apple Barrel with toasted coconut, cassia bark, and Madagascar vanilla. It was tough for me to choose just one Eighth State Stout to include on this month’s top beers list, but Hyperbolic soared above the rest. Apple Brandy Barrels are always my favorite! I enjoyed this at their Altered States festival.

Fostering Divine Culture collaboration brew from Resident Culture Brewing Company in Charlotte, NC and Divine Barrel Brewing in Charlotte, NC

Fostering Divine Culture is an Imperial Stout aged in Laird’s Applejack barrels for 22 months then conditioned on rum barrel chips, wild Thai banana, toasted coconut, and vanilla. This was brewed in celebration of Divine Barrel’s 5th Anniversary. I enjoyed it at Community Tap in Greenville and I snagged a bottle at Resident Culture’s taproom once it dropped!

One Thousand Years from The Veil Brewing Company in Richmond, VA

From The Veil: “One Thousand Years was the 1000th batch of beer ever brewed at The Veil back in early 2019. The recipe is an amped-up recipe inspired equally by Pallbearer, Circle of Wolves, Sleeping Forever, and one of our favorite Imperial Stout collaborations. It spent 12 months in Laird's Apple Brandy barrels and then another 12 months in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels.” In my eyes this is basically a cuvee of The Veil’s best brews and it was absolutely phenomenal!

Sequence Collaboration Brew from Homage Brewing in Pomona, CA and Highland Park Brewery in Los Angeles, CA

Sequence is a barrel aged Saison with spent Matsumoto peaches, spent nectarines and Osmanthus flower. Eighth State was pouring this at one of their events before the festival. Sequence is refreshing, flavorful and unique.

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

January 2023

Some people do dry January. This year I did what I would refer to as an underwater January. There were a lot of beers consumed between my birthday, Mosaic’s Puppy Pawty, bottle shares and more. This was the first month that I did not take a trip since the depths of Covid, so there was less brewery hopping but more high quality beers consumed.

This was also my first ever month of using Untappd so I now have super accurate data around my top beers which is really nice. I checked in 131 beers in January (!) and you can follow me on Untappd here.

Here were my top beers in January, in no particular order:

Kyle’s Axe collaboration brew from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY and Horus Aged Ales in Oceanside, CA

Kyle’s Axe is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Nelson and Peacharine hops. It comes in at 8% and is absolutely superb. This is potentially the best IPA I have ever had in my life. I had this brew twice and loved it both times.

The Bones of the Things Around Us collaboration brew from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY and Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ + Triple Jasper + Triple Jasper with Nelson from Fidens Brewing

3 juice bombs from the fine folks at Fidens! The Bones of the Things Around Us is a Double IPA with with Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Triple Jasper is a Triple IPA with Citra hops. Triple Jasper with Nelson is a Triple IPA with Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops. These were all insanely delicious beers that I was lucky enough to try a couple of times and loved! Fidens has been absolutely crushing the game lately.

Beer: Barrel: Time (Rye 2022) from Side Project Brewing in Maplewood, MO

BBT Baby! I’ve had BBT once before but the rye version was new to me and exciting to get to try. This is one of the most hyped Stouts in the world so it is always a real treat to get to taste! From Side Project: “We finalized a blend which consisted of 2 different recipes, brewed 3 different times and then finished in 3 different barrels for 18 to 42 months. The younger portion represents threads which were brewed right around the 2020 release in plan to become part of this 2022 blend. The much older threads consist of the exact same brew/barrels from the 2020 release, barrels which we held back and allowed an extended aging. The result of this layering focuses this blend more in line with how we blend our BBT releases, with a showcase of our production over time, layering in age and youth in a way that can only come from time spent in a barrel. Derivation Blend #3 recipe aged in Willett 5 year Rye Barrels since 7/23/18; Vibes recipe aged in Willett 4 year Rye Barrels since 7/2/20; Vibes recipe aged in StilL630 Rye Barrels since 7/28/20.”

Double Dry Hopped Ghost, Holy Ghost and Infinite Ghost from Parish Brewing in Broussard, LA

Double Dry Hopped Ghost in the Machine is an Imperial IPA with Citra hops. Holy Ghost is a Triple IPA dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy and Citra Cryo. Infinite Ghost is an Imperial IPA with hand-selected Yakima Valley Citra hops and Citra Terpenes. The Anniversary Ghost releases are always superb! This year I had each can individually and then also did a blind side by side with my second can of each. My ranking blind was Infinite-Holy-DDH.

100 Triple Dry Hopped with Citra from Burley Oak Brewing in Berlin, MD

This is an all Citra Triple Dry Hopped Imperial IPA. The 100 series from Burley Oak focuses on a single hop at a time and this brew was fantastic. Citra is always a favorite but this was dangerously easy to drink.

The 12° from Lesser-Known Beer Company in Winston-Salem, NC

The 12° is a Czech inspired Pale Lager from the fine folks at Lesser-Known. Their Lagers are fantastic and I highly recommend a visit if you have not checked them out yet. Check out my Winston-Salem beer guide here.

‘22 Three Year Blend from Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, NC

This is an Appalachian Gueuze-inspired three year blend of spontaneously fermented ales from the winters of 2018, 2019 and 2020. This is my favorite beer I have ever had from Fonta Flora. There are still some bottles floating around out there so be sure to snag one while you can!

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

My Top Beers of 2022

2022 was another fantastic year of beer! A few highlights:

• I visited 287 new-to-me breweries, including some of the top breweries in the world.

• I traveled 42% of the year, exploring new breweries around the country and abroad.

• I had killer beers locally and via monthly bottle shares.

• I delved deeper into the Lager world, became obsessed with Saisons and tried somewhere over 2000 beers.

• My favorite breweries to score beers from were BlackStack, Monkish, Santa Adairius, Root and Branch, Burial, Fidens and Bottle Logic.

In no particular order, here were my top beers of 2022:

Check out my top beers from 2021 here!

EVERYTHING AT MONKISH BREWING IN TORRANCE AND ANAHEIM, CA

Is this cheating? Yes. Too bad. Everything Monkish brews is incredibly delicious and I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to visit both of their taprooms on my SoCal trip! I had the following beers and I would recommend them all:

• Conscience Be Free: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe

• Foggier Window: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy

• Sticky Traffic: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Nelson Sauvin, Citra, Mosaic, and Galaxy

• Biggie Biggie Biggie: Triple IPA with Galaxy and El Dorado

• One Tree: Triple IPA with Strata and Idaho 7

• M 9.5: Saison aged in oak barrels for 18 months and conditioned on spent Blenheim apricots

ETERNAL FOREVER AT PURE BREWING IN SAN DIEGO, CA

Eternal Forever is a blend of Single and Double Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stouts with Cacao & Wild Thai Banana. Pure released this in celebration of their 6th Anniversary and I luckily was in town for the release. I actually had this beer twice while I was in San Diego, at Pure Balboa Park and at Pure Carlsbad, because it was just so good. The banana flavor was epic.

APPLE BRANDY BARREL AGED STEPPING ON TOES COLLABORATION BREW FROM WESTBROOK BREWING IN CHARLESTON, SC, THE EIGHTH STATE BREWING COMPANY IN GREENVILLE, SC, EVIL TWIN BREWING IN NEW YORK, NY AND EDMUND’S OAST BREWING IN CHARLESTON, SC

This is an Imperial Stout aged in Laird’s applejack apple brandy barrels for over two years then infused with toasted coconut, banana, macadamia nuts and vanilla beans. This beer is basically everything I love infused into one brew—apple brandy barrel aged, coconut, banana, and vanilla! This was an exceptional brew. I had the original Stepping on Toes last year and this one completely blows the other out of the water. Highly recommend if you can get your hands on it!

EVERYTHING AT SANTE ADAIRIUS RUSTIC ALES IN CAPITOLA AND SANTA CRUZ, CA

I visited both Sante Adairius locations while in Northern California—the OG taproom in Capitola and The Portal in Santa Cruz. I was insanely impressed with every single beer that I had:

Queen of the Season Foudre aged Saison; Wisdom is Learned Barrel Aged Saison with peaches; The Gift of Comfort Barrel aged Blonde ale with rose hips and Meyer Lemon; Landscapes #3 Oak aged Saison dry hopped with Kohia Nelson; Anais House Saison; Cellarman Oak aged Saison in collaboration with Triple Rock; Tomorrow, Today IPA with Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic

THE BEER FORMALLY KNOWN AS LA TACHE FROM THE ALE APOTHECARY IN BEND, OR

The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache is a Table Sour made of malted barley, wheat, Goschie Farms Cascade Hops, honey and house lactobacillus culture. It then spends 3-9 months fermenting in barrels prior to a month-long dry-hopping in oak barrels. Everything The Ale Apothecary makes is unique and funky, and this was no exception. I was taken aback by just how fantastic this was.

VERY SPECIAL LORD WHANGDOODLE FROM THE VEIL BREWING IN RICHMOND, VA

Very Special Lord Whangdoodle is an Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout aged in a blend of Bourbon, Cognac, Maple, and Apple Brandy Barrels conditioned on double hazelnuts, double truffle, double vanilla, and double coconut. This was an insanely delicious beer. The Veil’s Stouts are always impressive, but this was superb.

ADIEU ADIEU FROM MONKISH BREWING IN TORRANCE, CA

Adieu Adieu is a Double Dry Hopped Triple IPA with Citra hops. Monkish is consistently great with their IPAs, but Adieu Adieu takes it to another level. This was arguably the best IPA I had all year.

MAWMAW’S HUMBLEBERRY PIE COLLABORATION BREW FROM TWO TIDES BREWING IN SAVANNAH, GA AND INNER VOICE BREWING IN DECATUR, GA

MawMaw’s Humbleberry Pie is a Fruited Sour with raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, vanilla, cinnamon and graham cracker. It is packed with flavor and extremely easy to drink, but still comes in at 7% ABV.

THE HEART OF CHAOS TRIPLE IPA FROM FIDENS BREWING IN COLONIE, NY AT SNALLYGASTER

The Heart of Chaos is a Triple IPA with Citra, Nelson and Mosaic hops. This was brewed to celebrate 3 years of Fidens! This was my favorite beer from the Snallygaster beer festival in D.C. and a delicious brew.

BARREL AGED PASTRINAUTS (FOUR ROSES) COLLABORATION BREW FROM OTHER HALF BREWING IN NEW YORK, NY, J. WAKEFIELD BREWING IN MIAMI, FL, BOTTLE LOGIC BREWING IN ANAHEIM, CA, HORUS AGED ALES IN OCEANSIDE, CA AND MOKSA BREWING IN ROCKLIN, CA

Pastrinauts is an Imperial Stout with bananas, molasses, marshmallows and freeze dried ice cream. This version was aged in 15 year old Four Roses Barrels and clocks in at 14% ABV. This was insanely delicious and I wish I had another bottle!

Cheers to another year of delicious beers!
—Alexis

November and December 2022

November and December launched us further into Stout season and into a slue of delicious beers! I spent two weeks in New Zealand drinking a plethora of delicious Hazy IPAs, explored some new breweries and adopted a sweet little brew pup—Mosaic! In no particular order here were my top beers of November and December:

Check back next week for my top beers of the year!

I Heart NYC collaboration brew from Garage Project in Wellington, New Zealand and Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

This is a Hazy Pale Ale combining Other Half’s High Density Hop Charge with Garage Project’s Double Shot co-fermentation technique to create a ‘DSHDHC’ Hazy with Calypso, Citra, Simcoe and Strata hops. Best enjoyed on a trail summit with a killer view in Fiordland National Park.

Barrel Aged Pastrinauts (Four Roses) collaboration brew from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY, J. Wakefield Brewing in Miami, FL, Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, CA, Horus Aged Ales in Oceanside, CA and Moksa Brewing in Rocklin, CA

Pastrinauts is an Imperial Stout with bananas, molasses, marshmallows and freeze dried ice cream. This version was aged in 15 year old Four Roses Barrels and clocks in at 14% ABV. This was insanely delicious and one of my favorite beers of the year.

Double Barrel Whale Rider from Weathered Souls Brewing in Charlotte, NC

Whale Rider is an Imperial Stout with toasted coconut, coconut and Madagascar vanilla beans. This version was double barrel aged in a Willet 8 year rye barrel and 15 year Woodford Reserve Masters barrel. Weathered Souls opened their Charlotte brewery in November and this was a fantastic beer to kick off their CLT beginnings.

Peter from Parrotdog Brewery in Wellington, New Zealand

Peter is an Imperial IPA. A lot of Hazys in New Zealand were delicious but Peter was a stand out!

Apple Brandy Barrel Aged Notable Ascent from Back Channel Brewing in Spring Park, MN

This is an Imperial Stout with Madagascar Vanilla aged in an Apple Brandy barrels. I am a sucker for apple brandy barrel aged beers and this was a perfect execution of flavors. I enjoyed this brew at Heist’s Night & Day 3 Festival. I need to get my hands on some more Back Channel beers!

Double Dry Hopped Ghost in the Machine from Parish Brewing in Broussard, LA

DDH Ghost is always delicious but this year’s batch was superb. DDH Ghost is a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with all Citra hops. Juicy, smooth, flavorful and delightful.

Double Barrel Junie from Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

This is an Imperial Rye Stout with Violet Sky cocoa nibs and salted caramel aged in Henry McKenna Bourbon barrels and Blis Maple Syrup barrels. Junie is a flavorful barrel forward brew from one of the best breweries in Michigan. I enjoyed this brew at Collect Beer Bar in Detroit!

Triple Eugene’s Axe from Fidens Brewing + Alex’s Axe collaboration brewing from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY and Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ

These were both phenomenal beers so I am cheating and doing a two-for-one here. Triple Eugene’s Axe is a Triple IPA with Citra and Galaxy hops. Alex’s Axe is a Hoppy Triple IPA with Nelson, Strata, Peacharine and Galaxy hops that is a collab with Troon. Generally I find Troon to be a bit overhyped, but this brew was incredible.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Bananaversary (2022 Edition) from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

Bananaversary is an Imperial Pastry Stout with wild Thai bananas, coconut, toasted coconut, vanilla and macadamia nuts that is aged in bourbon barrels. I held onto this bottle for almost a full year before cracking it open and it was worth the wait. This has the perfect combination of adjuncts and barrel notes while being thiccc and lucious.

Check back next week to see my top beers of 2022! Cheers —Alexis