January was a month filled with incredible beers—I can’t think of a time where I have curated this monthly blog and had more beers in my top list ever before. I shared beers with friends several times and attended the Rare and Vintage Beer Tasting in Durham which was filled with superb beers. In total I tried 117 different beers in January, and here are the best:
Đất Phúc from CLAG Brewing Company in Sandusky, OH
This is a Pastry Stout with Wild Thai banana, toasted coconut, and Bissell Farms maple syrup. These are three of my favorite adjuncts in general, so it is no surprise that this was a banger for me. I had this beer on tap at the brewery in December and via a crowler with friends in January and was blown away both times. CLAG is quietly putting out some incredible beers!
Eunoia Batch 18: Coconut from Phase Three Brewing in Lake Zurich, IL
This was my top pour at Rare and Vintage—which is saying a lot. Eunoia Batch 18 is a blend of base stout aged from 19 to 37 months aged in heaven hill, wild turkey, and willett bourbon barrels and aged it on over 800 pounds of raw and toasted coconut. The coconut exudes out of this beer in the most delightful way. Eunoia is always a stellar beer, but this just might be my favorite yet!
Imprint collaboration brew from Root + Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY and TEST Brewery in Brooklyn, NY
Imprint is a multi-oat/wheat Triple IPA brewed and dry hopped with Freestyle Nelson hops. A superb Hazy brewed from two incredible breweries in New York!
The 12 - A Reworking from Lesser-Known Beer Company in Winston-Salem, NC
The 12 is a Czech Pale Lager that is exactly what you’re looking for in a Lager. Way too easy to drink, refreshing, flavorful, and overall perfection. No surprise coming from the Lesser-Known team!
Something To Ponder Anytime You Are Anywhere Always from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC
Burial brewed another killer Quadruple IPA with Candy sugar, Cryo and Incognito. Triple dry-hopped with Citra, Nelson and Motueka, and finished with Citra Cryo. Their ability to continuously put out insane beers never ceases to amaze me!
Yodel: Nelson from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT
Yodel: Nelson is a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with 100% Nelson hops. Freak Folk’s IPAs continue to be some of the best in the country. This is a new single hop series from them and I can’t to see what else comes out.
Barrel Aged Rocky Road (2024) from Angry Chair Brewing in Tampa, FL
Barrel Aged Rocky Road is an Imperial Sweet Stout with toasted walnuts, cacao nibs, marshmallows and lactose that is aged 18 months in Wild Turkey bourbon barrels. This is a fluffy marshmallow joyful experience from start to finish.
7 Deadly Stouts from Monday Night Brewing in Atlanta, GA
Seven Deadly Stouts is a blend of imperial stout aged in 7 different spirit barrels for over 2 years. Apple Brandy, Bourbon, Scotch, Maple Bourbon, Tequila, Rum, and Cognac barrels were all blended together and aged upon massive amounts of toasted coconut, hazelnuts, coffee, cinnamon, chocolate, and vanilla beans. This is a very barrel-forward beer that surprised me how well all of these things worked well together.
Something We Could No Longer Contain from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY
Something We Could No Longer Contain is Triple IPA with Simcoe, Citra and Idaho 7 hops. If Fidens brews a Triple you can guarantee it’s going to slap.
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’s unique beers are always a delight!
Baba Yaga’s Forest from Brujos Brewing in Portland, OR
Baba Yaga’s Forest is a Double Dry Hopped Imperial Hazy IPA with Manilita, Bliss Processed Nelson, Columbus CGX, Citra & Citra Cryo. It has been a minute since I had any Brujos and this was a good reminder of just how good their beers are.
Less Than Alone (2024) from Triple Crossing in Richmond, VA
Less Than Alone is a blend of three Bourbon barrels aged and then the blend was moved to stainless for further conditioning on Mexican vanilla beans. This is an extremely well-balanced brew that draws out both the barrel and vanilla notes.
Vigneronne from Brasserie Cantillon in Brussels, Belgium
Vigneronne is a blend of Lambics with Viogner grapes. This was an incredibly smooth Lambic that was still bursting with flavor. An absolute delight.
Dino Snacks (2024) collaboration brew from Pinthouse Brewing in Austin, TX and Green Cheek Beer in Orange, CA
Dino Snacks is a Triple IPA with Freestyle Farms selected Motueka and Nelson Sauvin CGX from Hop Revolution NZ. Honestly this one surprised me with how good it was. Pinthouse is not a brewery whose beers I have previously sought out after having a couple of flights during Austin visits where my conclusions were basically “solid, but nothing crazy”. After trying this beer I will have to reconsider that notion and put some more stock into what they are putting out.
Coconut Bliss Sleeping Forever from The Veil Brewing Company in Richmond, VA
Coconut Bliss Sleeping Forever is an Imperial Stout aged in maple and Willett bourbon barrels for 30 months then conditioned on fresh and toasted coconut. You might be starting to notice a coconut Stout trend this month—this was another incredible one!
Double Barrel-Aged Periodic Motion from Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, NC
This is a double bourbon barrel-aged English-style Barleywine. Fonta Flora’s Barleywines are typically some of the best, and this timed release at Rare and Vintage lived up to the hype.
Forest Brothers collaboration brew from Human Robot in Philadelphia, PA and Põhjala in Tallinn, Estonia
Forest Brothers is a Pilsner with Motueka and Callista hops. Human Robot always crushes it, but this is the first light beer I have had from Põhjala. This was a superb beer at the Rare and Vintage Beer Tasting.
