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.

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