February brought A LOT of good beers! A trip to Asheville + a shipment of all of Other Half’s anniversary beers + some amazing goodies from friends means that this month’s list is a little longer than normal because it was just impossible to narrow things down!
In no particular order, here are my top beers of February 2021:
Toasty Camp Flight at Forestry Camp by Burial Beer Co. in Asheville, NC
Okay so yes this is totally cheating to have 4 beers as one selection but they were all so good! I will narrow it down to my top 2: Lecha Reserva from Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, CA and Rogue in Exile from Eighth State Brewing in Greenville, SC in collaboration with Burial Beer Co. in Asheville, NC. Lecha Reserva is an Imperial Stout aged in tequila and bourbon barrels with chili pepper blend, cacao nibs, cinnamon, vanilla beans, and lactose. The spice perfectly flavors the chocolate base and adds a nice punch. Rogue in Exile is an Imperial Stout with caramel, toasted coconut, Mexican vanilla, honey dates, halawi date, and milk sugar. The flavors combine for a brownie-like thiccc sipper.
Vera Mae (2019) from Hill Farmstead in Greensboro Bend, VT
Hill Farmstead never ceases to impress! Vera Mae is a Farmhouse Saison with organically grown grains, American hops, Vermont wildflower honey, dandelion flowers from the Hill Farmstead fields, and their unique farmhouse yeast. The 2019 edition was aged in oak puncheons and wine barrels for two months and then bottle conditioned for more than a year. The result is a slightly sweet and earthy bottle of goodness.
Triple Juicy Diamonds collaboration from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY and WeldWerks Brewing in Greeley, CO
You know it’s a juice bomb when two of the best in the game come together for a Triple IPA collaboration! Other Half and WeldWerks both individually crush the IPA game and this one is no exception. This is an Imperial IPA with Citra, El Dorado, Mosaic, and Galaxy hops. This one might end up on my best beers of 2021 list at the end of the year, it was so good!
Ken Burns Presents: Guava, Passion Fruit, and Apricot from BlackStack Brewing in St. Paul, MN
BlackStack is so insanely underrated! I visited their taproom in 2018 and had the best IPAs of my trip to the Twin Cities. Since then I have been lucky enough to get some beer mail to continue to try even more of their beers. Their ‘Ken Burns Presents’ series of smoothie style Berliner Weisses has been incredible. This is the 11th edition of the series and is a Foeder-Fermented Fruited Berliner Weisse with guava, passionfruit, apricot, and milk sugar.
Holy Ghost from Parish Brewing Co. in Broussard, LA
Holy freaking Ghost! I am a huge Parish fan after living in Louisiana for almost 5 years so I was thrilled when they released this special version of their best beer—Ghost in the Machine—for their 10th anniversary! This is a Triple IPA with oats, raw wheat, and dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, and Citra Cryo hops. Fingers crossed this one makes another appearance at some point like the Double Dry Hopped version has!
5th, 6th, and 7th Anniversary from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY
Okay yes I’m cheating again by picking 3 beers in one BUT how can you possibly not include all of this amazing juiciness in a top beers selection?! 5th Anniversary is an Imperial IPA with oats and Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, and Citra Cryo hops. 6th Anniversary is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Mosaic, Sabro Incognito, Galaxy, Cashmere, Riwaka, Strata T-90, Cashmere, Tomahawk, and Citra Cryo hops. 7th Anniversary is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Citra Cryo, Motueka, Riwaka, Cashmere, and Eukanot hops. I loved being able to do a side by side tasting of these stellar beers to pick out the small differences between them. I’d love to see Other Half continue to release years past anniversary beers each year to see how things change over time!
Devil’s Edge collaboration from Devil’s Logic Brewing and Edge City Brewery in Charlotte, NC
Devil’s Logic and Edge City are both newer to the Charlotte beer scene, with Devil’s Logic opening in December 2019 and Edge City in April 2020. They’ve each jumped right into the mix of 40+ breweries in the CLT area with impressive beers and nicely curated taprooms. Together they created Devil’s Edge, an Imperial IPA with Citra, Simcoe, and Vic Secret hops. This juice bomb is perfectly hopped and incredibly tasty. You can enjoy it on tap at either location or snag a crowler to enjoy at home.
