February and March 2025

February and March were jam-packed months for me with the height of college basketball season, Queen City Brewers Festival, Brewsology, 3 bottle shares, and trips to Puerto Rico, Greer, and Wilmington for Feast! Over the course of all of those adventures I tried 189 beers in February and March, and here were the best of the best:

Lunar Handshake from Lesser-Known Beer Co in Winston-Salem, NC

Lunar Handshake is a Czech-inspired Dark Lager open fermented and conditioned for five weeks. A visit to Lesser-Known is always full of stellar beers, and Lunar Handshake certainly blew me away.

Yodel: Riwaka; Primordia 3; Signet: Gin from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

In January’s top beers post I said I couldn’t wait to see what came next in Freak Folk’s new single hop Yodel series, and the next version absolutely lived up to the hype! Yodel: Riwaka is a double dry-hopped double IPA with all Riwaka hops. Primordia 3 is an ale fermented in oak puncheons with mixed culture that was brewed in January 2021. Signet: Gin is a mixed culture bier aged for 18 months in Tom Cat gin barrels and conditioned on marigolds. Freak Folk continues to absolutely crush it!

Bring the Ruckley (2024) from Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

Bring the Ruckley is an Imperial Stout aged in Eastern Kille Rye Whiskey barrels with vanilla, Tugboat coffee and Michigan maple syrup. Transient is a fantastic brewery for Stout lovers and continues to impress.

Abiding Cycles from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola, CA

Abiding Cycles is a barrel aged Saison with fresh pressed pear juice. If you’ve been around here for a while you know I love a pear Saison, so it was no surprise that this SARA brew was absolutely phenomenal!

Nelson Sauvin Cutting Tiles from Trillium Brewing Company in Boston, MA

The Cutting Tiles series from Trillium has definitely made my top beer lists before, and when Pop The Top had this new Nelson Sauvin version on tap I knew I needed to try it! This is a Double IPA with raw wildflower honey.

Brew 6000 (2022) from Fremont Brewing in Seattle, WA

Brew 6000 is an English-Style Barleywine Ale aged in Bourbon Barrels. Fremont used to be all the hype in the dark beer game, but you haven’t heard much excitement around them as of late. Brew 6000 was a good reminder of just how fantastic their beers can be.

Amburana and Vanilla Bourbon Barrel Temple of Minerva from Jackie O’s Brewery in Athens, OH

This brew is an Imperial Stout aged for 20 months in bourbon barrels and conditioned on Amburana wood and vanilla beans. I wasn’t quite sure what to make out of a beer with Amburana wood but of course Jackie O’s created another banger. This was a remarkable brew and I can’t wait to try my coconut version of it!

Ammo Can: Double Coconut and February Drill Double Barrel Maple Leaf 2025 from Forgotten Road Ales in Graham, NC

Ammo Can: Double Coconut is an Imperial Stout loaded with delicious coconut. February Drill Down Barrel Maple Leaf 2025 is a Barleywine-style Ale aged 25 months in 15 year old bourbon barrels then aged and additional 4 months in American single malt barrels with maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. I enjoyed both of these delicious beers at the Brewsology festival and look forward to my next visit up to FRA!

Triple Rose from Fidens Brewing Company in Albany, NY

Triple Rose is a Triple IPA with Citra and Galaxy hops. A delicious Fidens Triple? Color me shocked.

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

January 2025

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.

CHeck Back next month for my top beers of February!

Cheers —Alexis