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!
