A few thoughts on 2011. Please add your own.
My Top Beers rated this year:
- De la Senne Taras Boulba
- Russian River Redemption (Batch 002+)
- Surly Damien
My Top Beer rated this year (local edition):
- Boulevard Chocolate Ale
- Free State Lupulus Maximus
- Free State Brightwater Saison
My Top Places rated this year:
- Blind Tiger Ale House (New York)
- Good Beer NYC (New York)
- Rattle ’N’ Hum (New York)
(what can I say, I was in NYC a lot this year)
My Top Places rated this year (local edition):
- Swagger Fine Spirits and Food (I had been a bit slow to rate this)
- The Riot Room
- Beer Kitchen
Most Memorable Beer Moment:
- The craziness around the Chocolate Ale release. Really had seen nothing like it here locally.
Other Notes:
- Martin City Brewing Company opened, offering a great beer selection and a great atmosphere. Pretty much instantly became my local place to hit. Certainly hope they get their own beers going soon, and maintain the "guest list" they have in place.
- Beer KC (McCoys, Foundry and Beer Kitchen) has really stepped up their game. They are doing the top events in town, McCoys beer has been great and the Strong Ale Fest was a ton of fun.
- Brad has really improved Royal. The selection has improved greatly, and the Twitter updates of all new beers have been really helpful. Here’s hoping he can convince management they need to get rid of the direct sunlight in 2012!
- The local Kansas City Ratebeer tastings had a bunch of new faces at tastings this year, which is always welcome and a lot of fun.
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I am very happy that Free State opened up their bottling facility, which allowed their brewpub to make a lot of new beer this year. |
Yeah, Free State has been a gold mine this year. Love that Taras Boulba, but it doesn’t count for me since I had it a couple years ago. I really like the Firestone Walker stuff coming into town, the TJ Pale Ale, TJ IPA, Union Jack (my new favorite IPA?), Double Jack. Although I guess I always wanted everyone to share my enthusiasm for beer, it sucks to have to get to the store within a couple hours to get the more limited production beers. I love all the innovative beers that brewers are coming out with. I love the new round of hops that we are seeing. I remember a couple years ago we all discovered Amarillo, Simcoe and Columbus and now we have Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy and Citra. Excited to see what 2012 will have to offer. |
I did a pretty bad job of keeping track of what I drank this year and definitely slacked on rating. I drank plenty of good stuff though.
Here are a few of my favorites.
Schlafly No. 20 Vol. 2 Hop Toddy Ale
Anchorage Bitter Monk
North Coast Grand Cru
Boulevard/Deschutes Collab 2 (Blvd. version)
Nebraska Melange a Trois
St Feuillien Green Flash Bière De L’Amitié
It was really good to see all the new breweries and beers that have become available in the area. Firestone Walker, Stone, Green Flash and some of the smaller breweries like Stillwater, Fantome and Anchorage.
I made it to the Parkville festival for the first time and had a great time. K and I also went to one of the Beer Dinners at Beer Kitchen. Tastings with the RB crew are always a highlight as well.
I’m getting a little burned out on the hype for all the limited production beers, even though I’ve been guilty of rushing out to pick them up!
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All right, my thoughts on beer this past year, in brief:
-Lots of new kick-ass brewers here in town, Stone, Firestone Walker and Green Flash particularly (go Cali!)
-The few RB tastings I’d been able to attend were incredibly awesome
-The Northeastern US is a fantastic beer destination, and I didn’t even scratch the surface of that whole scene
Some raves:
Hop God - on draft, this was insane.
FW Double Jack - this is just right up my alley, instant new favorite of the style.
Free State Lupulus Maximus - I am still kicking myself to this day for not getting a growler of this when I had the chance.
Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge - ( http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/bockor-cuvee-des-jacobins-rouge/108863/) -- this was still on draft at Barley’s on 119th as of a few weeks ago. If you guys don’t go and drink some, something is wrong with you.
Cambridge Cerise Cassée - this was another Sour Ale, fermented in wine barrels with cherries, just mind blowingly good, easily holds up to any Belgian example.
Guinness FES - I love a good Foreign Stout, and this one is really good.
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This year was kind of odd for me. While I think I participated in more tastings this year and tried the most beers then any other previous year, I barley reviewed anything. Though, probably my two most memorable beers were beers that I had wanted to try for years and both were as good as I hoped.
Andecheser Doppelbock Dunkel and Thirsty Dog Siberian Night.
Easily my Favorite place I visited this year was One Pint Pub in Helsinki. The place is kind of a hole but its a hole with fantastic beer and awesome locals. |
