My Top 5 New Beers of 2009
[As the year comes to the close, I’m impelled to produce some list of beers based on my past eleven and half months of drinking. After I created this list, I had the idea of listing my top five beer and food experiences of the year, but I couldn’t remember many of those. And...disclaimer: I paid for all of these beers out of my own pocket.]
I’m going to go ahead, jump on the bandwagon, flip Stan’s bad attitude about beer lists a bird, and write my own. Wanting to make a list that would capture the essence of the year in beer, I focused on what I experienced firsthand, what was newly released this year, and what was especially good. I whittled the list down to five exceptional new beers of 2009; beers released for the first time this year that I believe are worthy of attention. This list is definitely bent towards my particular interests and tastes, which lean belgian, smoked, and oddball. My tastes have proven to be a bit left of center, a fact that I enjoy, but a fact that may drive this list in a way that others may not agree with. That’s okay, it’s my list, not theirs.
Obviously, there is a geographic bias to this list, as I spent most of the year in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England this year. I tried to produce a list of beers that are at least somewhat distributed or findable (thus, excluding brewpub tap-only one-offs). While some breweries (i.e. Bullfrog) were prolific in new beers this year, I chose only one example from each brewery for optimal diversity. Finally, there is no particular order. Enjoy!
Dann Paquette has grabbed a lot of attention this year, by creating really solid Belgian ales through the Mikkeller method (borrowing other breweries). The concept of blending yeasts is not a new one, but it scarcely produces noticeable results (in my opinion). Here, three strains are used to produce a wonderfully complex Saison that’s both summer-thirst-slaking and introspective. Leaving the spices at the door also helps this example of Belgian farmhouse ale stand above other American interpretations. On top of all that, the artwork and cap labels add an additional level of whimsical flavor to the package.
Harpoon Leviathan Big Bohemian Pilsner
Granted, I’ve never given Harpoon much credit. I think my interest in exploring their lineup vanished a few years back when I got a mouthful of nutmeg-flavored soap from a bottle of their Winter Warmer. That being said, I’m really excited by the Leviathan series. They’ve smartly chosen some “extreme” styles and done a nice job with most of them. I think the Bohemian Pils stands out amongst the others because so few American craft breweries do lagers well, let alone BIG lagers. This is just a fun, crisp, bold beer with a lot of bright hop and malt flavor and plenty of added intensity from the alcohol.
A summer visit to the new facility in New Glarus cemented my love affair with this brewery. Some suggested I “get a room” when I met this beer for the first time. There was some expectation that the first R&D beer would be a lambic, so folks (including myself) were a bit surprised that the first was an Orval-like belgian golden ale. Nonetheless, when I had my first bottle, fresh and days from the brewery, it was a winner, with a spicy Brettanomyces profile and nice, deep malt character to compliment. Even the label is a cellaring geek’s wet dream. Wild beers are rare from New Glarus and sometimes contentious (remember good ole’ filtered Enigma?) with mixed opinions from beer raters. This one is no exception, it seems to be a love or hate beer. I love it. P.S.
Bullfrog blew up this year, following an award-winning GABF session late last year and a whole slew of special sour ale bottle releases this year. While many might have expected me to pick the much-adored Frambozen or even the iconoclastic Liquid Sunshine Reserva, I’m going with a beer that had more bottles, but less attention. This biere de garde was wonderful on draft, holding a deep cellar character and some fun cave-like cheese rind notes. In the bottle, it was an apple-delight, backed with plenty of yeast spice. Again, another contended beer, with some loving and some hating. I think it’s one of the better examples brewed in the states (Haverhill’s La Dame de Peronne was a very close second for this list) and worth giving a try.
If you’ve tried at least two of the Aecht Schenkerla rauchbiers and still aren’t able to call yourself a smoked beer fan, than this beer probably won’t do it either. It’s nearly as intense as the german predecessors, but with an extra level of complexity, uniqueness and character. The cherrywood smoke is distinct and the pairing with rye makes this beer extra zesty. When I finished my rate of this beer, I was left somewhat uncertain as to my overall impression, dwelling on an ethereal stinging quality to the smoke. But, in the end, the overall individuality of the beer was transcendent enough to warrant including it on this list. Oh, and it made my pee smell strongly of smoke the next morning.
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Gotta love stinky pee.
[...] instance, even though Tom Auer introduced his “Top 5 New Beers of 2009″ by explaining he would “flip Stan’s bad attitude about beer lists a bird” I’d [...]