Mike Loves Beer

Man there have been a lot of beers in 2011.  Between beer festivals, events, small tastings, big tastings and just personal consumption I have sampled probably more beers this year than I have in any other calendar year.  And there is still one week left!

Well with that I will take on the daunting task of trying to compile a list of 10 of the best.  But I’m up for the challenge.  And while I’m sure I will miss a few here and there and you all will undoubtedly let me hear about it I will do my best.

So I give you, in no particular order, my top 10 beers of the year 2011.

• Passionfruit and Dragonfruit Berliner Weisse (Cigar City) – This was my absolutely favorite beer from the many that I tried at Hunahpu’s Day this year.  The pink color and head were the first thing that caught my eye from other people drinking it.  Then just the name sold me completely.  Light in body with an outstanding tartness that was just perfect for a easy drinking.
• Nelson IPA (Alpine) – This small brewery out of California is making a name for itself for extremely well craft beers.  Thanks to friends that are avid traders I have been able to sample a number of their brews.  But the one that really knocked it out of the park for me was Nelson IPA.  An American IPA brewed with an incredible amount of New Zealand’s Nelson Sauvin hops.  This hop variety has become my favorite and this beer spotlighted the strain very well.
• Heady Topper (The Alchemist) – Speaking of hopped up beers, The Alchemist out of Vermont released a double IPA that everyone is talking about.  The 120 IBU brew is a hop heads dream.  Even myself that has slowly been moving away from overly hoppy beers couldn’t help but enjoy this.  Plus it’s from a can, got to love cans.
• No Crusts (Funky Buddha) – The guys at Funky Buddha have released some great beers this year but one in particular stands out to me.  No Crusts is their take on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a brown ale.  I’ve had a lot of beers that claim to taste like something in particular but none hit the nail on the head as much as this one.  From the peanuts to the fruity jelly tastes all the way to hints of wheat bread.  They have the whole sandwich in a glass.
• La Parcela (Jolly Pumpkin) – It’s no secret that pumpkin beers aren’t my thing.  It’s also no secret that sour beers are my thing.  So when one of my favorite bars got a keg of this I just had to give it a try.  Let’s just say from there after I probably helped kick that keg more than anyone else.  Pumpkin fans were probably disappointed in this but I was far from a pumpkin fan.  Some subtle spices mixed with a traditional sour JP beer suited me just fine.
• Hop Scotch (Tequesta) – Tequesta turns out solid beers that are made to style and super easy to drink.  When I heard of their decision to make a hoppy Scotch ale I was excited as this seemed like a new venture for them.  The experiment was a great success as this beer turned out to be my personal favorite that they have ever released.  Here’s to hoping they decide to make it again next year.
• Veritas 006 (Lost Abbey) – Yes this beer was not released in 2011 but I had it this year.  A bottle I received in a trade and decided to share with a couple friends on a very sour Thanksgiving.  Tons of raspberries in this tart beer made me more than happy.
• Charkoota Rye (New Holland) – While many people talk about Dragon’s Milk (and rightfully so) there was another beer from New Holland that I just loved.  This smoked rye doppelbock was packed full of bacon and smokey flavors.  Maple syrup and rye notes rounded out this bad boy.  I call it bad because I would want to drink this for breakfast everyday and unfortunately that is frowned upon.
• Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout (Cigar City) – Yes Cigar City is making another appearance on the list.  I promise it’s the last and the only brewery that makes a second appearance.  I loved Hunahpu’s the first year it came out but this year’s batch was so much better.  More chili peppers, more chocolate, more awesomeness in a glass (side note: my computer did not say that awesomeness was a misspelling so it must be real word now).  I’m glad I have one of each year to build up my vertical.
• Tart of Darkness (The Bruery) – Everyone wants to talk about Black Tuesday and Chocolate Rain from the Bruery.  While I enjoyed those beers they weren’t mind numbing like so many people make them out to be.  And believe me, I’m a big fan of the Bruery.  It’s their sours that really stand out to me though.  And Tart of Darkness was one of such beers.  A great mixture of a stout and sour brew brings a beer that is memorable to me.

Well there you have it, my 10 favorite beers of 2011.  Have you had any of these?  Did you like them?  Or better yet, what was your 10?  Tell me in the comments.

Today is a Festivus for the rest of us.  A holiday’s holiday.  This is where you get together with those that you love and you air your grievances around the Festivus pole.  Afterwards the Feats of Strength is performed as Festivus can not be over until the head of the household is wrestled to the ground.  Well in the spirit of the holiday I will air some grievances to my loved craft beer community.

• To Rob from DailyBeerReview.com – You have been getting better at this but stop reviewing beers that you have already reviewed. I’m all for revisiting something that you didn’t like maybe a few years ago but revisiting things you did like in the first place?  There is no way you’ve had every beer in the lone beer store you shop at.
• To Dos formerly of DosBeerigos.com – I doubt you’ll read this because you don’t seem to us the internet for anything but sports scores and new facial hair styles.  But get back together with Phil and start doing reviews again.
• To Joel aka Brewkkake – Start a blog again.  Your writing was brilliant and a breath of fresh air to beer blogs everywhere.
• To the Funky Buddha – Stop making over hyped beers!  Your super small batches are made with the intentions to cause a stir.  Okay I can’t really go through with this one.  I just wanted to jump on the FB hate train for a minute and I did not like it.  I’ll remove myself.  No ticket.
• To every person that continues to give these egomaniac “beer celebrities” a soap box – Stop it!  They don’t care about you and when they pretend to care about you it comes across blatantly pretentious and fake.
• To Terrapin Beer Company – Make the Dark Side again, please! You’ve brought back a number of other Side Projects before and this one needs to be brought back.  One of the best beers I’ve ever had and I want it again.

So let’s see if anyone tries to take me down today in a feat of strength.  Have a Happy Festivus everyone.

It’s that time of year again.  The cold weather is really rolling in (even here in South Florida where it’s 49 degrees at I write this).  The days are feeling shorter.  The shopping malls and plaza are packed with loony tunes trying to get the best deals possible on gizmos and gadgets.  And probably the biggest result of the season, people are drinking.

Whether they are doing it to celebrate the holidays with their loved ones or they are doing it to deal with loved ones we all are pretty much filling up glasses with adult beverages a little more in December.  And if you are a beer geek like me then there is plenty of great craft beer stocked up.

But tis the season to give right?  And what do you get for that special beer geek in your life.  Well considering everyone is different and some might have weird taste in certain things I could not even begin to hit down gift ideas for everyone.  But I can give you some starting pointers of some great presents to put under the tree this year.

Probably the single most important thing you need to enjoy great craft beer (after the beer itself of course) is glassware.  And not just any glassware but the right glassware.  And if you have a Total Wine and More near you they have started bringing in some nice glassware including glasses from Stone, Dogfish Head, Samuel Adams and Hofbrau.  But if you don’t have one of these super stores near by then I have found something just right.

Kegworks is offering the Classic Beer Glass Connoisseur Collection.  It is set of four different glasses including an imperial nonic pint glass, a Belgian style tulip, a tall wheat glass and pilsner glass.  The set also comes with a little journal to where they can record their thoughts about 33 different beers.  Theses are really the main glassware types that you need for being a beer geek.  Sure you can break down and get a bunch of other snifters and goblets but the tulip serves that purpose just fine.  With this set your friend can enjoy any number of fine brews in their proper glassware accompaniment.  For more details and to order check out the product on Kegwork’s website.

So you go some glasses but now you have to fill those up with some good suds for your beer geek.  What do you get them?  Well lucky for you Samuel Adams released something just in time for the holidays that every beer nerd will want.

Infinium is a collaboration brew that Boston Beer did with Weihenstephan out of Germany.  The idea was to create a brand new beer style but only use the four base ingredients for making beer; water, malted barley, hops, yeast.  And with the use of a champagne style of yeast Infinium was created.  This is a great once in a life time type of beer that your beer geek will love.  It should also be fairly easy to find at any local beer store that has good craft beer.  And at a retail price of between $18-$20 it won’t break your bank like Utopias.

Well maybe your beer geek in your life is a little more advanced in their love of great beer.  Maybe they even want to start brewing their own beer.  Well it’s pretty easy and cheap to get all the equipment you will need to start home brewing.

Over at Northern Brewer they have a number of different starter kits but I recommend the Better Basic Starter Kit as it gives you everything you need with an actual carboy as opposed to just 2 buckets from the base kit.  The only other things you will need is kettle, burner and the ingredients.  A stove top and kettle work just fine and NB has a number of recipe kits available on the site as well.  Just pick what you want to make and they will box together all the ingredients and mail them your way.

Speaking of mailing I bet you are thinking that’s a lot of equipment to send and it’s going to cost an arm and a leg to ship.  Well with Northern Brewer they have  a flat $7.99 shipping cost.  Yup you can get nearly anything from them (minus giant metal fermenters and such) shipped to your doorstep for just $7.99.

So there you have it.  Some great ideas for some gifts to get your loved one if they love themselves some good craft beers.  Happy holidays!