October and November 2025

October and November brought me to the middle of nowhere Illinois for work, across the state of Vermont for fun, and to Kenya and Tanzania for a safari! I also attended a small beer fest and had 3 bottle shares with friends. All in all I tried 191 different beers over the past two months, and here are the best of the best:

Poetica 3 + Works of Love: Anchorage Brewing (2016) + Art (Batch 6) + Vera Mae 2022 & 2023 + Anna Pear + Samuel (Batch 6) + Civil Disobedience #27 from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Yes, that is a wholeeee lot of Hill Farmstead beers, I know! I went to the brewery in Vermont where I had some incredible pours and I also shared some insane bottles with friends. Their Farmhouse Ales are very tough to beat.

Framboos (2014) from Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen in Belgium

This is a Lambic with Pajottenland raspberries from one of the top Lambic breweries in the world! At 11 years old it still slapped.

Cult of Billy: The Resurrection + Pronghorn + Torso + Little Death (Batch 2) + Staglore + Yodel: Manilita + Possessor + From Beyond + Primitive Rhythm + Thud + Mood Swinger + Sky Burial from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

Essentially the entire Freak Folk menu, I know haha. They are just truly crushing it and so impressive—easily my favorite brewery of 2025. I enjoyed many cans and a couple of bottles from them but also got to spend a couple evenings at their taproom in Waterbury where I basically sampled through the menu. They truly can’t go wrong, no matter the style.

TEN from Pulpit Rock Brewing in Decorah, IA

Pulpit Rock continues to really impress me. This is their 10th anniversary Stout blend of 33 and 27 month barrel-aged Imperial Stout rested on Tanzanian vanilla, two types of toasted coconut, almonds, and hazelnuts. 10/10!

Saint Lamvinus (2010) from Brasserie Cantillion in Belgium

I always love Saint Lam, but especially a 15 year old bottle! This Lambic is made with merlot and cabernet-franc grapes and barrel aged to perfection.

Kellerbier from Brauerei Eichorn Dorfleins in Germany

I had this stellar pour at Howl Bier in Winooski, Vermont. They brought in some special kegs to celebrate their 1 year anniversary and this was a true banger. HIGHLY recommend this spot outside of Burlington for great beers, killer vibes, and tasty eats.

Hand of Glory (2018) from Holy Mountain Brewing in Seattle, WA

Hand of Glory is an English style Barleywine aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels for 8 months, then transferred into former Kentucky bourbon barrels that had recently held American Apple Brandy, where it continued to age for an additional 8 months. This was an insane Barleywine with so much flavor (even 7 years in!).

Skipped Stitches + Eye of the Needle from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola, CA

SARA always knows how to put out a delicious Saison! Skipped Stitches Saison is aged in Venus gin barrels with black currant, and Eye of the Needle is also aged in Venus Spirits Gin barrels but with Passionfruit, Mango, and Guava. I wasn’t sure what to expect from those fruits in a Saison but I never should’ve doubted Sante Adairius.

Nowhere Left to Go + The Distorted Reflections Laced Inside Our Earthly Undoings + Portal Into Infinite Nonexistence from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

Although October and November were somehow the least amount of Burial beers I have had in quite some time, there were still some gems. Nowhere Left To Go is a Quadruple IPA collaboration with Monkish Brewing. The Distorted Reflections Laced Inside Our Earthly Undoings is a Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout with vanilla beans in collaboration with Cellarmaker Brewing. Portal Into Infinite Nonexistence is an Imperial Stout with Tahitian and Madagascar Vanilla and Double Dipped in Cocoa Nibs.

Noine Noine + Characters (Collaboration with Troon) + Scorched from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

3 great Hazys from Fidens! These guys can’t go wrong when it comes to any type of IPA, but it’s always a good idea to keep trying more to test that theory (wink wink)

Team Scream from Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

Team Scream was brewed for Resident Culture’s anniversary and is a Hazy Double IPA hopped with Nectaron, Peacharine, Citra, and Strata. The best IPA RC has produced in a while!

Seven Seas from BlackStack Brewing in St. Paul, MN

This Triple IPA was brewed for BlackStack’s anniversary with hand-selected Westwood Farms Citra & Crosby Estate Comet from Oregon, Hop Head Farms Chinook from Michigan, NZ Cascade, Cashmere, Centennial & Columbus Cryo hops. It’s been a while since I got my hands on anything from this gem in Minnesota and I am glad to see they’re still crushing it.

Can We Please Just Get This Over With from Nebuleus Beer in Portland, OR

Nebuleus with another banger! This is a blend of wine and gin barrel aged Saisons conditioned on Sitka spruce tips. This might sound a little crazy to some, but it was amazing!

Janacek from Black Flannel Brewing in Essex Junction, VT

This Czech Dark Lager was perfect on a chilly, rainy evening in Vermont. It was roasty, smooth, and perfectly poured—everything I am looking for in this style! I really enjoyed my visit to Black Flannel and would highly recommend adding it to your next VT trip!

Check back next month for my top beers of the full 2025 year!—Cheers, Alexis

May 2025

May brought visits to Charleston, SC and Asheville, NC for Mosaic and I, along with trying 108 beers along the way.

In no particular order, here were the best beers I had in May:

3 Fonteinen x Hill Farmstead Resonance Blend 1 Collaboration brew from 3 Fonteinen in Beersel, Belgium and Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

This unique brew was created in October 2019 and is a Lambic Gueze Blend. When Salud Beer Shop has a 3 Fonteinen drop, you know there are going to be some real gems and this pour was one of them. A damn near perfect beverage from two great breweries.

Pixel Point collaboration brew from Phase Three Brewing in Lake Zurich, IL and Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

Pixel Point is a Hazy IPA with hand-selected Citra hops from Phase Three and Trillium. This was part of a unique worldwide collaboration and release from Phase Three blended their flagship IPA, Pixel, with 3 other breweries flagship IPAs. Check out my PorchDrinking article with a deeper dive into this series here.

BBA Twice As Lonely with Banana (2025) from Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

The 2025 banana version of Bourbon Barrel Aged Twice As Lonely is a blend of 19-31 month old Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout conditioned on over 30 pounds per barrel of coconut, over 8 pounds per barrel of cacao nibs and over 10lbs per barrel of Wild Thai Banana. Decadent and delightful!

I used to Be an athlete collaboration beer from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY and Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

I Used To Be An Athlete is an Imperial IPA Double Dry-Hopped with Sabro, Citra, Vic Secret and Simcoe. Any time Burial and Other Half team up I am stoked for the results, and this was a gem as expected. This fan-favorite was recreated for Asheville Beer Week which was a great time to get up to AVL and support their recovery from Hurricane Helene.

Temporalis #0031 + 9 Pieds Sous Terre from Messorem in Montreal, Quebec

Temporalis #0031 is a Triple IPA with Nectaron, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Citra Incognito hops. 9 Pieds Sous Terre is a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Mosaic, Simcoe, and Citra hops. These are both ridiculously good brews that we are incredibly lucky to be seeing more and more in Charlotte.

Davy’s Axe collaboration brew from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY and Orchestrated Minds Brewing in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Davy’s Axe is a Triple IPA hopped with Citra DynaBoost, Citra Cryo, Citra, Simcoe, Azacca, and Simcoe DynaBoost. This unique hop combination resulted in a deliciously juicy brew. Special shout out to Quadruple Jasper from Fidens as well—this was another killer beer this month that was a Quadruple IPA hopped with all Citra.

The Invocation of Thought-Forms Collaboration Beer from Lesser-Known Beer Co. in Winston-Salem, NC and Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

This incredible collaboration is from arguably the two best breweries in North Carolina. It is an Imperial IPA brewed entirely with Pilsner malt and a little bit of corn sugar. It was whirlpooled with Citra, Strata, Vista and Cascade hops, and then open fermented with WLP001 and then cold conditioned for 2 weeks on more Citra, Strata and Vista. For a brewery who rarely? never? makes IPAs, Lesser-Known stepped out of their comfort zone and knocked this one out the park.

Half Birthdaywine 11.5 from Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, nC

Half Birthdaywine 11.5 is a blended Barleywine-style Ale aged in bourbon and brandy barrels. The Birthdaywine series they do is always delicious, this beer impressed me so much that I actually had it on tap twice in 48 hours. Cheers to another decade of Fonta Flora!

Check back next month for my top beers of June! Cheers —Alexis

July 2021

Y’all. July was insane. I visited Columbia South Carolina, Portland Oregon, Hood River Oregon, part of the Oregon Coast, Bend Oregon, Seattle Washington, Boston Massachusetts, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, and had some killer beers at home in Charlotte in-between. Trying to narrow down this list of my top beers in July was ridiculously difficult after visiting 65(!) new breweries in July, a few of which are some of the top breweries in the country. Check out my top beers in July below:

Everything from Great Notion Brewing in Portland, OR

Hi it’s me, already cheating for choice number one. It is impossible for me to pick one favorite beer from Great Notion that I had—I visited two of their taprooms and had a flight at each, so I had 10 beers on tap and 4 beers in cans throughout my trip. Some highlights were: Carnibaal Smoothie-Style Ale with raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, cotton candy, and marshmallow flavor that is a collaboration with @baabaabrewhouse, Orrerey Imperial Pastry Stout, Big Papaya Fruited Sour with papaya, Shepherd of the Forest Imperial IPA with Strata, Galaxy, Citra, and Vic Secret, and The Mad Batter Imperial Stout with chocolate, vanilla, almonds, and coconut.

Native/Wild Estate Honey From Oxbow Blending and Bottling in Portland, ME

Native/Wild Estate Honey is a Spontaneously Fermented Barrel Aged Farmhouse Ale with Maine grains, aged hops, well water, and estate honey. We enjoyed everything we tried at Oxbow and the highlight was definitely this bottle. Duckfat also has a location onsite to pair your beers with some killer fries.

Everything from The Ale Apothecary in Bend, OR

It is impossible to choose again here, so why not just talk about all of the beers? Ale Apothecary is a super unique little spot in Bend where all of their beers are 100% barrel aged, wild fermented, and naturally carbonated. I had every beer available when I visited: Pear Sauvie with @meccagrade barley and rye malts, @sauvieislandhops Crystal hops, and pear juice; Sahalie malted barley & wheat and @goschiefarms Cascade hops, house lactobacillus culture, aged up to 1 year in oak barrels then a month-long dry-hopping in oak barrels; Walking Fish dry-hopped brew transferred onto freshly harvested Crystal hops from @sauvieislandhops; Sahati barley & rye malts with @goschiefarms Cascade hops brewed in a fallen spruce tree; Farmhouse with barley, rye, wheat, and oats aged in barrels 3-4 months, dry-hopped in the barrel, and naturally carbonated with Oregon honey.

Twice the Daily Serving From Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

I always love this series from Trillium! This version of Twice The Daily Serving is a Berliner Weisse with blackberry, plum, and raspberry. Visiting Trillium was incredible and of course we left with a plethora of cans for the rest of our time in New England! I enjoyed this one with the sunset over the bay in Southwest Harbor, Maine near Acadia National Park.

Speling van het Lot VIII.ii: Schaarbeekse On A Toast (Medium) - Blended & Alive (Season 17|18) Blend No. 47 From Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen in Lot, Belgium

Did you get all of that? 3 Fonteinen always produces some of the best Lambics around and this one was no exception! It was incredibly smooth and had a nice hint of cherry without being overwhelming. Here is their description of this brew: Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 8th version features the maceration of Schaarbeekse cherries on charred/toasted barrels. This Schaarbeekse On A Toast has macerated for 265 days on a fresh 1,000 liter medium toasted French oak barrel, in a proportion of 1 kilo of Schaarbeekse cherries per liter of Lambic. After the maceration, the fruit Lambic was blended with young Lambic for a continued fermentation in the bottle.

Pear Mary 2019 From Cascade Brewing in Portland, OR

Cascade is a must visit in Portland! I absolutely loved getting to taste a bunch of their Sours and hanging out in their patio space. My favorite beer I had was Pear Mary 2019, a blend of sour blond ales aged in oak wine barrels then naturally fermented with juice from Northwest-grown pears and infused with fresh rosemary. I also enjoyed Chêne des Fous 2018, Apricot 2019, Garden Party 2017, and Belmont Street Bramble.

Double Dry Hopped Fort Point from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

Fort Point is Trillium’s classic juicy Pale Ale, and the DDH version of it was absolutely incredible. It is the classic Fort Point recipe with Columbus hops and then double dry hopped with Citra hops.

Eleanor from Fair Isle Brewing in Seattle, WA

Eleanor is a Farmhouse Ale refermented on elderberries with Hallertau Mittelfruh hops. It has a berry body with notes of cinnamon, clove, and earthy flavors. Fair Isle was my absolute favorite stop in Seattle! They specialize in creating mixed-culture Saisons and they absolutely crush it. I can’t wait to visit them again in the future!

The Purple Kriek From de Garde Brewing in Tillamook, OR

The Purple Kriek is a Spontaneous Wild Ale aged in oak barrels with black and red raspberries and Montmorency and Morello cherries. de Garde is a must visit on any trip to Oregon! They are consistently ranked one of the top breweries in the country, with good reason.

Back in the Zone collaboration From Mast Landing Brewing in Westbrook, ME and Orono Brewing in Orono, ME

Back in the Zone is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Mosaic, and Rakau hops. Mast Landing’s IPAs were absolutely stellar. I loved everything at the taproom outside of Portland, Maine and luckily they were on tap at several spots in Bar Harbor as well!

CHECK BACK NEXT MONTH TO SEE MY TOP BEERS OF August!
CHEERS —ALEXIS

My Top Beers in January 2021

Some people choose to do Dry-January, but personally that’s not something that I have ever or probably will ever choose to do.

First, my birthday is in January. Second, I like beer. Third, to me, forcing yourself to not do something is not a healthy option over moderation. Fourth, it’s a global pandemic, we celebrated a new President, and we faced an insurrection on our nation’s capitol.

In summary, I drank some beers in January! Here are my favorites, in no particular order:

CLIMB THE BALLMER PEAK FROM TRILLIUM BREWING IN BOston, MA and Equilibrium Brewery in MIDDLETOWN, NY

The second batch of this Triple IPA loaded with hand selected Citra hops. I love a good collab and EQ teaming up with Trillium was bound to be amazing! I brought this one up Stone Mountain, and although it wasn’t the Ballmer Peak it was a great peak to enjoy such a delicious beer. Check out all my favorite hikes near Charlotte here!

Even More Gummy Saurus from Evil Twin Brewing in New York, New York and Tripping Animals Brewing in Doral, FL

Even More Gummy Saurus is a Fruited Sour with coconut and marshmallow. I did not have high expectations for this beer because I am not a huge coconut fan and I generally like my Fruited Sours to be berry focused, but this one was stellar. Best paired with college basketball watching.

Marvoloso V7 from Commonwealth Brewing Company in Virginia Beach, VA

Wow. This one was an Imperial Chocolate Stout aged on Basil Hayden’s Bourbon and Woodford Reserve Rye barrels and conditioned on marshmallow, coconut, walnuts, cocoa nibs, Tahitian vanilla beans, and Ghirardelli dark chocolate. I enjoyed this adjunct-packed Stout at Carolina Beer Temple, we were lucky enough to visit when they were doing a Commonwealth tap takeover! Their outside patio area is great, I definitely recommend checking them out!

Hommage Bio Frambozen from Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen in Brussels, Belgium

Lambic Life! This is the Season 17|18 Blend Number 60 version Lambic with raspberries, cherries, and local honey. There is nothing that makes you feel quite as boojie as a Lambic basket. This was a special treat for my birthday from a good friend that we enjoyed at The Whale Beer Bar in Asheville. They’ve always got a killer tap list and can/bottle list as well!

Dessert Cart from Mountains Walking Brewery in Bozeman, MT and The Whale Beer Bar in Asheville, NC

Dessert Cart is a Pastry Stout brewed for The Whale's 3rd Anniversary using Mountains Walking’s thick and decadent Pastry Stout base conditioned on toasted coconut, toasted pecans, cocoa nibs and Tahitian vanilla bean. Creamy, thicc, flavorful, and delicious! We enjoyed this can at Salud Beer Shop, one of my favorite spots in Charlotte.

Second Hand Shanty from Vitamin Sea Brewing in Weymouth, MA and Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

This is a Triple IPA Double Dry-Hopped with Mosaic, Strata and Michigan Copper. Vitamin Sea and Resident Culture both crush it in the IPA game so it was no surprise that this collaboration was great. I personally preferred Vitamin Sea’s version, but both were absolutely fantastic!

Tune in next month for my February favorites! Cheers -Alexis