April did not bring many rain showers this year, but it did bring a trip to Richmond, a bottle share, and some killer events and releases at Burial. Of the 94 beers I tried in April, here were the best of the best:

Triple Farmer and Margaret Maggie from Fidens Brewing Company in Albany, NY

Is it a “My Top Beers” blog without a couple of Fidens bangers? Triple Farmer is a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic and Nelson hops that I am sure has been featured on this blog before. Margaret Maggie is a Double IPA with Citra and Cashmere hops. Both of these are fantastic examples of the Fidens haze game and were delicious.

Coconut Diablo Forever from The Answer Brewpub in Richmond, VA

Coconut Diablo Forever is Double Forever Imperial Milk Stout with toasted coconut. This was an absolute banger and a beer I have thought about multiple times since having it. The Answer’s dark beer game always impresses!

I Don’t Know Me collaboration from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC and Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

I Don’t Know Me is a Triple IPA triple dry hopped with Burial’s hand-selected Mosaic and Simcoe, Indie Hops Strata, Sabro, and Strata CGX Powder. This is part of Burial’s Dream Candy series and another collaboration they rocked out with Other Half.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Ego Death Compost Cookie (2024) from Resident Culture Brewing Company in Charlotte, NC

The Compost Cookie edition of BBA Ego Death is a blend of Imperials Stouts aged in Willett Sour Mash Bourbon, Willett Sour Mash Rye, and Yellowstone Kentucky Bourbon barrels for a period of 18-27 months then conditioned on toasted hazelnuts and cacao nibs, then further conditioned on butterscotch chips, dark chocolate chips, potato chips, pretzels, and graham crackers. It tastes even more ridiculously delicious than it sounds!

The Mania collaboration from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC and Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

The Mania is a Triple IPA triple dry hopped with Mosaic and Motueka T90 and Mosaic and Motueka Cryo. Yes, I have in fact had this beer on tap 3 times and have 2 cans in the fridge. Incredible beer from two of the best!

Queen City and From Sandusky With Love from CLAG Brewing Company in Sandusky, OH

Queen City is an Imperial IPA and From Sandusky With Love is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Strata hops. Lucky for me Mekong in Richmond had some stellar CLAG taps on when I was in town, and these two were particularly delicious! Can’t wait to get back to Sandusky this summer and restock on their juicy goodness.

Symbology: Fehu from Conclave Brewing

Fehu from the Symbology series at Conclave is a Triple IPA that is bursting with flavor. Every beer I’ve ever had from Conclave has been super impressive—I need to get up to visit their taproom and try even more!

Barrel-Aged Chocolate Covered Nut Brittle from Trillium Brewing Company in Boston, MA

This beer is an Imperial Stout with roasted peanuts, cacoa nibs, vanilla and milk sugar. While Trillium is known for their Hazy IPAs and even their Sours, the Stout game quietly is crushing it as well.

Deth’s Tar (2024) from Revolution Brewing in Chicago, IL

Deth’s Tar is an Imperial Oatmeal Stout aged in borbon-soaked American oak barrels. This is part of Revolution’s Deep Wood Series that is always incredible. I was stoked to get my hands on these cans while up in Michigan!

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

Seven from The Veil Brewing in Richmond, VA

Seven is an Imperial Stout aged In Willett, Utopias, Maple And Weller Bourbon Barrels for an average of 21 months and conditioned on chocolate sandwich cookies, toasted coconut, Tahitian vanilla and truffle. I gave this a 4.75 on Untappd, meaning it was absolutely incredible.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Not Your Nana’s Pudding from Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

Resident Culture put out several variants of this beer, and the Banana Pudding edition was my favorite! This is an Imperial Stout aged in Willett Bourbon barrels for 12-20 months then conditioned on wild Thai bananas, vanilla, and Nilla wafers.

Backpack Full of Cans from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Backpack Full of Cans is a Triple IPA with Citra, Motueka, and Simcoe hops. Another Monkish banger, no surprise there! Best paired with a fantastic book from Book of the Month.

Wormhole Junction from Newgrass Brewing in Shelby, NC

Wormhole Junction is a solera of elaborate imperial stout bases, with 37.5% aged for 37 months in Old Forester Bourbon barrels, another 37.5% aged in Willett Bourbon barrels for 23 months, and the final 25% aged in MGP Bourbon barrels for 18 months. After blending, the solera base was conditioned with a curated selection of Ugandan and Comoros vanilla bean. This was my top beer at Queen City Brewers Fest and extremely delicious!

Brabantiæ (2018) from Cantillon in Brussels, Belgium

Brabantiæ is a Gueuze that was finished in Port wine barrels. Upon description I would not think it would be quite my cup of tea, but this was superb. It was incredibly well-rounded and light.

Nucleate (2019) collaboration brew from HOMES Brewery in Ann Arbor MI, Speciation Artisan Ales in Grand Rapids MI and Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

HOMES creates this beer each year in celebration of their annual Nucleate Beer Festival. They collaborate with different breweries each time, and the 2019 version happened to bring together my 3 favorite breweries in Michigan! This is a Mixed Culture Sour Ale with a blend of the house culture from each brewery, then refermented on strawberry, blackberry and raspberry and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast.

Three Times Three from North Park Beer Company in San Diego, CA

This is a collaboration with Omnipollo, Monkish, Trillium, Other Half, Troon, Brujos & North Park, and it is North Park’s version of the collab. Three Times Three is a Triple Dry Hopped Hazy Triple IPA with Citra, Citra Cryo, Motueka, Nelson Sauvin and Riwaka hops. After doing a side by side of 5 different versions of this beer, North Park’s was above and beyond the best! Our entire group at the bottle share agreed.

Microcosm IV, No. 4 from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC

Shout out to Jesse at The Whale in Greenville for sharing this wild brew! Microcosm IV, Number 4 is a Strong Ale Blend consisting of: 4-Year-Old Barleywine aged in a Laird's Apple Brandy barrel, 3-Year-Old Imperial Stout aged in a Maple BLiS barrel, 2-Year and 3-Month-Old Imperial Stout aged in a Single Pick Four Roses barrel and conditioned on roasted pecans, New Hampshire maple syrup, Tahitian vanilla and toasted coconut. The barrel flavor and adjuncts come through nicely without one note overpowering the others. A really well done beer. Also a special shout out to Neck and Neck (Batch 3) from Eighth State, which was another fantastic beer I had during my Greenville visit, but I had to narrow down the list. Check out my Greenville beer and travel guide here.

10th Anniversary Collaboration #7 Smoothie Sour from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn NY, Mortalis Brewing in Avon NY, J. Wakefield Brewing in Miami FL, Hoof Hearted Brewing in Marengo OH and Omnipollo in Stockholm, Sweden

For Other Half’s 10th Anniversary they released 10 different collaboration beers, only one of which was a Smoothie Sour. Other Half’s IPAs and Stouts are usually my favorite, so my expectations were not overly high when I cracked this can, but wow was I wrong. Collaboration #7 blends anejo tequila aged seltzer into the base beer along with strawberries, lime, a hint of tangerine puree, and some soft serve ice cream. It was tart, yet sweet. Full of body, yet smooth and light. Fruity, yet tequila-y. Sheesh!

April 2025