August and September 2025

August and September were two months packed with travel and delicious beers for me. Prior to a big road trip I shared beers with friends 3 times and visited Boone and Winston-Salem. Then Mosaic and I headed out to: Nashville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Colorado Springs, Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park, Fort Collins, Greeley, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Big Sky, Bozeman, Helena, Missoula, Glacier National Park, Teddy Roosevelt National Park, Rapid City, Black Hills, Badlands National Park, Sioux Falls, Lincoln, Omaha, Des Moines, Cincinnati, and Knoxville!

Throughout these journeys and shares I tried 313 beers over the past two months, and these were the best of the best. Normally I would spend time describing each beer, but frankly I am tired and there were too many good beers over the last 2 months, so this edition has a few less details but a lot more beers for you to seek out:

Samuel Batch 1, 2, and 3 + 15th Anniversary: Festbier from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Metaform (Strawberry) from HOMES Brewery in Ann Arbor, MI

Amidst A Metaphorical Psychobabble from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

Buckley Select #8 from Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

A Voice To Say from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola, CA

Yodel: NZ Cascade + Yodel: Peacharine + Signet: 2024 + Zygote + Everything Is A Lie + History of Dogs: For Gus + Dethroner from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

VSOJ 2024 + Lumberstruck 2025 from Revolution Brewing in Chicago, IL

names.mean.nothing.b2 + the world we’re in is broken from nebuleus in Portland, OR

Extra Cowboy Grass from Lesser-Known Beer Co in Winston-Salem, NC

Ong Ba Bi from CLAG Brewing Company in Sandusky, OH

Orca (Anniversary III) from Root + Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Quad Orchid from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

Cassis Du Fermier (Batch 4) + Sound Cycle Vol. 2 + Abricot Du Fermier (Blend 7) + Barrel Aged Coffee Shop Vibes (2020) from Side Project Brewing in Saint Louis, MO

Premiant from Alma Mader Brewing in Kansas City, MO

Coconut and Coffee Barrel Aged Cuvee from Fremont Brewing in Seattle, WA

Nelson Nelson Nelson + Partially Barrel-Aged Coconut Killa from Boiler Brewing Co. in Lincoln, NE

Unshaven collaboration from Bearded Brewer Artisan Ales in Omaha, NE and RaR Brewing in Cambridge, MD

Zen Scientist + Full Time Travis + Condor from Lua Brewing in Des Moines, IA

All Pixel Everything collaboration from Phase Three Brewing Company in Lake Zurich, IL and Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

Les Fleurs Du Mal from Xul Beer Company in Knoxville, TN

Triple Citra Daydream from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

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

May and June 2024

The last two months were absolutely stacked with incredible beer for me. I started May in Charlotte with brewery hopping and bottle sharing before heading out for a 29 day road trip across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia.

Mosaic and I visited some of the top breweries in the country (& world) so it is quite difficult to narrow down a list of top beers. This list will look a little different from my normal—in some cases I am listing more than one beer from a brewery because they were that good.

I rated all of these at least a 4.5 on Untappd, for reference. In no particular order, out of 310 beers tried, here were my top beers from May and June 2024:

Triple Vegan + DDH Eugene’s Axe + The Butcher+ Triple Jasper with Nelson from Fidens Brewing Company in Albany, NY

Fidens has been a favorite for me over the past couple of years, so I was stoked to visit their taproom. Their beer on tap is just simply superb, and of course I stocked up on cans to bring home as well. They were also pouring at Nucleate from HOMES which I attended while in Michigan, so I have been quite spoiled with Fidens over the past couple of months!

Triple Vegan is a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Nelson hops. DDH Eugene’s Axe is a double dry hopped Double IPA with Citra and Galaxy hops. The Butcher is a Double IPA with Mosaic hops in the whirlpool and dry hopped with Galaxy and Nelson. Triple Jasper with Nelson is a Triple IPA with Citra and Nelson hops.

Samuel (Batches 2 and 5) + Wheat Blanc (2022) from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Visiting Hill Farmstead is a remarkably peaceful and relaxing experience. Their taproom is essentially in the middle of nowhere and offers draft pours but also bottle pours.

Samuel is a Saison with organic buckwheat, organic spelt, and Vermont wildflower honey aged in wine barrels and bottle conditioned. I enjoyed Batch 2 and Batch 5 in a side-by-side tasting thanks to some great friends before heading out on my trip, and then I was lucky enough that Hill was pouring Batch 5 while I was at the taproom as well.

Wheat Blanc is a Farmhouse Ale aged in oak and hopped with Hallertauer Blanc. This beer is a little more basic but an absolute delight.

Staglore + Penumbra from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

Freak Folk is a wildly underrated brewery in the wildly underrated small town of Waterbury. Their beers, no matter the style, are superb. Two of my favorites from my visit were Staglore and Penumbra. Staglore is a Saison brewed with foraged staghorn sumac and conditioned in oak puncheons with mixed culture. Penumbra is a Saison fermented with mixed culture and matured in oak for 28 months then aged nearly 5 years.

A Test of Awareness + Crown of Illusions + Let’s Get Out of Here from Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ

Troon! Hyped and worthy. They don’t have a taproom, but you’re able to try their beers on draft at Brick Farm Tavern on their property + they release crowlers occasionally. I tried all of their beers on tap and loved the entire experience.

Each of these top three beers I had from them are deemed “Hoppy Ales” as they don’t giveaway much of anything, but they were all superb. I was lucky enough to have Let’s Get Out of Here on draft and in a crowler and it was top tier.

Ninth Passing from Burial Beer Company in Asheville, NC

Ninth passing is a Rum and Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with toasted coconut, cocoa nibs, and vanilla beans brewed to celebrate Burial’s ninth anniversary. They’ve since celebrated 11 years, so I figured it was time to crack this bad boy open. Absolutely delicious!

Barrel Aged Space Cuvée from Equilibrium Brewery in Middletown, NY

EQ is a tried and true favorite. While in the Hudson Valley area I knew I had to pay another visit to this gem. The beers, food, and vibes are all great! This particular brew is an Imperial Stout aged in a Weller barrel for 34 months with a vanilla cuvée, vanilla granola and caramel toasted coconut added.

Doubleganger + Golden Fern from Tree House Brewing Company in Charlton, MA

Tree House is one of the OGs in the Hazy IPA game and it felt like a right of passage to visit their beautiful taprooms across Massachusetts. Their location on the beach of Cape Cod in Sandwich is tough to beat with gorgeous views and chill vibes. The main space in Charlton is gorgeous and massive. Deerfield is newer and quite peaceful.

I enjoyed numerous great beers from them on my taproom journey, but Doubleganger and Goldern Fern were my top two. Doubleganger is a Double IPA that is the amped up version of Doppelganger. Golden Fern is a Double IPA with Nelson, Peacharine, Motueka, and Waimea hops

‘Nana This from CLAG Brewing Company in Sandusky, OH

‘Nana This is an Imperial Stout aged 15 months in Old Carter barrels, conditioned on coconut, coffee, vanilla beans, cinnamon, cocoa nibs and banana. CLAG can do it all—IPAs, Lagers, and this decadent Stout. Their taproom is out of the way (unless you’re visiting Cedar Point!) but absolutely worth a visit!

Say Yes from Lua Brewing in Des Moines, IA

Say Yes is a Fruited Sour with blackberry, boysenberry, and blue raspberry. Lua always has great beers and I was very happy to see them at Nucleate from HOMES. This Sour was superb—packed with flavor and easily a favorite of the festival.

Second Hand Coffins collaboration brew from Foam Brewers in Burlington, VT and Widowmaker Brewing in Braintree, MA

This Oat Triple IPA from two New England greats. I enjoyed it on tap at Foam, which helped make up for the fact that Widowmaker was closed when I was in the area. Deliciously juicy and great with views of Lake Champlain.

Parlance: 2022 Harvest Shiro from Suarez Family Brewery in Hudson, NY

Suarez is an interesting spot to visit with just two beers on tap and a handful of onsite bottles. Their beer is always top-notch. Coincidentally right before I left Charlotte and was able to visit Suarez I decided to crack this bottle. This is a Country beer with Shiro plums and is absolutely delicious!

The Best Breweries in the Midwest

The Midwest is full of great breweries—let’s be real there’s not much to do from November-March when you are snowed in other than brew and drink great beer. As a result there are some stellar spots spanning across these states!

The best breweries in the Midwest, in no particular order:

Phase Three Brewing Company: Lake Zurich, IL

Speciation Artisan Ales: Grand Rapids, MI

Pulpit Rock Brewing Company: Decorah, IA

Lua Brewing: Des Moines, IA

Forager Brewery: Rochester, MN

Side Project Brewing: Maplewood, MO

Jackie O’s Brewery: Athens, OH

New Glarus Brewing Company: New Glarus, WI

BlackStack Brewing: St. Paul, MN

Transient Artisan Ales: Bridgman, MI

Revolution Brewing: Chicago, IL

Drekker Brewing Company: Fargo, ND

Which of these have you been to? What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments! Cheers—Alexis

April 2022

April was a crazy month of travel and beers—so crazy in fact that I didn’t write a March top beers round up because I was on the road at the end of March and first couple of weeks of April, sorry friends! This past month I visited Wilmington NC, Charleston SC, Savannah GA, Miami FL and Seabrook Island SC. I also attended two beer festivals in April—Cape Fear Craft & Cuisine in Wilmington and Wakefest from J. Wakefield Brewing in Miami. That all adds up to a lot of beers, so the ones that made the cut here are truly the best of the best!

In no particular order, here were my top beers in April 2022:

MawMaw’s Humbleberry Pie collaboration brew from Two Tides Brewing in Savannah, GA and Inner Voice Brewing in Decatur, GA

MawMaw’s Humbleberry Pie is a Fruited Sour with raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, vanilla, cinnamon and graham cracker. It is packed with flavor and extremely easy to drink, but still comes in at 7% ABV.

Apple Brandy Barrel Aged Stepping on Toes collaboration brew from Westbrook Brewing in Charleston, SC, The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC, Evil Twin Brewing in New York, NY and Edmund’s Oast Brewing in Charleston, SC

This is an Imperial Stout aged in Laird’s applejack apple brandy barrels for over two years then infused with toasted coconut, banana, macadamia nuts and vanilla beans. This beer is basically everything I love infused into one brew—apple brandy barrel aged, coconut, banana, and vanilla! This was an exceptional brew. I had the original Stepping on Toes last year and this one completely blows the other out of the water. Highly recommend if you can get your hands on it!

Simple Thoughts from Tripping Animals Brewing in Doral, FL

Simple Thoughts is an Imperial Stout aged for 15 months in bourbon maple barrels and conditioned with wild Thai banana, coconut, cacao nibs, peanut butter and Madagascar vanilla beans. Peanut butter Stouts can be a miss for me, but I was thoroughly impressed with this brew at Tripping Animals. Everything I had there was fantastic!

Around The Sun 2 from Edge City Brewery in Charlotte, NC

Around The Sun 2 is a Sour IPA hopped with Citra and conditioned on mangos, tangerines, kiwis and Cloister honey. Edge City released this beer for their 2nd Anniversary in April, and the first version of Around The Sun was released last year for their 1st Anniversary. This beer is the perfect balance of tartness, fruitiness, and smoothness. I had this beer 3 times in 24 hours, so I can definitely say I fully endorse it.

Citra Cutting Tiles from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

Cutting Tiles is Trillium’s single hop Double IPA series with raw wildflower honey. This Citra version of Cutting Tiles was fantastic! Anything Citra is usually going to go over well, but the addition of the honey sweetened things up a bit and smoothed out the beer. Another win from the folks at Trillium!

Napping Under the Echo Tree from Lua Brewing in Des Moines, IA

Napping Under the Echo Tree is a Fruited Sour with dragon fruit, passionfruit, mango and guava. This was my first time trying anything from Lua and I absolutely loved it! I will definitely be hunting for them on my Midwest road trip this summer!

The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism Chapters 1, 2 & 3 from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

I did a side by side of all three chapters of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism and thoroughly enjoyed each one! Chapter 1: Ignorance is Strength is a Double IPA, Chapter 2: Freedom Is Slavery is a Triple IPA and Chapter 3: War Is Peace is a Double IPA. Each Chapter was pretty similar, but overall Chapter II was my favorite!

CHECK BACK NEXT MONTH TO SEE MY TOP BEERS OF MAY 2022!
CHEERS—ALEXIS