My Top Beers in June 2021

June absolutely flew by but it was still packed with some delicious beers! We took two trips to Atlanta, a quick stop in Greenville, and hosted our first fully vaccinated bottle share. In no particular order, here were my top beers in June 2021:

Check out my guide to Atlanta here!

Emergency Chute from Variant Brewing Co in Roswell, GA

Emergency Chute is an Imperial New England IPA. It is brewed with Vic Secret, Simcoe, and Citra hops resulting in a smooth and juicy flavor. This was my first visit to Variant and first time trying any of their beers. I was super impressed!

Self-Reliance: Strata from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

Self Reliance is Hill Farmstead’s Farmhouse IPA series. This version is brewed exclusively with Strata hops. It was brewed in March 2020, conditioned in puncheons for four months, and then double dry-hopped. Every beer in this series has been fantastic!

The Time Between Dog and Wolf from Resident Culture Brewing in Charlotte, NC

The Time Between Dog and Wolf is an Imperial Pastry Stout. It was Bourbon Barrel Aged for 14 months in Willett Bourbon barrels that previously housed dark, robust maple syrup from High Low Farm in Woodstock, VT and single origin coffee beans from Finca La Laja in Veracruz, Mexico sourced by Pure Intentions Coffee. It is rich, flavorful, and thick. Best served with Ashworth Cookies.

Dot Matrix collaboration from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC and BlackStack Brewing in St. Paul, MN

Dot Matrix is a Mixed Fermentation Gose with malted wheat, passionfruit, raspberry, guava, grapefruit and black truffle sea salt. This collab is tart, fruity, and delicious. These breweries have been two of my favorites for quite a while now, but I am continually impressed by the beers they produce.

Vary from Halfway Crooks in Atlanta, GA

Vary is a Czech Pilsner with Saaz hops and Czech yeast. This is the malty version of another one of their Czech Pilsner’s, Var. Don’t let the term malt scare you here, it is still clean and crisp as you want a Pilsner to be. Halfway Crooks absolutely crushes the Lager game so it’s no surprise that they are on the list. It was difficult to choose which Halfway Crooks beer to add here out of the 6 beers from them I got to try this month!

Check back next month to see my top beers of July!
Cheers —Alexis

My Top Beers in April 2021

April brought a trip to the mountains in Linville Gorge and another visit to Raleigh, so there were plenty of good beers to be had. In no particular order, here were my top beers in April:

Need A Hug from Fonta Flora Brewing in Morganton, NC

Need A Hug is an Appalachian Wild Ale brewed with blueberries and elderberries. Fonta Flora makes some of the best Wild Ales and Lagers in the game and this one is at the top of the list for me. I absolutely loved how packed with flavor yet simultaneously light and refreshing it was!

Double Sunset from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

Other Half has made many versions of this Imperial Stout, this one is made with Coava Coffee Roasters Guatemalan Nayo Ovalle Coffee, vanilla and milk sugar. This beer is absolutely phenomenal and one of my favorite Stouts so far this year. I unfortunately broke the bottle of the other version we had and will forever be full of regret because this one was a banger!

Whistlin’ from Suarez Family Brewery in Hudson, NY

Whistlin’ is a Farmhouse Saison with fresh lemongrass fermented with a mixed culture and aged in oak casks. It is both citrusy but also slightly spicy from the country beer vibes. It is light, refreshing, and extremely tasty. This was the perfect beer to enjoy on the deck in the mountains.

Charge the Channel collaboration brew from Vitamin Sea Brewing in Weymouth, MA and Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA

Vitamin Sea and Trillium are two of the best in the game when it comes to IPAs so it is no surprise this brew is delicious. Charge The Channel is an oated Double IPA with Citra, Rakau, and Galaxy hops. It is smooth, flavorful, and juicy—everything I am looking for in a DIPA.

Blade of Hercules collaboration brew from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY and Mortalis Brewing in Avon, NY

Fidens is the new hype brewery and honestly I am jumping on the train. This is the second beer I’ve had from them, the first being an IPA, and they were both top notch. Fidens collaborated with Mortalis, another superb brewery to create this delectable Stout. Blade of Hercules is an Imperial Stout with marshmallow, graham cracker, and cocoa nibs. It tastes like smores in a glass but in a good way, not a smoky and sticky way. I highly recommend getting your hands on some Fidens if you have not already!

Check back next month to see what my top beers of May 2021 will be!

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