My Top Beers in April

April! I took a trip to western Texas and southern New Mexico, explored Johnson City, Tennessee, made a stop in Asheville, and hung out in Winston-Salem for a day. All in all I tried 109 different beers this month, and crazily two of the best were Helles Lagers. In no particular order, here were the best beers I had over the past month:

4 Meters from Lesser-Known Beer Co. in Winston-Salem, NC

Lesser-Known has been one of my favorites for about a year and a half now. They make wildly delicious Lagers in a cute little taproom in Winston-Salem. This Helles was a tank pour and absolutely superb.

Chocolate Rain (2016) from The Bruery in Placentia, CA

Chocolate Rain is a Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with cacao nibs and vanilla beans. The 2016 edition comes in at 19.7% ABV (!!!) and packs a punch. It was full of flavor which was pretty surprising given the age and ABV. Thanks to Ricky for sharing this one at Pop The Top’s anniversary celebration!

Trailing Souls collaboration brew from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA and Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Trailing Souls is a Triple IPA with Citra, Strata and Simcoe hops. I knew this was going to be a great Hazy based on the two breweries involved, but it exceeded expectations. Absolutely delicious!

Heartsease from Keepsake Brewery in Gastonia, NC

Heartsease is an unfiltered Helles Lager that was the perfect post-hike brew. Keepsake opened in the Charlotte suburbs in February and I made the trek to Gastonia at the beginning of this month. I was very impressed with the beers and will definitely be back!

Plum: 2021 Harvest from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, VT

I love a fruited Saison from Hill Farmstead and this version of Plum was great! The oak from barrel aging and fruity flavor both combine for a great well-rounded taste. I am so very excited to finally be visiting them next month!

Check back next month to see my top Beers in May! Cheers —Alexis

My Top Beers in March

March! Warm weather officially landed on us this month in Charlotte which meant plenty of backyard beers, especially while watching March Madness and tennis. I kicked off the month in Hendersonville and Asheville, NC with many brewery visits and also headed to Wilmington for Feast Wilmington, then ended the month with a bottle share. Of the 115 beers I tried this month, here were the best of the best:

Take Me Higher collaboration brew from DSSOLVR in Asheville, NC and Corporate Ladder Brewing in Palmetto, FL

Take Me Higher is a Double Barrel Aged Brown Sugar Barleywine that was barrel aged 40 months in wood. It rested first in 8-year Elijah Craig Bourbon Barrels for 20 months and then Apple Brandy Barrels for another 20 months. This packed a punch but was a delightful flavor combination.

Doom Loop from Freak Folk Bier in Waterbury, VT

Doom Loop is a Triple IPA with Citra, Galaxy and Strata CGX hops. This was my favorite Freak Folk Bier to date! What a delicious, juicy, smooth TIPA.

Life and Fate XXV from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

The Life and Fate experimental multi-oat/wheat Double IPA series from Root and Branch can’t miss! It is wild to see they are already at number 25—if you haven’t gotten your hands on one of these yet it is time to seek one out!

Hormesis from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC

Hormesis is an Imperial Stout aged 1 Year and 11 Months in a Laird's Apple Brandy barrel with toasted coconut, Scotch Bonnet peppers, Habanero peppers and Tahitian vanilla. I somehow stumbled upon this via some friends at a beer release and it was a great blend of heat and apple brandy!

Void Nectar from Brujos Brewing in Portland, OR

Void Nectar is an Imperial Hazy India Pale Ale Double Dry Hopped with Galaxy, Citra and Nectaron hops. Another juice bomb from Brujos that was just a little tooooo easy to drink.

Barrel Aged Coconut Pistachio Cheesecake collaboration brew from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY and Southern Grist Brewing in Nashville, TN

This was a creamy, flavorful delight from two greats! Pistachio is not usually my favorite adjunct but this was very well balanced and delicious.

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

My Top Beers in August and September 2023

August & September started off with 2 weeks in Charlotte before heading out for a 6 week adventure! I spent time in Michigan and Washington before heading back to CLT at the end of September. In this time I tried 232 different beers via a couple of bottle shares and visiting a lot of different breweries in my travels.

In no particular order, here were the best beers I had over the past two months:

Magos Del Subterraneo collaboration brew from Brujos Brewing in Portland, OR and Troon Brewing in Hopewell, NJ

This is an Imperial IPA with raw Oregon honey and is double dry hopped with Nelson CGX, Nelson, Motueka CGX, Motueka and Citra hops. This is a superb beer. I was lucky enough to have it twice in August and I gave it a 5 on Untappd both times. The honey was a fantastic addition!

No Sleep Means Insomnia from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

No Sleep Means Insomnia is a Triple IPA with Motueka & Citra hops. Monkish Triples are just unbeatable. I had a few great ones over the past two months so it was hard to select just one for the list, but this one stood out for it’s superb flavor.

Lorraine from Fair Isle Brewing in Seattle, WA

Lorraine is a Farmhouse Ale with Gewürztraminer grapes and Syrah pomace. Fair Isle is one of my favorite breweries in the country so I was extremely excited to get to visit their taproom again. I had several beers during my visit (and grabbed a few to-go bottles too!) and Lorraine was spectacular!

Chainsaw from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Chainsaw is a Triple IPA with wildflower honey and dry hopped with Cashmere, Citra and Simcoe hops. This is the second IPA with honey on the list so perhaps this is how my taste buds are leaning as of late. Another killer brew from R&B.

Edge of the Dessert from Great Notion Brewing in Portland, OR

This is a Smoothie Sour with pineapple, mango and cheesecake. It’s been a little while since I have had a Great Notion Sour and this was a great reminder of how delicious they are. We’ve been getting some Great Notion distribution in Charlotte so I had debated whether or not to visit the Ballard taproom in Seattle, but I am so glad I did! Great brews and chill vibes.

MMXXI Chardonnay from Floodland Brewing in Seattle, WA

Description from the brewery: “This 2021 harvest beer was made through a native fermentation of Chardonnay grapes from French Creek Vineyard on the slopes of the Yakima River. The grapes from were destemmed and crushed and kept in contact with the skins for some time before being pressed and then blended with well aged spelt saison as well as saison brewed with wheat and oats. This beer was refermented to condition in the bottle with raw honey from Cougar Canyon Apiary, harvest on Rattlesnake Point 10/01/2021.”

Floodland! I was very excited to see Ridgewood Bottle and Tap had this hard-to-find brewery on tap while I was in Seattle. Stellar brew, as expected.

Solo Exhibition (Citra) from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY

This is a Triple IPA with Citra hops. It’s a classic Other Half style brew with all Citra hops which is hard to beat. Smooth, flavorful, delicious.

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

My Top Beers in July 2023

July was a busy month! I tried 215 beers in July which is potentially the most I’ve ever had because of a beer fest, bottle share and lots of beer flights while traveling.

July started off with Free The Whales beer fest on which was full of delicious brews and was hosted at HopFly Brewing with Resident Culture Brewing. After that Mosaic and I headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains in north Georgia for the fourth of July week. We came home to a bottle share with friends and then left again for a 13 day road trip to the Outer Banks, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Maryland, Delaware, and Shenandoah National Park. All of that resulted in some high quality beers and it was quite difficult to narrow down this list.

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

Raspberry Marmalade from Dewey Beer Company in Dewey Beach, DE

Raspberry marmalade is a Fruited Sour with raspberries. I had this at Dewey’s original taproom at the beach and absolutely loved it. It truly tastes like raspberry marmalade in the best way possible.

Hang My Boots from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Hang My Boots is a Triple IPA with Nelson Sauvin hops. I cracked this the night before departing for my road trip and it certainly kicked the journey off on the right note. A truly fantastic brew.

Blu Jamz from Seedz Brewery in Union Pier, MI

Blu Jamz is a blended Saison refermented with Michigan grown blueberries. I am absolutely stoked to finally be visiting Seedz in a couple of weeks after they’ve been on my list for years. Everything I’ve ever had from them has been great and Blu Jamz was another superb brew.

More Jasper Than All Jasper collaboration brew from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY and Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

This is a Triple IPA with Citra hops. It is a blend of Other Half’s More Than series and Fiden’s Jasper. This is far too easy to drink for a Triple and full of juicy notes.

PB&J Mixtape from Xul Brewing in Knoxville, TN

PB&J Mixtape is a peanut butter and jelly Sour. A lot of breweries make pb&j beers but this was easily the best I have ever had. It tastes exactly like you’re eating the sandwich and is ridiculously great.

Double Dry Hopped King Sue from Toppling Goliath Brewing in Decorah, IA

DDH King Sue is an Imperial IPA with Citra hops. I was lucky enough to have this beer twice recently because Toppling Goliath is now distributing to North Carolina! So excited for this and for all of their fantastic beers to make there way over here.

Monolith collaboration brew from Lua Brewing in Des Moines, IA and Little Cottage Brewing in Atlanta, GA

Monolith is an Imperial Stout with coconut, hazelnuts, marshmallow, and cacao nibs. At 15.2% ABV this is a heavy beer, but it is absolutely delicious. This was easily the best beer at the Free The Whales festival and everyone was talking about how great it was. Lua continues to impress!

Darkness at Noon from Root + Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This was the May 2023, Batch 4 version of Darkness at Noon and absolutely superb. It is a multi-oat/wheat Triple IPA and we had this in a growler, so it was delightful to have a fresh Root and Branch not out of a can.

Check back next month for my top beers in August! Cheers —Alexis

My Top Beers in April 2023

April was a fun month with trips to Austin, Texas, Holbox Island in Mexico, and Richmond, Virginia! I also had a couple friends visit Charlotte and got to show them around town and then also participated in a couple if bottle shares. All in all I tried 117 beers in April. In no particular order here were my top beers of the past month:

Everyone Stands Beneath Their Own Dome of Heaven from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This is the classic “multi-oat/wheat double IPA” as Root and Branch likes to describe it. They like to hold their secrets close to their chest without revealing any hops or much information, but this one was a banger. It was batch 6 of the brew and truly superb. I enjoyed this one at the pool of our Airbnb in Holbox which was delightful!

Seven from The Veil Brewing in Richmond, VA

Seven was one of The Veil’s 7th anniversary beer releases and phenomenal. Lucky for me I visited their taproom in RVA a week after the anniversary and was still able to try it on tap and grab a bottle to take home. Seven is an Imperial Stout aged in Willett, Utopias, Maple and Weller Bourbon Barrels for an average of 21 months then conditioned on chocolate sandwich cookies, toasted coconut, Tahitian vanilla and truffle.

The Laurentian Series: Cuvee Des Grands Lacs with Marquette Grapes from Speciation Artisan Ales in Grand Rapids, MI

This complex beer is a blend of 5 barrels filled with spontaneously fermented beer that was cooled in a coolship near each of the 5 Great Lakes and fermented exclusively with the wild cultures caught in the air at each site, Marquette grapes were then added. I’ve had this beer before and was blown away by how fantastic it was so when I saw another bottle at a shop in Michigan I knew I had to have it!

Flora (Cherry, Raspberry, Northern Kiwi) from Hill Farmstead in Greensboro, VT

Flora is the wine barrel aged version Florence and always one of my favorite beers. I love the different varieties they Hill Farmstead makes of it! This version was aged on hand-picked Vermont-grown Montmorency cherries, raspberries and northern kiwi.

I Hope This Is The Endgame from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC

Burial’s adjuncted Stouts are hard to beat! This one is an Imperial Stout with toasted pecans, Thai banana, vanilla bean, cinnamon, maple syrup and sea salt. As I am sure you know by know I am a sucker for anything with Thai banana so when they released this beer I knew I had to snag a bottle. It was absolutely delicious!

Snow Giant from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Snow Giant is a Triple IPA with Citra and Nectaron hops. I enjoyed this on tap at The Veil’s new taproom since they had some guest taps for their anniversary on. Monkish always crushes the juice game and this one was delightful—easy drinking and packed with flavor.

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

My Top Beers in February 2023

February flew by in a breeze but I somehow tried 152 different beers in this quick month. Bottle shares and beer flights always mean getting to try a wider variety of beers which I love! This list of beers has the best of the best that I had over the past 4 weeks which I rated a 4.5 or above on Untappd.

This month included a trip to Savannah and the Jacksonville Beach, Florida area to hang at the beach and explore the local brew scene as well as the local beer fest Queen City Brewers Festival, a bottle share, a Superbowl share, many visits to local breweries and lots of great beers at home in between.

In no particular order, here are the best beers I had in February 2023:

Even More Daily Servings from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA and Evil Twin Brewing in New York, NY

Even More Daily Servings is a Fruited Sour with raspberries and marshmallow. This is an amped up version of Twice the Daily Serving which is already my favorite Sour, so add more fruit and marshmallow and it can only get better! Another superb collaboration from Trillium and Evil Twin.

Paulus from Schilling Beer Company in Littleton, NH

Paulus is a Helles Lager with Noble hops. Schilling crushes the Lager game and I am so excited to be seeing more of their beers around North Carolina. I enjoyed this at Salud Beer Shop in Charlotte, in a big ole dimple mug as it should be done.

Medium Raw from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Medium Raw is a multi-oat/wheat Triple IPA with Citra and Freestyle Motueka hops. This was a fantastic brew from Root and Branch. Especially for it being a Triple IPA this was way too easy to drink and I wish I had more cans of it!

Searching For The Proof That We’ve Truly Lived from Percent Tap House in Harrisburg, NC and Forgotten Road Ales in Graham, NC

This is a wine barrel aged Farmhouse Saison with pairs, honey and locally grown Green Szechuan. It is pictured right in the photo above. These two breweries tend to be a little quieter in the North Carolina brew scene but are always cranking out delicious beers! This was a very interesting collaboration with superb flavor.

Flora (Batch 10) from Hill Farmstead Brewing in Greensboro Bend, VT

Flora is the wine barrel aged version of Florence, a wheat Farmstead Ale. This was barrel aged for over two years. Hill Farmstead continues to crush this style of beer.

Double Barrel Coconut Fionn from Angry Chair Brewing in Tampa, FL

Double Barrel Coconut Fionn is a rum and bourbon barrel aged Imperial Porter with hazelnut coffee and coconut. While in Florida a dark beer from Angry Chair is always a must. I enjoyed this one at 9 Zero Pour in Jacksonville, FL. The rich notes of coconut were fantastic!

Infiltrator from Root and Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

Infiltrator is a multi-oat/wheat IPA brewed and dry hopped with New Zealand grown hops from Freestyle Hops. Normally it is difficult for a single IPA to be overly impressive when you can pack so much more flavor into a Double or Triple IPA, but Infiltrator is a top-notch beer. I’ve had this beer in the past and am always impressed by just how incredible it is!

Genealogy of Morals: Buena Vista Organic from Hill Farmstead Brewing in Greensboro Bend, VT

From Hill Farmstead: “We have chosen three barrels as the base for this single country origin coffee and cacao nib variation. After aging more than 26 months in select bourbon barrels, we conditioned the beer atop organic Buena Vista beans from Caranavi, Bolivia, sourced and roasted by our friends at The Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as organic Bolivian cacao nibs.”

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

My Top Beers of 2022

2022 was another fantastic year of beer! A few highlights:

• I visited 287 new-to-me breweries, including some of the top breweries in the world.

• I traveled 42% of the year, exploring new breweries around the country and abroad.

• I had killer beers locally and via monthly bottle shares.

• I delved deeper into the Lager world, became obsessed with Saisons and tried somewhere over 2000 beers.

• My favorite breweries to score beers from were BlackStack, Monkish, Santa Adairius, Root and Branch, Burial, Fidens and Bottle Logic.

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

Check out my top beers from 2021 here!

EVERYTHING AT MONKISH BREWING IN TORRANCE AND ANAHEIM, CA

Is this cheating? Yes. Too bad. Everything Monkish brews is incredibly delicious and I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to visit both of their taprooms on my SoCal trip! I had the following beers and I would recommend them all:

• Conscience Be Free: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, and Simcoe

• Foggier Window: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Citra, Nelson Sauvin, and Galaxy

• Sticky Traffic: Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Nelson Sauvin, Citra, Mosaic, and Galaxy

• Biggie Biggie Biggie: Triple IPA with Galaxy and El Dorado

• One Tree: Triple IPA with Strata and Idaho 7

• M 9.5: Saison aged in oak barrels for 18 months and conditioned on spent Blenheim apricots

ETERNAL FOREVER AT PURE BREWING IN SAN DIEGO, CA

Eternal Forever is a blend of Single and Double Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stouts with Cacao & Wild Thai Banana. Pure released this in celebration of their 6th Anniversary and I luckily was in town for the release. I actually had this beer twice while I was in San Diego, at Pure Balboa Park and at Pure Carlsbad, because it was just so good. The banana flavor was epic.

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!

EVERYTHING AT SANTE ADAIRIUS RUSTIC ALES IN CAPITOLA AND SANTA CRUZ, CA

I visited both Sante Adairius locations while in Northern California—the OG taproom in Capitola and The Portal in Santa Cruz. I was insanely impressed with every single beer that I had:

Queen of the Season Foudre aged Saison; Wisdom is Learned Barrel Aged Saison with peaches; The Gift of Comfort Barrel aged Blonde ale with rose hips and Meyer Lemon; Landscapes #3 Oak aged Saison dry hopped with Kohia Nelson; Anais House Saison; Cellarman Oak aged Saison in collaboration with Triple Rock; Tomorrow, Today IPA with Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic

THE BEER FORMALLY KNOWN AS LA TACHE FROM THE ALE APOTHECARY IN BEND, OR

The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache is a Table Sour made of malted barley, wheat, Goschie Farms Cascade Hops, honey and house lactobacillus culture. It then spends 3-9 months fermenting in barrels prior to a month-long dry-hopping in oak barrels. Everything The Ale Apothecary makes is unique and funky, and this was no exception. I was taken aback by just how fantastic this was.

VERY SPECIAL LORD WHANGDOODLE FROM THE VEIL BREWING IN RICHMOND, VA

Very Special Lord Whangdoodle is an Imperial Chocolate Milk Stout aged in a blend of Bourbon, Cognac, Maple, and Apple Brandy Barrels conditioned on double hazelnuts, double truffle, double vanilla, and double coconut. This was an insanely delicious beer. The Veil’s Stouts are always impressive, but this was superb.

ADIEU ADIEU FROM MONKISH BREWING IN TORRANCE, CA

Adieu Adieu is a Double Dry Hopped Triple IPA with Citra hops. Monkish is consistently great with their IPAs, but Adieu Adieu takes it to another level. This was arguably the best IPA I had all year.

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.

THE HEART OF CHAOS TRIPLE IPA FROM FIDENS BREWING IN COLONIE, NY AT SNALLYGASTER

The Heart of Chaos is a Triple IPA with Citra, Nelson and Mosaic hops. This was brewed to celebrate 3 years of Fidens! This was my favorite beer from the Snallygaster beer festival in D.C. and a delicious brew.

BARREL AGED PASTRINAUTS (FOUR ROSES) COLLABORATION BREW FROM OTHER HALF BREWING IN NEW YORK, NY, J. WAKEFIELD BREWING IN MIAMI, FL, BOTTLE LOGIC BREWING IN ANAHEIM, CA, HORUS AGED ALES IN OCEANSIDE, CA AND MOKSA BREWING IN ROCKLIN, CA

Pastrinauts is an Imperial Stout with bananas, molasses, marshmallows and freeze dried ice cream. This version was aged in 15 year old Four Roses Barrels and clocks in at 14% ABV. This was insanely delicious and I wish I had another bottle!

Cheers to another year of delicious beers!
—Alexis