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!
