My Top Beers in January 2024

January was a wild ride! I started off 2024 in Brazil before getting back home to Charlotte right in time for my birthday and then spent a couple of weeks bopping around Charlotte. In January I tried 99 different beers. Here were the best beers I had over the past month, in no particular order:

Pear Sauvie from The Ale Apothecary in Bend, OR

This is a Wild Ale with Mecca Grad Estate barley and rye malts, combined with Sauvie Island’s Crystal hops, brewed wild and naturally in the woods of Central Oregon. 100% naturally carbonated with pear juice. Unfiltered, open-fermented & barrel-aged. The Ale Apothecary’s unique brews are always a delight! I am a particular sucker for all things pear, so it is no surprise that this was one of my favorites this month.

A Rather Profane Sentiment Towards Things of This Kind collaboration beer from Burial Beer in Asheville, NC and TRVE Brewing in Denver, CO

This is an Imperial Stout with Toasted Hazelnuts, Madagascar Vanilla Bean, and Flamed Orange Peel. This collaboration was created to celebrate TRVE’s expansion to Asheville. Their new North Carolina taproom is slotted to open in early 2024.

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Biggie, Biggie, Biggie is a Triple IPA dry hopped with El Dorado and Galaxy. Monkish continues to put out the bangers, particularly their Triples.

Methods of Excavation III from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY

Methods of Excavation is a Imperial Stout with almonds, cacao nibs, caramel chocolate ice cream, cinnamon, coffee, coconut, freeze dried ice cream, macadamia nuts, maple, marshmallows, molasses, Tahitian vanilla, vanilla wafers, walnuts, wild Thai bananas, and Madagascar vanilla. A wild amount of adjuncts come together in this brew to meld into a delicious beverage. Other Half has really nailed this style and I continue to be impressed.

Bueze (2023) from Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgman, MI

Bueze is a blend of 1, 2, and 3 year Weller Bourbon Barrel Aged Kentuckley Imperial Breakfast Stout with Comoros Vanilla Beans, Tugboat Coffee, and Maple Syrup. I snagged this while I was in Michigan last summer and was very impressed. The bottle came in a fun purple velvet bag which added some extra flair.

Fun Beer, Lovely Guys collaboration brew from Percent Tap House in Harrisburg, NC and Funguys Brewing in Raleigh, NC

Fun Beer, Lovely Guys is a Kiwi Topped Strawberry Birthday Cake Smoothie Sour with Double Strawberry, Kiwi, Strawberry Cake Filling, Yellow Cake Batter, and Marshmallow. This was a superb Sour—the cake elements were incredible. I could drink far too much of this!

Coating Consistency collaboration brew from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC, WeldWerks Brewing in Greeley, Co, Tripping Animals Brewing in Doral, FL, Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn, NY, Moksa Brewing in Rocklin, CA and Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, CA

Coating Consistency is an Imperial Stout with Toasted Coconut, Raw Coconut, Almonds, Walnuts, Muscovado Sugar, Vanuatu Vanilla, Indonesian Vanilla, West Papua Vanilla and Mayotte Vanilla Beans. Sheesh! What a killer collaboration. The vanilla really comes through strongly, but in a great way. It is no surprise that this was delicious given the fantastic breweries involved.

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

My Top Beers in 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

My Top Beers in October 2021

October is arguably the best month of the year—college football is in full swing, leaves are changing, and the month is full of beer fests! For us October meant two bottle shares, a massive fall beer side by side tasting, Barrel Culture Brewing & Blending’s Invitational in Durham, glamping in Lenoir, and an epic Michigan State football victory over Michigan. All of these obviously also meant delicious beers, so this month’s top beers list is a little longer—check out all of the best beers I had in October 2021 below, in no particular order:

Childish Games from Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Childish Games is a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA with Enigma and Nelson Sauvin hops. Monkish has absolutely nailed the juicy IPA game and this brew is no exception—smooth, flavorful, and fantastic.

2020 Barrel Aged Cuppa Peanut Butter Coconut from Maplewood Brewing in Chicago, IL

This is an Imperial Stout blended from Cuppa aged in Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill and Weller barrels for 12-18 months and conditioned on cacao nibs, vanilla, coffee, toasted coconut and peanut butter. I enjoyed this one at the Barrel Culture Invitational and it reaffirmed my belief in just how good Maplewood is!

Holding This Moment (Blue) collab brew from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY And Horus Aged Ales in OCeanside, CA

Holding This Moment is a Double IPA brewed with Motueka and Citra hops. Fidens is hot right now in the craft beer scene and Horus is always something to be chased after as well, so it’s no surprise this collaboration was incredibly delicious!

Dairelynerweisse: Raspberry, Blackberry, Pomegranate from Salud Cerveceria in Charlotte, NC

Dairelynerweisse is Salud’s Berliner Weisse series and this variant was made with blackberry, raspberry and pomegranate. You can always expect this series to be thicc, fruity, and packed full of flavor. My favorite is still the Mixed Berry version, but this one is excellent too!

Insert Hip Hop Reference Anywhere collab brew from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA and Monkish Brewing in Torrance, CA

Insert Hip Hop Reference is a single-hop collaboration series from Trillium and this version features Mosaic hops in collaboration with the IPA powerhouse, Monkish Brewing. It is a 10% Triple IPA but is extremely easy to drink.

Watermelon Incipient from Speciation Artisan Ales in Grand Rapids, MI

Watermelon Incipient is a Foeder Aged Solera Sour with watermelon. Speciation always brings the funk! This one is tart, fruity, and light-bodied. I always recommend anything from Speciation that you can get your hands on!

Double Dry Hopped Ghost in the Machine from Parish Brewing in Broussard, LA

Yes I have talked about this beer before, and no I will not be stopping anytime soon. DDH Ghost is an Imperial IPA with Citra hops. I first had this beer when it initially released in 2020 and every time I have it I am continually blown away by how delicious it is. Luckily Parish brought this one to the Barrel Culture Invitational and it was the first keg to kick if that tells you anything about how fantastic it is!

Everything is Connected Collab Brew from The Eighth State Brewing Company in Greenville, SC and Tripping Animals Brewing Co. in Doral, FL

Everything is Connected is a Barleywine with roasted pecans, Cook's Island vanilla, Ugandan vanilla, Ecuadorian cocoa nibs, and graham crackers. Eighth State crushes the Imperial Stout and Barleywine game so it is no surprise that this brew was exceptional! Thicc, heavy on the vanilla, and boozy—everything I wanted out of it.

Get Puft from Liquid Roots Brewing Project in Lenoir, NC

Get Puft is a mango and marshmallow Sour Ale. This was super flavorful! It’s the first in the new sour series at Liquid Roots so I look forward to seeing what other flavors they develop. In the meantime I’ll take 64oz of this fruit bomb!

Flat Dayz collab brew from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY and Commonwealth Brewing in Virginia Beach, VA

Flat Dayz is a Double IPA with Citra in the whirlpool and dry hopped with Motueka, Waimea, Riwaka and Kohatu hops. Juicy, fruit-forward, and smooth. Another banger from Other Half with the help of Commonwealth.

Eunoia Batch 6 from Phase Three Brewing Company in Zurich, IL

Eunoia Batch 6 is a Barrel-aged Imperial Stout with Tugboat coffee, maple syrup and Ghana cocoa nibs. Phase Three is a Chicagoland powerhouse and Eunoia is arguably their best series. The coffee comes through strong but not in an overpowering fashion while the maple and chocolate even everything out. Highly recommend this brew!

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