January and February 2026

The last two months were not super exciting or full of as many beers as usual, but there were still some great pours had!

In January Charlotte was hit with two huge winter storms meaning the Rare and Vintage Beer Tasting in Durham had to be rescheduled to March which was a huge bummer but I cannot wait for this fest next weekend! February’s highlights were attending this year’s Queen City Brewers Festival and a trip to Georgia’s Golden Isles (blog coming soon!) and Savannah!

Of the 124 beers I tried in the last two months, here were the best of the best, in no particular order:

The 2026 Axe Series from Fidens Brewing in Albany, NY

This is cheating, I know, to put several beers as one but this series from Fidens absolutely crushed it again. My favorites were:

• Sam’s Axe collaboration with Brujos Brewing Double IPA with Simcoe, Citra, Taiheke, Belson, and Nelson CGX hops.

• Alex’s Axe in collaboration with Troon Brewing Hoppy Ale with Nelson, Strata, Peacharine, and Galaxy hops.

• Lauren’s Axe collaboration with Tin Barn Brewing Double IPA with Strata and Galaxy hops.

• Kelsey’s Axe collaboration with North Park Beer Co. Double IPA with Citra, Nelson and Strata hops.

Smoosh: Strawberry + Nelson Bliss from Two Tides Brewing in Savannah, GA

Smoosh is a Fruited Sour modeled after a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. That is everything you want in a PB&J beer!

Nelson Bliss is a single IPA with 100% Freestyle Nelson Bliss hops. Just a pure delight.

Blend Session 2.a from Casey Brewing and Blending in Glenwood Springs, CO

Blend Session 2.a from Casey is a blend that is equal parts of a vintage Saison barrel with a barrel of an experimental oat Farmhouse Ale. This slaps, as most things Casey do. When paired with a Michigan State basketball win, what could be better?

Galactic Kingdom and Dill Murray from Wild Heart Brewing in Hartsville, SC

My first time trying any Wild Heart brews was at QCBF this year and I was thoroughly impressed! I am very excited to be attending their Wild Hartsville Beer Fest in April as well!

Dill Murray is their house Kettle Sour dosed with pickle juice—I mean come on, say less. This was made for me. Galactic Kingdom is a Hazy IPA with Rakau in the whirlpool, then double dry-hopped with Rakau, Galaxy, Galaxy Abstrax and Citra. A fantastic IPA, particularly for a single.

Noontide from HopFly Brewing Co. in Charlotte, NC

Noontide is a Czech Pale Lager that I regret not getting more of. Absolute crusher but still just enough going on to keep you interested.

There Is Never So Far From Here from Burial Beer Co. in Asheville, NC collab with Starpoint Brewing in Durham, NC

This Triple IPA was brewed for Burial’s Raleigh taproom’s 7th Anniversary. It is mashed with oats, whirlpooled with Nectaron and Citra Incognito, and double dry-hopped with Anchovy, Galaxy, Nectaron, and Citra Cryo. Big fan of this one!

Check back next month for my top beers of March! 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