As a contributor to Butter's Fine Food and Wine's food blog, I can't help but think that writing about beer for a well-known, high-end, gourmet food store can't be a bad gig. I get to try all kinds of beer from all over the world and hope that someday, the beers I enjoy the most, will pass the NH liquor bureaucrat's sniff test and that those bureaucrats will bless those beers onto the shelves of fine NH craft beer outlets. There is a bottle-neck bringing new beer labels into the state right now because of an immense cost to the brewery per label, but let's not go there today. Today, I'd like to focus on my Top 10 Most Memorable Beers of 2010.
Most brews that I am about to describe made the list because there was something memorable about the beer. It might have been a special moment that surrounded the beer or a flavor that left me wanting more. Regardless, there is something special to me about each of the beers on this list. I started cataloging each beer that I tasted this year by snapping a picture using Blackberry Smartphone and then uploading that picture to Facebook. Prior to that, I just used my memory. And well, after 40 years and hundreds of varieties of beer later, I just don't trust the old method as much as I used to.
There were several brews that deserved an honorable mention, like one of my old favorites- Pig's Ear Brown Ale from the Woodstock Brewery. I love that beer. I decided to cut it out only because I've tried it before and, for no other reason than familiarity, I removed it from the list. I decided to focus on the task and come up with my top 10 most memorable beers of 2010. If something is too familiar, it's just not that memorable.
Now why a top 10 list? Well that easy. You have 2 choices when the New Year comes around... you can either make a New Year's resolution or create a top 10 list. Seems that like this is what most people do. And since my resolutions usually don't work out, I decided that a making list would be a far better and more achievable choice than a making another resolution.
So, counting backwards, of the 87 some odd beers that I sampled in 2010, here are my Top 10 Most Memorable brews:
#10- San Miguel Pale Pilsner *** San Miguel brings back fond memories of pub crawling (aka cave hoping) around Madrid, Spain in the late 80s. I remember my father bringing back a case of San Miguel while on active duty Spain and I managed to sneak a sip or three when dad wasn't looking (not that he really cared, it was just fun to think that I was sneaking a beer). A year after his return, I managed to get myself onto the Spanish class travel club roster and luckily found a grocery store near my hotel in Madrid selling none other than the same San Miguel beer that my father had brought home a year earlier. The flavor isn't quite as good as the memory of Spain, but it's still pretty darn close. It won 3 gold medals at some European beer tasting, so I guess I'm not the only one that thinks it's good. It has been a favorite of the military stationed in Europe for years, as I learned after offering a San Miguel to one of my ex-military buddies. Come to find out, it's a product of the Philippines and not a product of Spain (something I thought to be true for 24 years). Oh well. It was great to get reacquainted.
#9- New Belgium Skinny Dip *** The name is as good as the beer. Skinny Dip has officially become one of my all time favorite Summer beers. It's impossible to buy it in New Hampshire at the moment but new distributors like the Craft Beer Guild are working hard to make it happen and soon all New Belgium beers will be in the state. So hopefully we'll see the likes of Fat Tire by the end of 2011. As for Skinny Dip, I can't wait for Summer! I picked up a case of this at a Brew Thru in the Outer Banks, North Carolina while RVing through the South this summer. A big cheers to Skinny Dipping in ice-cold waters (buckets of ice that is)! -
#8 Sierra Nevada Summerfest ** I bought this beer at a regular old grocery store thinking I'd try it, only because it was on my list of beers that I've never tried, but thinking it was just another silly summer beer. My theory on summer beers is that every brewery has one. Well, this wasn't any normal summer beer! It was excellent. It was light on the malt and lightly hopped and every bit as crisp as the label claimed. There's nothing better than a cold crisp drinkable brew on a hot summer evening after a hard day's work. Forget the fruity beers and the wheat beers... try this one next summer instead. -
#7- Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour *** Now this one was truly interesting. I picked this up at The Cheese Shop in downtown Williamsburg, VA. I've tried a few sour ales in my day and I wasn't particularly fond of any of them, mostly because they were all sour and nothing more. They had no balance. But this one was different. I put this beer on ice soon after the purchase and a couple of hours later, this beer couldn't have tasted better. It was sour and tart and finished a little sweet and the tiny bubbles (like champagne) made all those icy balanced flavors dance. It was delicious and oh so thirst quenching.
#6 White Birch Brewing Barrel Aged Tripel M1 * I've been a fan of Bill Herlicka's beer for a while now. I recently found a bottle of Bill's stout in my fridge from before he became White Birch Brewing (it's easy for a beer bottle to get lost in my fridge). I remember tasting this lost stout many years ago (and I'm angry that I missed one). That stout, as I remember it, was awesome! Well, Mr. Herlicka has outdone himself this time. While other breweries are racing to age their beer in Bourbon Casks, White Birch is mixing it up. This Belgium Style Tripel was aged in a Merlot Barrel (hence the M1 on the label), and if ever there were a beer that belongs at Butter's Fine Food and Wine, it's this one. It smells like a wine initially, but transforms into a nose of a Tripel (and a nice Tripel at that). The taste is the same way! Try this with chicken or a steak! It could possibly pair with more foods than any other beer know to man. It's extremely complex and versatile. Great stuff! Keep up the great work Bill!
#5- Berkshire Brewing Steel Rail Pale Ale * This is one of my favorite beer finds of 2010. When you walk into a golf course clubhouse in the early morning, about and hour before the charity tournament is about to tee off, and you see 2 of your old pals sitting at the end of the bar enjoying some suds for breakfast, you know you're in for a good day. Beer always tastes better for breakfast anyway. After having consumed my share of Steel Rail Pale Ale, and after enjoying a bunch of laughs with a group of great friends while hitting a golf balls all over the course, I knew that this day's consumption would lead me to a long time relationship with Berkshire Brewing. Two weeks later, after a few emails back and forth with Berkshire Brewing, I learned that NH Distributors had just filled their truck with a few pallets of Berkshire Ale bound for Concord, NH, and, shortly there after, four of the Berkshire Brewing brews made their way to Butter's Fine Food and Wine. I call that Beer Karma.
#4- Dogfish Head Punkin Ale * In a world filled with pumpkin style ale wannabees, this one sets the standard. For quite a while I thought that Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin was at the head of the class, until I sipped this one. Dogfish Head Punkin Ale isn't head and shoulders above Shipyard, but it's clearly a better beer. And, everyone who has accepted my challenge to a taste test of pumpkin ales agrees with me. There's nothing too sweet or over done or over done about this beer. It's a perfect balance of everything you think a pumpkin-harvest-October-Halloween beer should be. And, you'll keep wanting another and another. I cannot say that about any other pumpkin beer. Most pumpkin beers, I'd rather not drink at all. Some, I'm one and done, but this beer... is perfect. -
#3- Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Island Creek Oyster Stout * This stout is a very rare and specialized beer. We may never see it again, being that it is part of the 100 Barrel Series. I can only hope that it somehow gets incorporated into the standard Harpoon line of beers. But, assuming that it won't, this beer was one of a kind. It's a really good stout, great roasted flavors, a little bitter finish but completely balanced, with a perfect body. Sounds pretty darn good doesn't it? But wait, there's more! (RIP Billy Mays). Harpoon added OYSTERS to the beer! Now that sounds a little funky, but, if you are an oyster lover, it's heavenly. You won't get a chunk of oyster as you sip, just a hint of oyster flavor. I can't think of much else better than sipping on an Island Creek Oyster Stout and downing about two dozen oysters at Jumpin' Jays Fish Cafe in Portsmouth. It's just a great beer!
#2 Samuel Adams/Weihenstephan Infinium ** I have to admit it. I had to sneak across town to get a bottle of this. It's fairly new and I did what I had to do to experience this beer. It was all worth the guilt of buying from a competitor. The very sight of the bottle is impressive- it looks like a fancy corked champagne bottle. The goal for this beer from Sam Adams was to join with Weihenstephan Brewery in Germany (a company with which they have formed an alliance in recent months) and combine 100 years of beer knowledge and brewing experience into this... "Infinium". I sat down with my friend AJ to sample this beer, and at first, I couldn't wrap my head around it. It was so complex and the layers of flavors kept coming and coming... I was dazed. I didn't know what to do. But I recovered and poured another glass to dissect it further. I finally came to the conclusion: this was perhaps the most complex beer that I've ever tried. WARNING: if you don't like complex beers, don't try this... you might pass out (not from the alcohol, but from the confusion). It's a near perfect beer that defines a new category, but don't try this alone. You're going to need someone to talk to in order to figure out the flavor puzzle. Clearly, this is one of my most memorable brews of 2010.
#1- Guinness Foreign Extra Stout * NUMBER ONE! OK, it's no secret. I'm a Guinness guy through and through. Anyone who truly appreciates beer usually is. If someone tells you that they like Guinness, that usually means that they have a love for beer, which means that they don't love beer for its alcohol or the buzz, but they love beer as a whole. I thought I had the world of Guinness all figured out. The Extra or the Draught... all were welcome in my beer fridge. Until I met Guinness Foreign Extra. What the hell just happened??!? Perfect just got more perfect?! It isn't right. But, it is! I sat down with Bruce, my long time friend and fellow purveyor of anything labeled "beer" (or Scotch for that matter), on New Year's Eve to try this new addition to the Guinness family (new to the US). We couldn't help but think that the taste was going to be nothing more than familiar. We poured it, and sniffed it, initially trying to figure out what exactly this "Foreign" label meant. The sniff, we thought was "sweet" like an imperial (and we're not big fans of Imperial- so we were a little apprehensive). But then, the moment of truth...the taste... it wasn't sweet at all. It was celestial- perfectly bitter and balanced and, as hard as it was to believe, it was better than the other Guinness' that we'd come to know and love. Perhaps the only thing better would be a pull from a fresh batch of Guinness at an authentic Irish pub in Ireland, but other than that, I don't think it gets much better. (Except for when my wife walked in with a case of Guinness Foreign Stout (true story) just as Bruce an I polished off the 4 pack). What a way to finish off a great year in beer!
Cheers! And Happy New Year everyone! -Butter's Fine Food and Wine Roving Food Reporter
P.S.- Please give "Beer Cataloging" a try for yourself in 2011... you'll be amazed at what you remember when you look back at 87 beers... not only about the beer itself, but about the people you were with, the places, the smells, even the weather. But most importantly you'll chuckle as you remember the good times, the abundant smiles shared with your friends and family, and the overall kindred spirits that were around as you poured that unfamiliar brew.
P.P.S- If you would like to become a beer blog contributor to the Butter's Fine Food and Wine blog, please email beerblog@buttersfinefood.com and let's us know what you'd like to do.
*- Denotes Beer that is currently sold or was sold at Butter's Fine Food and Wine
**- Denotes Beer that is available in the State of NH, but not yet sold at Butter's Fine Food and Wine
***- Denotes Beer that is not available in the State of NH (not yet anyway)
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