What's your "Non-Whale" surprise beer this year?

A move from the midwest to New England left me on the hunt for new "go to" beers.

Far and away my favorite though was Ipswich Oatmeal Stout.
Also Flower Power in bottles, and Double Jack and Wolavers Alta Gracia Coffee Porter on tap

 

Not sure this counts, but I was damn glad that Brown Shugga was back!

 

Schlafly Tasmanian IPA has got to be my favorite "pick something up you've never seen because you're in another state" beer of the year. The hop profile is really incredible, and it is exceedingly drinkable for a 7% IPA.

 

Couple of good mentions already. I've gotta say, while certainly not my #1, De Molen/FFF's Zes Zes Zes = AWESOME. (But, then again I love pineapple-juice…)

 

Boulevard 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat & ST 2XMAS

 

Totally said the same thing to myself when I had this for the first time a fewmonths ago.

Now, I only wish it was a bit cheaper

 

I've developed an unexpected appreciation for a couple of beers that I turn to when I want to give my taste buds a rest:
New Belgium Shift Pale Lager
Sam Adams Noble Pils

A bit more aggressive, but still not quite the stereotypical kick in the face:
Southern Tier 2XIPA

 

HF Everett. One of the best beers I've ever had.

 

Flower Power IPA - I'm not a huge fan of the style, but damn that was a good beer
Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - available, inexpensive, tasty and comes in a can!
Old Engine Oil - amongst the best porters I've ever had (expensive, though)
Konig Pilsener - best pils I've had to date (home consumption)
Mackeson XXX Stout - saw this in LI and picked up a 6pk of it on a whim. Good stout, not too pricy and packs in a ton of flavor, so much so that you wouldn't believe the abv is only 4.9%

 

Mine is absolutely Moat Water. It comes across as a thicker, oak aged FBS

Cheers

 

MO by Maine Brewing company. It is just such a great beer and completely blew me away first time I had it and still does.

 

How is it possible that we've made it to page 2 and Stone Enjoy By IPA hasn't come up?

 

Flying Dog's The Fear Imperial Pumpkin was a surprisingly good pumpkin ale that I tried a month or 2 ago, very reasonably priced, and the only pumpkin ale I've tried with a nice hop note in the finish.
I'm not usually a fan of Sam Adams, but their Stony Brook Red was astonishingly good. A barrel-aged Flemish red at $12 a bomber...it's hard to get good sours (let alone barrel-aged ones) at that price. I went back to where I found it and picked up 2 more bottles.
And finally Speedway Stout...I was blown away by that guy. Awesome coffee stout. Gives FBS a run for it's money.

 

Founders All Day IPA. It's everything a whale should be; well rounded and balanced, full flavored, but it's also highly sessionable, inexpensive, and widely available. I was never super excited about Founders' IPAs until this one, and was definitely my surprise beer of 2012.

 

Great lakes Lake Erie Monster, although I did drink the entire four pack in a sitting so this may have distorted my opinion.

 

Oh, almost forgot Flying Fish's Exit 16 wild rice DIPA. FF has always been a hit-or-miss brewery for me, but their latest Exit offering is terrific.

 

this is still one of my favorites but the cans are getting harder to come by and I think the bottles don't taste the same.

 

I'll toss in NEBCO's 668 Neighbor of the Beast. Really great. Would love to get my hands on some Chardonneighbor of the Beast...

 

4 Hands' Prussia Berlinerweiss = 3.5% and DELICIOUS

Civil Life's British Bitter = 4-ish percent abv% English Bitter w/tons of traditional flavor but Centennial Hops

 

Nope, one bottle is just as delicious as multiples. It's fantastic on draft, too.

I'm excited to see what their double IPA in the spring will look like, considering Nosferatu is essentially a red/amber DIPA and Erie Monster is already a great double IPA in its own right. And, admittedly I am a bit sad to see the Doppelrock go. That beer's like drinking liquid barley, which was surprisingly enjoyable for me as someone who really tends to be more of a hophead, when it comes to American styles. I'm not even that keen on barley, to be honest.