2017 Favorites

Idle Hands IPAs were new to me this year and outstanding. Austin St keeps showing up on these lists every year for me, been patiently awaiting the growth of their portfolio and capacity from my tastes of Patina and Saison Hoppu a few years ago. Florens and Neverender I had this year get high marks, and can't wait to try a bottle of Moses I just picked up this week.

No serious disappointments of note THIS year in particular, maybe that one suspect batch of Julius a few months back is all I can come up with (but it was only a small part of my haul that day)?

 

I drank a ton of Oxbow and that was okay by me. Honest Weight’s Overly Dedicated was a standout beer for me this year. Not New England, but close enough: Suarez Family was maybe my favorite brewery visit all year.

 

There was a Hill Farmstead post about their struggle to find citra hops that matched the same quality from years past. I have no idea if this is something people other than Shaun Hill notice, but given the blend in Epiphany includes citra and mosaic, it could be the reason why the beer no longer resembles what it used to. That part is complete speculation on my part, but seems to be a reasonable explanation. I've heard other people mention that mosaic hops are rather polarizing as well.

I remember mosaic forward beers being my absolute favorite, but these days they can taste rather sticky and oniony. Could just be me there though...

As far as favorite:

Oxbow straight killed it this year. Probably my favorite brewery right now. Was super fortunate to be at Publick House in Brookline when they had a keg of Cavern. I think between that and when I stumbled on a tap takeover at Eventide I have consumed a keg's worth.

Native/Wild, Cletus, Catalyst, and Tourist Season with nelson being the standouts to me. Also had a pour of Infinite Darkness that blew me away. Super deep, roasty flavor that finished bone dry. That's my jam.

Honorable Mentions:

Springdale Fresh Boysen...maybe its because I just had it last week, but it was a killer surprise for me. Usually I lean towards more funky/earthy aged ales but this was so damn clean and sparkly.

Trillium Red Stonington also was an awesome surprise. Beers like that are the reason I still go after their barrel aged beers.

HF Ann. Was beyond lucky to have this on-site at Hill Farmstead. Not much needs to be said about this that hasn't already been said. The fact that it is the white whale of hill farmstead probably made it taste a lot better than it actually was. Still, nothing beats drinking Hill Farmstead's finest right where it was made. Love the new model of selling their sought after beers for on-site. Keeps the sellers/traders away and allows jerks like me to try it.

Treehouse In Perpetuity: Everything that I love about Treehouse without the sweetness that I don't completely love about Treehouse. Bright juicy bubblegum, but quite dry. Althought I love the balance in this beer, I sure would like to try In Perpetuity-er

 

tourist season with nelson caught me wayyyy off guard, one of the best pales I've had...

 

Post Shift was everything I wished Sunny Ridge was when it debuted a couple years ago. Better, even, given that it’s cheap and available all year.

 

A bit of a mix between new beers and beers I tried for the first time.

Idle Hands Galaxy Four Seam
Lamplighter Major Tom
Discovering some of those lovely clean Honest Weight IPAs and Pales
Mystic Table Beer in cans
Crooked Stave Colorado Sage 4pks
Founders Mosaic Promise
Pipeworks Lizard King
Nightshift Distribution
Big Bad Baptist
Discovering Cloudwater and northern monk.
Fresh pick 6pk for $8!


Edited for shite fat fingered spelling

 

Great North Aleworks (Manchester NH) for me as far as a local/regional.

In the last quarter of the year I drank way too much Tie-dyed Pale Ale. Also really dug their regular IPA & the Moose Juice IPA even more.

For out of market - Pipeworks hit the magic target of tastiness/freshness/value for me.

 

Oxbow Native Wild is easily the best NE beer from 2017 for me. Lots of great stuff from Hill, Foam, etc, but Oxbow did hit everything out of the park this year.

 

Parroting what everyone is saying about River Roost. When Blackback Pub, who already has an incredible tap list, says they will pick up kegs from the brewery themself, then you know it's gotta be special. Fingers crossed for expanded (keg) distribution or at least brewery hours in 2018.

Loved the Schilling experience this year. Definitely different from current trends, though I am excited to see what they do with Resilience Brewing and the expansion they have in progress.

If it wasn't for my NYE experience, I would have mentioned Foam first, but I got that harshness/throat burn from their latest beers that was reminiscent of Trillium when they were struggling with that for a bit (which Trillium has seems to have fixed). The one chance I got to have Pavement cans was just so great, and up until my last visit they had knocked everything out of the park.

And though I haven't had much by them, Lamplighter has really impressed me and it'll be fun to see how they develop over the next year.

 

Which foam did you find burny, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Obstacle 1 and Peel Session. It could've just been me personally/an off-night, I have never had that reaction to their beers. (Though I also hated their Heavy Pop, but that's more of the lactose+IPA combo not working for me.)

 

I want to echo what someone already said about Fox Farm. Great beers, beautiful location, chill/welcoming atmosphere. Pretty much everything you'd want in a beer drinking experience. Counter Weight also did some really great stuff this year. I live in CT so that's where I have the most knowledge. Also, its not very hip, but I really dig the Two Roads Tanker Truck Series.

 

JA Post-shift (now my default beer)
Founder's CBS (ya, it lived up to the hype for me)
Idle Hands Six Seam from cans.... 32oz freshie just didn't taste as good for some reason
Pipeworks Lizard King (damn nice surprise finding this at a local packie)
Eureka (would be my default beer if it didn't come with all the hoops you need to jump thru to get it)
John Harvard's Framingham (most stuff, special mention for None Shall Pass and Brando).

 

My favorties this year were heavy on the BA side

Maple BA Brigadiero
Kriek Mythology (pleasantly surprised by this one)
Red Stonington
BA Trillbomb
Jam the Radar

For hops it was DDH Space Daydream and Chubbles

 

In 2017 New England beers, I was very pleasantly surprised by Jack's Abby Post-shift Pilsner and Springdale IPAs, Lamplighter's range particularly the IPAs, Trillium Small Bird series, Treehouse Bright with Citra, and Fiddlehead Second Fiddle.

 

OH Third Anniversary
Big Bird
HTFGATT
DDH Stillings
Hair Raiser
Affogato
Crasher in the Rye (surprised by this one)
Between the Dead

 

My favorite new-to-me beer of 2017 was 2000 Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze. It really blew me away.



For New England surprises, I'd say BA Deep Space from Barreled Souls - so good!

 

For me the standout beers that I’ve had in 2017 are
- Lamplighter’s Major Tom
- Jack’s Abby Post Shift Pilsner
- Trillium’s Mosaic Cutting Tiles
- Trillium’s FP Galaxy Pale Ale
- John Harvard’s Brando IPA

 

Goods://
- Mystic ventus
- trillium ddh stillings st
- Treehouse c35, doubleganger
- HF Arthur puncheon
- HF double Nelson
- HF Flora b7
- oxbow catalyst
- allagash Hugh Malone

What I stopped buying in 2017://
- foundation
- morph
- trillium Sours
- maine beer co

 

That TH C35 was off the charts good