Your Year In Beer (2018)

In 2018 it dawned on me (and I don't like saying it) that Heady Topper has been surpassed by more beers of the same style than I care to count. I'm starting to get the sinking feeling that the same thing may happen (in my own head) to Tree House.

I also became essentially convinced that the imaginary bias in favor of local beers is a real thing.

I have become convinced that Founders is a top-3 brewery on planet Earth, along with Three Floyds (another popular choice 5 years ago, not so much in 2018).

Hill Farmstead is still great.

In my local area, Hudson Valley is a vastly superior and far more diverse brewery than Equilibrium, despite both places having substandard physical facilities.

I'm getting a lot better at evaluating bourbon barrel aged beers.

Beer is swell.

 

Total reviews: 1635

Best New Beers:

1. Evil Twin Double Barrel Imperial Biscotti Break
2. Goose Island Northwoods BCBS
3. Weihenstephaner / Sierra Nevada - Braupakt
4. Kane Christian Patrick
5. 3 Floyds Dark Lord

#8000 will be really soon. I don't get out much.

 

I able to make it to Toppling Goliath (first time) for the Assassin release. It was a good time and the beer itself was awesome. Hope to make it to the 2019 release.

 

In 2018 I;

• Accomplished my goal of reviewing all 111 styles of beer recognized by Beer Advocate, even after they reworked them a few months ago leaving me with a larger goal
  
• Got into trading and completed my first trade thanks to @Harrison8
• Finally got my hands on BCBS variants and have had (or will soon have) the complete BCBS lineup, except Coffee Barleywine
• Cleared out and subsequently restocked my cellar, now comprised mostly of favorite BA stouts and porters

 

Drank a bunch of IPA's however I have really begun to appreciate all beer types, especially pilsners and stouts....NEIPA's are one beer style of many - pilsners, stouts, quads, etc all have flavor and history to offer.....I have also begun to appreciate the west coast IPA's again as they are the real OG's of the IPA world.....

 

Had a great 2018. Drank a bunch of awesome beers!
After a couple of years of lurking and 4.5 years of membership, I made my first post on BA.

 

It was a good year for beer and beer advocacy for me in 2018.

Joined the wonderful BIF activity on this site, which I was always interested in. What a fantastic group of generous and fun people.

Had the pleasure of meeting 3 different BA members in person to share beers, talk beer and whatnot.

Best brewery experience for me goes to a perfect April Spring evening at Jester King enjoying some great beers and an absolutely fantastic atmosphere.

Got to try several “want” breweries for the first time this year including Old Nation, Jester King, Live Oak, and Tree House.

This was the first year I proactively tried to get all of the BCBS available here (all except prop) and I did.

 

I reviewed my 1,500th beer, netting 576 reviews this year. Many of those were on the Beers of Fame list, a list I'm half-hearted chasing after completing. I also ticked 110 of the 111 styles listed on the site, thanks in large part to several BA members.

I missed my goal of reviewing 100 places. I'm sitting at 94 with one more review impending. It's quite easy to review a multitude of beers with mix-six packs available around town, but upping the place reviews is tough.

I met one other BA member and shared a couple beers at Side Project. I think the other BA member I met was late last year, although we did an in-person trade this year.

Got to visit some of the beers I've yearned over since I joined, including the likes of Side Project, Speedway, Aslin, Treehouse, Lawson's, Other Half and Speedway variants. In fact, I have a BA Speedway variant for both New Year's Eve and my birthday.

I visited Belgium, and drank lots of local beer, including a tour and bender at Cantillon, and some lamb braised in Cantillon Gueze. Drank a Leffe Blonde while walking the fabled velodrome at Roubaix. Surreal moment in my life.

Only netted one BCBS variant this year, and all thanks to @TheGent . Otherwise, I have never picked one up myself.

Overall, a great year in beer, but it cost me a lot. I'd like to slow down and appreciate the scenery in 2019.

 

Well let's see:

• Ticked my 104th/111th styles and 50th/51st states through the generosity of some great BA's (looking at you, @Squire, @jvgoor3786, and @PatrickCT ).
• Ticked beer number 1,000 (and review number 600 ).
• Took a week off for a beer trip with the dog to the Dakotas and Minnesota. Although Kaito did not seem to share my enthusiasm for Drekker and Fargo, he was most assuredly on board with the bison burgers.
• Went to Zwanze 2018, and I am so relieved that we do not get Cantillon here. That could quickly become a very expensive obsession.

 

For me 2018 was a great beer year for me.
I reviewed 147 beers, from across a spectrum of styles.
However, more importantly I realized that my favorite beer is the one I'm drinking now.
Additionaly, no longer do I feel the need to chase that which is rare or highly rated, as each beer is unique and has what to offer, if you look for it.
In 2019, I will continue to try advancing my palate as I explore more beers, hopefully in less popular styles.

 

Made a New Year's resolution last year that I wouldn't spend $4 on a beer unless it came from Vermont and kept it until November when I bought some local stuff for the holidays. Shouldn't have any trouble doing this again in the coming year.

Finally got Bell's Two Hearted in Maine in late spring and it's had a place in my fridge ever since.

Started participating in WBAYDN, wondering why I didn't do it sooner.

Got better at drinking seasonal beers in season, and learning why they are seasonal. Looking forward to Bock again as a new springtime tradition.

Had several hype beers. They're just that. Hype.

Learned a lot and had a lot of great conversation thanks to all of you folks here, Happy New year to you all!

 

Looking back over this year, it seems like I really got out of the habit of doing beer reviews -- only wrote nine this year (compared to 33 last year), and almost half of those were in the past two months!

Maybe I'll at least make it into the double-digits tomorrow night?

 

Seems I got in over 380 reviews (full reviews, not ticks or tasters. Those go on UT) this year, gonna try for at least 365 again next year.

Had a lot of really good beer, and some real clunkers too.

Didn't get to as many fests as I have in the past, for a variety of reasons.

Reached 50/51 of the states, still need damned West Virginia.

Didn't get to as many different places as I had hoped.

The Mariners still sucked, but at least the beer selection at the stadium is still great.

 

• Finally made it to both Cantillon & Oktoberfest.... in the same trip, no less.

• Attended Maine Beer Fest w/ beer box which opened my eyes to the quality of beer coming from the UK.

• Visited many new breweries, highlighted by the long-awaited opening of Lawson's in Waitsfield.

• Started drinking less beer. I plan on continuing this trend in 2019.... keep up the exploration with fewer pours/cans cracked.

 

2018 was a year of getting in better shape. I lost about 4" off of my waistline. One of the major changes I made was taking a good look at my beer consumption and the amount of calories and carbs in them. Certainly cut back on consumption, but also focused more on lower ABV beers. Made for a nice exploration of lower ABV options and revisiting some beers I'd forgotten. Not that I completely cut all higher ABV beers out, I just made it a point to really space them out and treat them more as occasional treats instead of regular beers. For that I especially cut out NEIPAs as that need to drink them fresh drove me to drink them faster, which then meant a need to buy more regularly...vicious cycle.

With the arrival of stout season I'll admit I allowed myself to indulge a bit, it's the holidays after all, but I already feel my body deciding it's a good time to cut back

110 reviews this year, which feels like a nice number to me. Tried enough new stuff but saved time for drinking old favorites. Sam '76, BM Kolsch 151, and Sierra Nevada Braupakt were the easy favorites of the year.