What personal "best-in-style" beers would you highly recommend that usually get eclipsed by the category leaders? Not just those with your biggest rDev score, but beers that you don't think get the love that you have for them. A "sleeper-gem" so to speak. Let us know what you think we should try! Cheers! Long Trail Limbo DIPA, 7.6% -Haven't seen this for years and couldn't pass up a $2.99 stovepipe. This is a delicious IPA with candied orange, tropical fruit, and pine. Round and smooth and so well made. Cheers! Zero Gravity Lone Wolf Pale Ale, 4.7% -Look: a deep-orange color with a fine clumpy head. -Aroma: candied orange, mango, apricot, mild pine. -Taste: sweet candied-orange, light citrus, one pine needle. -Feel: sticky, slightly chewy, low carbonation, round and soft. -Overall: a very enjoyable orange-dominated pale ale!
Man there are too many. I've had so many great beers from locals over the past few years that have maybe one or two reviews and I genuinely think they could go into national distro and have success. I think great beer is everywhere now. Cheers.
Yeah...there are quite a few. Proclamation I Wish I Could Turn You Back Into a Stranger - its a Brett IPA and it is such a unique beer that took me completely by surprise (in a good way for change). Black Daruma - RIS from the ladies at Japas Cervajarua. Is it the best stout I've ever had - nope - but it is one that made me really happy in the taste buds. Barreled Souls Sotol Sunrise - I'm not particularly enamored with goses (geeze?) But this one with the Sotol barrel influence was fantastic and different. Just about any of Schilling's pilsner efforts. Notch's Kolsch - great beer. Allagash Hop Reach - an OG IPA and unexpectedly well-executed by a brewery not know for the style. My biggest +rDev was a plus 20 for DFH Raison d'Etre, and I have quite a few too many to list between plus 10 and that plus 20. Sometimes I think I need calibrating!
Wow. I used to love this beer back in the day. Will have to find a stovepipe when I'm up in southern VT next month.
I'm so far off the reservation on Founders' DKML that a team of bloodhounds couldn't track me down. I gave this 5's across the board because the brewers accomplished exactly what they were aiming for. This was easily the best-of-style in the Malt Liquor category (although the price and format would likely have precluded its widespread use in frat-boy exploits).
Interesting question to pose. Zero gravity little wolf could easily fall in this category for me,really good beer from an underrated brewery
I truly wish this fine brew had wider distro. My instinct tells me it could become popular outside of MN. Great taste & feel, good price point. A superior example of the style (IMHO up there with Founders All Day IPA): Summit Triumphant Session IPA. I call it my "Diet Beer".
Mayflower Porter has a score of 93 on this site, so I wouldn't say it doesn't get the praise it deserves. But, straight-forward porters, that are less than 6% abv, and do not have chocolate, vanilla, coffee, lactose, graham crackers, crunch berries, or squirrel skulls, seem to be overlooked in general. So a kick ass porter like Mayflower's is, in my opinion, a sleeper. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16105/41839/
I think my biggest one is probably Keesmann Herren Pils. I think it's the best pils in all the land, BUT not a ton of people have had it (or expect greatness), so it doesn't really carry that kind of weight. Feels like it's a low key fave of a lot of brewers, though. On the American side of things, I'm a little surprised how few people are aware of Epic's hazy pale ales and IPA's. The current trend is sweet and either citric or tropical, and their hazy lineup has those things in spades. In a blind taste-off, they taste very, very similar (and even better, IMO) that those cans people are lining up for. Lupulin Burst was probably the best of 'em, but I haven't seen it this year. Citralush is still around and pretty similar, though.
Tonewood Brewing in South Jersey, my favorite place in the world. They get a lot of talk regionally as a great brewery but their English beers rarely get talked about by others. They are by far their most impressive beers IMO, all are can conditioned and the mouthfeel on them is damn near perfect. I have shared these beers with quite a few other BAs. They tend to sort of rotate their availability based on season with no set dates or anything... Blipstream - https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46284/415390/ Bedford - https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46284/643438/ Burton - https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46284/628583/ I've been specifically blown away by every can of Burton I've poured over the past few weeks, every sip I marvel at the smooth, soft mouthfeel and carb it has.
I'll throw in a porter suggestion too. Eel River Porter is possibly my favorite local beer. It's not packaged anymore (at least not regularly) and has to be found on draught. It's a great porter, smooth and chocolatey. I appreciate that it doesn't really venture into the roasty malt character that lots of porters do, and which is something that I like too. But the Eel River Porter is such a nice full brown beer that delivers a great body and flavor without bringing the crazy abv
+1 on Proc and Notch. For me I'd have to go with Tree House's Nomad for a CDL, Wayfinder's Gravity Drop for a Baltic Porter, and 3 Floyds' Foeder Fiend for a Wild Ale
