Best/Favorite Beers of 2018

I'll be releasing a Top 50 list in a couple weeks. I'll link it here. But this is a real sold list.

 

Will add mine tomorrow; slowly scrolling through Untappd wouldn't look great at work, and I'm hoping to try Prop '18 tonight. Nice list.

 

In no particular order

Drafting Table - Mean Mallow Bean
Revolution - VSOJ
GI - Prop 18
Revolution - Deth by Currants
Witch's Hat - Boysenberry Ghost Pepper Night Fury

 

Columbus insane wanderer. Especially volumes 1 & 3. Bought more of this than anything else in 2018.

 

1. FOb4 - lived up to the hype
2. Willoughby Coconut Nut Smasher - up there with best non-BA stouts I've had
3. Coconut B-Bomb - base beer and barrel perfectly matched with coconut
4. Drafting Table Palatable - tremendous no-adjunct stout highlighting Weller barrels
5. Transient Canuckley - maple and coffee balanced very nicely, crazy viscosity
6. Westly - so much apricot balanced by so much oak and great acidity
7. Saison du Fermier - Foedre Fermier - phenomenal complexity, perfect tartness
8. Armand & Gaston - my favorite Geuze blend thus far
9. Speciation Megatrajectory - stellar use of vanilla in a fruited sour
10. Revelry Jackson with Guava & Pineapple - the juiciest barrel-aged sour I've had

Four of these were ticked at Zwanze day at Jolly Pumpkin, a real testament to the absurd quality on hand at these events.

 

Drafting Table - Mean Mallow Bean (Waiting in line all night to get a bottle when out of the fog the head brewer shows up, cracks the mallow scented wax, and asks if I want a pour.)

Transient - Canuckley (Mouthwatering motor oil on a near perfect June day in Bridgman.)

Drafting Table - Maple Bourbon Barrel Aged Mean Vanilla Bean (Head brewer says with a sheepish smile that he also have this one to try.)

Witch's Hat - Chocolate Expresso Night Fury (My favorite at Fury for a Feast, and the X in the name provided loads of bitter inebriated debate.)

Bell's Brewery - Bourbon Barrel Aged Expedition Stout 2018 (Lusty, roasty, and chocolatey. Damn good beer. Pairs near perfectly with a Bell's spicy black bean patty burger.)

Drafting Table - Palatable Batch 3 (Beer lines that extend along a major road are the best! For the 100th time, yes we are standing in this insanely long line and freezing our asses off for an outstanding beer that has just awoken from a long slumber in Van Winkle barrels.)

Trillium - Peanut Butter PM Dawn (Makes loads of sense to drive 12 hours to get a pour of a near perfect PB stout that you are dying to try.)

 

Top Ten In No Particular Order based on my ratings from 2018:

Drafting Table - Mean Mallow Bean
Drafting Table - Palatable (B3)
Transient - Kentuckley
Shared - BA Coffee Shop Vibes
Jackie O's - Appervation (B2)
Voodoo - Black Magick (Silver wax)
Kuhnhenn - BA Barleywine (2017)
Goose Island - BCBS Rare (2015)
Witch's Hat - Boysenberry Ghost Pepper Night Fury
Bells - BA Expedition (2018) - Tasted better on draft!

 

This IS my favorite beer ever, and based on the bottle I had last week, it's holding up incredibly well.

 

Had a lot of good beers, but some beers that exceeded my expectations were:

BA Expedition Stout (sensing a theme here)
Central Waters Unsettled IPA
Central Waters Peruvian Morning - so great compared to other sickly sweet messes I can't stand like like Untitled Art Coffee.
Most IPAs from Eagle Park in Milwaukee. Finally we have a brewery I can brag about!
BC Midnight Orange. Expected to hate it.
CBS 17 - feel like it's only gotten better with time.
Maine Lunch - price point is a little high but it's just such a "pleasant" IPA and nice to have around.

 

The Alchemist - Focal Banger

The Alchemist - Crusher

Pipeworks - Velocity of Light

 

Beers of 2018 that stood out for me:

Brewery Vivant - Rum Wizard
Funk Factory - De Bij
Arclight - Soursmith Black Raspberry
Transient - Barrel Aged No Cake
Lost Abbey - Cable Car '18
Alesmith - Speedway Stout w/ Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
Lost Abbey - BA Serpent's Stout
Mikerphone - BA Softly Spoken Lies
Untitled Art - BA Hazelnut Imperial Stout
Schramm's - Heart of Darkness b6
Speciation - Apomixis
Ethereal - Coffee Baba Yaga
Bell's - Captain Long Haul
Transient - Canuckly
Forager - Nillerzzzzz
Speciation - March of Progress
Bells's - BAE
deGarde - The Broken Truck No. 4
Speciation - Wine BA Magic Trait
Prarie - Donkey Punch

 

Transient - Canuckley
Revolution - VSOJ & Straightjacket
Bell's - BAE
Fremont - Coconut B-Bomb & Cowiche Canyon
Jackie O's - Vision is Lost without Eyes to See it Through, Cellar Cuvee 1 & Polycephaly 3
Hoof Hearted - Dragonsaddle & Roller Blabe 3DH
Urban Artificact - Squeezebox
Columbus Brewing - Insande Wanderer Vol.1
Hill Farmstead - Society & Solitude #9
Old Nation - DDH M43
Side Project - Fuzzy
Dancing Gnome - Triple Lustra

At least 2018 has been a great year for beer

 

1 Canuckley- best beer of the year hands down. I’d drink this beer and no other for the rest of my life
2 assassin 18 - TG stouts are great, and hold up to the hype. There’s a reason they’ve succeeded
3 VSOJ- best barleywine I had all year, beat out ADWTD DO
4 Coconut Vibes B2- best non BA stout
5 BA Oltella- pulpit rock hazelnut goodness. Very underrated beer
6 Really thin pancakes- amazing maple beer, I’d take it over any other voodoo
7 Raspberry Jam slushee- just a fruit smoothie in a can, don’t like most 450N but this was stellar
8 Stray light- HV makes the best IPA in the country, hands down.
9 BA helms deep- if you’re looking for a rich non adjunct bourbon stout, go find this.
10 Benthic- half acre should get more credit, this beer is one of the best stouts in Chicago

Had some other amazing stuff but this gave a variety of styles and barrel vs non that I thought worked

 

These are some of the standouts for me from 2018, in no particular order. All 2018 vintage where applicable.

Noon on Marz (Marz/Noon Whistle) - Probably my favorite IPA of the year.
Double Barrel V.S.O.D. Select (Revolution)
OFMYD (Westbrook/Evil Twin) - Expected this to be weird/good, but it was just great.
Russian Imperial Stout (Tombstone) - Phenomenal non BA, no adjunct stout.
V.S.O.J. (Revolution)
King of Borgs (Pipeworks/Marz)
Mosaic Dank Juice (Odd Side)
Sump (Perennial)
Mosaic Monsoon (Corridor)- Enjoyed it more after a week in the crowler than fresh.
Preen (Half Acre)
Parabola (Firestone Walker) - Great every year.
Green Clouds (Saint Errant)
Unwind Your Mind (Hop Butcher)
BCBS (Goose Island) - Always one of my favorites, always stock up. Top cost/quality stout.

 

Chicago Beers that impressed me in 2018:
Hop Butcher-
Double Grid and Tavern Cut
Pipeworks-
Velocity of Light and Infinite Galaxy
Half Acre:
Haunting Pattern

 

Another vote for Transient’s Canuckley. Hands down favorite.

 

HB - Tavern Cut, Galaxy Bowl
Corridor - Color of Life (Squeezit too, but it feels like cheating)
GI - Midnight Orange
HA - Sailor's Kush
Rev - Code Switch, SJ, VSOJ, Vanilla DBVSOD (they had a good year)
TG - Morning Delight
Moody Tongue - BA Gingerbread stout (for real)

 

Ok, not a list but...are Triansient beers available anywhere other than the brewery?

 

Angry Chair/Prairie - Adjunct Trail
Holy Mountain - Hazlenut/cocao Midnight Still
Prairie - Stuft b1
Goose - Midnight Orange
Holy Mountain - Guava Gin Table
Jester King - Gin Nocturn
Pips - Blue Sandals
Side Project - Anabasis b2
Side Project - BBT b1
Angry Chair - BAIGCC


I am fortunate to be in a nice share group

 

I don't have a list, but I would love to see a version of this same thread but for "best readily available beers you've had this year" - i.e. if I see something on your list I haven't tried, I could go out to Binny's and likely get it. Probably would be less interesting, but still something I'd like to see.

 

Alvarado St - Nelson Baby is pretty high.

 

Listed in no particular order and hand picked from my top Untappy ratings.

Beer Barrel Time B1
Rare 2015
Black Gold 2017
BA Expo 2017>2018 but both awesome
Backyard Rye
Funky Buddha Morning Wood
Cycle Wednesday 2018
Double Barrel VSOD
Ryeway to Heaven 2017
Westbrook Cabernet BA 6th Anniversary
De Garde Law of Motion
RR Consecration
The Veil Dub Razz Tastee
Block 15 Sticky Hands
FSW Sucaba (finally ticked this beast!)
Cigar City Madeira BA Barleywine
M-43 Tart Strawberry
Pipeworks Infinite Galaxy

Huge hat tip to @DoctorZombies for all the down south stuff!

Also it looks like I need to get my greasy mitts on some of this damn Canuckley!

 

Interesting. I have a bottle of this someone gave me as an extra. One of my favorite traders actually.

 

The combo of wine/hazelnut doesn't sound great or even good, but if you like fruited stouts you'll be into it. Was like dried fruit + Nutella with the wine coming off dry and cherry-like.

 

I gave the following between 4.75-5 stars on Untappd this year -

Bottle Logic FOb3, FOb4, Jam the Radar, Darkstar November 2017, FOMO, and FOCOCO
Rip Current Black Lagoon 2017 and 2018, BA Java Storm, No Hope for Rescue
Goose Island BCBS Prop 2017, BCBS 2018
Mason Ale Works Second Son, BA Baracus
Toolbox Rustique d' Abricot b2, Equilibrium
Epic Big Bad Baptist, Triple Barrel Baptist
Funky Buddha Morning Wood
Pipeworks Grand Guignol
Three Magnets WOOHOO! Xtreme
Abnormal Maple Mornings
Fremont Coconut B-Bomb 201
Lagunitas High West-ified 2016 and 2017
Evil Twin Even More Coco Jesus
Firestone Walker Parabola 2015 and 2017
Founders IS 2014 and 2015
More Henna
Perrin No Rules
Ritual BA Big Deluxe
AleSmith Vanilla Vietnamese Speedway
Nogne O Eternal Rest
Noon Whistle Gummypocalpyse
Madhouse El Jefe
Wiseacre Astronaut Status
Hailstorm Vlad the Second BA Coconut RIS
3 Sheeps The Wolf
Nickel Brook Cafe Del Bastardo
Bell's Expedition Stout 2015

 

But then there would be no humblebragging

 

My top 10 beers I tried for the first time this year.

1. Monster Tones b1 - best beer I've ever had
2. Vanilla Rye - best beer my fiance has ever had
3. Fundamental Forces
4. Coconut Medianoche
5. Foggier Window - Probably the thing I miss most about LA is Monkish
6. Modem Tones Vanilla 18 - Modern Times took a huge step forward this year in my opinion, and this was the first beer they released to start the year. Membership has its perks
7. Darkstar November 18 - most underrated beer BL makes
8. Mornin Delight b5 - really amazing how much better this was than b4
9. Black Tuesday Reserve 15
10. BCBS Reserve 18 - top variant of 2018 for me

 

Most of these are draft-only beers, but I'm giving props where it is due. (All are Michigan breweries.)

1. Bell's - BBA Expedition Stout '18

A distant second place ranking for all of the rest of the list:
2. Latitude 42 - Double Chin Wig Imperial American Strong Ale
3. Old Nation - Boss Tweed NEIPA
4. Old Nation - M-43 NEIPA
5. Ozone's – Black Roses BBA Imperial Stout
6. Wax Wings – Big Bend Milk Porter
7. Wax Wings – Joyful Noise Saison w/ Brett
8. New Holland Knickerbocker – Sour, Inc. Apple Rhubarb Gose
9. New Holland Knickerbocker – Moo La La Rum Barrel Imperial Milk Stout
10. Roak – BBA French Toast Devil Dog Oatmeal Stout
11. Roak – Little St. Nick Cranberry Gose

 

Such a list could be very lengthy since there are so many great beers in the market, so you'd have to ask everyone for 2-3 top recommendations. You should start the thread and see what you get.

An alternative might be the Top Beers in each State list on the right side of this page. You should be able to recognize ones easily available on store shelves: https://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/top/

 

Brett Kavanaugh?

 

In no particular order:

VSOJ
Chemtrailmix
Lounge against the Macromachine
Fundamental Observation
The Broken Truck
A Deal with the Devil - Double Oaked
A Deal with De Molen
Canuckley & Bring the Ruckley
Modem Tones Vanilla
French Toast - Hubbards Cave
Double Barrel VSOD Select
Horus Deepest Shade
Central Waters XX

 

This year (going off beers I tried for the first time this year).

Jackie O's (long list because I go all the time):

See Foam
Purple Wolf
Curtain Call
Who Cooks For You
Mandala Citra
Vision Is Lost Without Eyes to See it Through
Bourbon Barrel Oro Negro (finally got it for the first time this year)

Masthead: IPA
CBC: Insane Wanderer Volume 1
Lawson's: Sip of Sunshine
Evil Twin Brewing: Imperial Biscotti Break
Goose Island: Bourbon County Brand Midnight Orange

 

Seconded. I've been trying to corral my thoughts on 2018 beers, and this was one that jumped to very nearly the top.

 

Fair point, I might start that thread. It would be interesting to read about everyone's top 2-3 favorite shelfies. I know I could Google some existing lists or read BA's top list, but it's more fun to read through a "current" discussion.

 

Veil - BA Whangdoodle
More - Henna B1
More - Henna B4
Long Live - The All Seeing Eye
Trillium - BA TrillBOMB
GI - Prop 17
Perrin - No Rules 17
Revolution - Vanilla Double Barrel VSOD

 

Beyond the California trip beers, most of these are readily or can get if I show up on release beers in Chicago and or pay attention to the BA Great Lakes Message Board.

4.5 + overall rated beers consumed in 2018, in alpha order (45 in total):

AleSmith 2018 BA Speedway Cin/Vin
AleSmith Reformed XXI
AleSmith BA Speedway Cof, Cin, Vin
AleSmith Speedway Jamaica Coffee
BFM Abbey De Saint Bon-Chien
BL Gravity Rush Wee Heavy
BL Fundamental Observation
BL FO w Maple
The Bruery BA Share This
Dogfish 120 IPA
Founders 2017 CBS
GI 2014 Templeton Rye
GI 2014 Vanilla Rye
GI 2015 Rare
GI 2015 Regal Rye
GI 2018 Bramble Rye
GI 2018 Coffee Barleywine
GI 2018 Proprietor
GI 2018 Reserve
GI Double Barrel BCS
GI Double Barrel Brandy BCS
GI Tart Cherry Stout
Half Acre BA Bethnic Coconut & Cin
Half Acre Vanilla Big Hugs
Hopnuts BBA Omniscient Stout Nitro
Mikerphone Interventions & Lullabies
Mikerphone SISLBS w Maple & Cof
Mikerphone The New Workout Plan
Modern Times Deeds & Exploits
More Henna-Karma
MT Devil’s Teeth IS Straw/Vin
Prairie Christmas Bomb
Prairie Pirate Bomb
Revision Finite Madness
Revolution Cafe Deth
Revolution Deth by Currents
Revolution Deth’s Tar
Revolution Double Barrel 2017 Lynott’s
Revolution Double VSOD
Revolution Jamo-Nilla
Revolution Unsessionable
Revolution VSOJ
3 Sheeps BA Uber Joe
Unibroue 2017 Grand Reserved
Werk Force Farmhouse Vultures w Blackberries & Raspberries

 

This thread has devolved from favorite beers of 2018, to every beer people have tried in 2018....