So I think we're deep enough into the year to get into this. I'm curious to know which breweries you think have had the best and the worst years. I'll start: Good Year: Prairie- Their stuff has been lights out. Just tried Bomb! for the first time and was blown away. 'Merica was money as well. Bad Year: Stone- Loved Dayman, but their new releases since then (with the exception of Espresso IRS) just haven't done it for me. I thought their collaborations last year were killer and this year, they've just been so-so. Next!
You know you're a good brewery when someone claims two of your new releases are fantastic, and yet feels you're having a bad year. (No love for Enjoy By?) I'd actually argue that--relative to my past experiences with Stone--this is their best year yet. Bad Year? I finally got around to trying some Coronado stuff and have not been impressed. But maybe they didn't have far to fall to begin with?
I think Stone had an amazing year, one of the best ever. Enjoy By is arguably the best year round DIPA you can get on each coast, Espresso Stout is fantastic, and they redesigned their IPA bottles to specifically reference freshness. Meaning, Stone has gotten so good at getting fresh beers to you that they're outing when they were made and how long they've been sitting. It's not a little stamp of a date somewhere on the bottle, it's a bunch of verbiage basically saying "CHECK THE DATE ON THIS BOTTLE." Not many craft breweries would have the balls to do that. They also now have probably the best website for tracking their beers on the internet of any brewery.
Great year: I know these are both PA locals, but Tired Hands and Voodoo crushed it this year. Tired Hands put out some great unique brews and Voodoo had two barrel room collection releases that produced several top notch bottles. Bad year: another PA brewery, but Weyerbacher had a down year IMO.
I would think Rogue probably didn't have the best year. I swear, I see their beers less and less. The only beer any store seems to have in supply is Voodoo Doughnuts which just sits and sits. And it seems unaninimously hated to the extent that its awfulness has transcended craft and is joked about outside the scene.
Jack's Abby crushed it this year. 6 pack format at better price, new brews being made more available, solid collaboration with Lawson's. All around great year. Bad year, I don't know. ABinbev? They made Cran-brrr-rita, that probably sucked, no?
I agree Enjoy By is killer. Absolutely love the stuff. But that was released last year. I'm going by their new beers this year. Last year, I may have had Stone as my #1 Good Year brewery.
Good year - every year is a good year for HF, but they keep doing a great job. More locally, it seems Kane/Peekskill are really taking off. Bad year - both subjective and relative, but perhaps not the strongest year for Founders? For me, they didn't nail any of the backstage releases.
good year- alchemist-had to shut things down to get a bigger building and better manage the grey market sale of their beers bad- inbev
Good- Pipeworks for the crazy great consistent 1 off brews they pump out. Bad- hard to say but GI for making me stand in line for their brew release on black friday insted of being with my family.
Stone had a great year. Enjoy By, Dayman Suede, R&R, IRS Espresso, W00T Stout, another round of RuinTen, more Enjoy By. And most of those offerings were from above average to downright fantastic
If I am going to go a little more local for the Good Year vote, it's gotta be Swamp Head. They have been releasing a LOT of brews lately, more growlers, and weekly special releases, plus cans and bottles. Peat Dunwoody was one of the best barrel aged old ale/scotch ale/wee heavy/barleywines I have ever had. And that's just the start on all their new stuff.
I know it not entirely new, but Velvet Merkin gave my world a good solid rocking. Never had a barrel aged beer be that incredibly smooth and drinkable, a masterpiece IMO But that is just one beer I suppose, so I would have to agree with the above statements made about Stone Bad year? As far as beers outside of their core lineup, Deschufes didn't exactly wow me, but they're still one of the best Also Sierra Nevada gets an honorable mention for having a good year
I would say that Noda, Foothills, and Olde Hickory are well on their way to multiple "good years". I'm having a bit of trouble with "bad". Let me think on it. Nationally, Stone is strong all the way through. Smuttynose keeps under the radar with wonderful beer. I love Sierra Nevada more all of the time. Too many good things to say.
National Good Year: Stone (collabs, Enjoy By, Ruinten, 17th, national Quingenti Milliliter, consistency & bottle dating) Terrapin (variants and new releases) Local Good Year: Flying Dog (full 12-month brewhouse rarities line-up, year-round DIPA The Truth, BA Gonzo), Burley Oak (3 bottlings so far and a crazy amount of delicious rotating drafts) Bad Year: Any brewery that sent out a lawsuit to another brewery. (1st year in craft beer, so it is mostly all good for me)
