What are your TOP TEN beers of 2014?

So many good beers in 2014

1. Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star with Coffee
2. Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Abominable with Cinnamon and Coffee
3. Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout
4. Half Acre Heyoka
5. Three Floyds Zombie Dust
6. Russian River Row2/Hill 56
7. Hair Of The Dog Adam Batch 1
8. Jester King Black Metal
9. Fort George 3-Way (Boneyard/Block 15)
10. Maul Imperial Coconut Porter.

 

1. Abner
2. Bourbon Barrel Biscotti
3. Tweak
4. Casey Saison
5. Trillium Fort Point Galaxy Double Dry Hopped
6. Permanent Funeral
7. Backwoods Bastard
8. Nightmare on Brett (Leopold barrel)
9. Society & Solitude #6
10. Firestone Walker 17 or Stickee Monkee

 

No particular order

SP Saison du fermier
FW Parabola 2012
GI Bourbon county vanilla rye
GI Madame Rose
Perennial Abraxas
Spiteful Working for the weekend DIPA
JP Biere du Mars
NG Scream IIPA
RR Supplication
TG Pseudosue

 

Vanilla Rye
Marshall Zhukov
CW 16
FW 17
BA VSS
Greenbush Rage
Karben4 Idiot Farm
18th Street Sinister
Revolution Unsessionable
NG Scream

 

1) Half Acre Beer Hates Astronaught
2) Night Shift Stop Collaborate and Glisten
3) Trillium Congress St IPA
4) Wormtown Be Hoppy
5) Trillium Pot and Kettle
6) Tree House Green
7) Jack Abbey Kiwi Rising
8) Tree House Julius
9) New England Coriolis
10) Bruery Oude Tart

MA has really been hitting their stride lately. Trillium, wormtown, Tree House, Night Shift, and Jack Abbey are all doing great things. 7 out of my top 10 new beerrs for 2014 camee out of MA. I do not think they are that far behind the great state of VT (from what I have tried).

 

Simple Things ease a Simple Mind:

1. Columbus - Bodhi
2. Evil Twin - Bourbon Barrel IBB
3. Hoppin Frog - Pappy Van Wink B.O.R.I.S.
4. Jackie O's - Dark Apparition
5. Fat Heads - Hop Juju
6. Fyne Ales - Jarl
7. Thirsty Dog - Wulver
8. Modern Times - Blazing World
9. Central Waters - Barrel Aged Barley Wine
10. NEBCO - Gandhi Bot (I hope that doesn't offend anyone!)

There's more yet off the top of my head that's my choice...

 

1. Gandhi Bot
2. BCBS
3. Extremely Angry Beast
4. La Cumbre Elevated Ipa
5. Bomb!
6. Parabola
7. FW Double DBA
8. Nebco Fuzzy Baby Ducks or Supernaut
9. Jacks Abby Mass Rising
10. Black Mesa Red Badger Stout

I keep trying as many styles as possible and ipas and stouts continue to dominate for me.

 

No Particular order
Pseudo Sue
Darkness 14
Assassain
Lunker
Zeelander
BA Narwhal
Freak of Nature
Rumpkin
Sticker Fight
Rum King

 

I'm quite offended. But probably for different reasons than our friends overseas....Probably.

 

Sorry, should've stated "in no FUCKING ORDER"!

 

The Part Where I List Many Hoppy Beers with no real explanation why:
(which makes sense, I suppose, because that's where a lot of my new beers come from)

Top Ten New Beers (in order...for now )-
Lawson's Double Sunshine
Traunsteiner Helles
Schlenkerla Fastenbier
No-Da Hop Drop n Roll
BA Narwhal
Ballantine IPA
Heady Topper
Revolution Unsessionable
Neshaminy Creek Shape of Hops to Come
Furst Wallerstein Zwickel

The part where I list Honorable Mentions along with an explanation:
Southern Tier Grand Arbor Saison- sleeper of the year for me. Such a pleasure to drink, I've lost count of how many times I've gone back to this well over the past 7-8 months, and it's always a treat. Just nailed the dry finish, yeast signature, enough complexity to always keep it interesting. Oh yeah- maple. A hint of a hint, I guess, but it's not the reason I kept coming back.

Callicoon Brewing Country Lager- a great riff on the Classic American Pilsner style. Instead of 6-row malt they used Pilsner Malt, made it nice and classy-like. Very soft water profile, impeccable balance, noble hops, and, yeah, some flaked maize. It was good. Real good. 'About as good as this kind of beer can get' good. I hope they brew it again this spring; their summer ale was not nearly on this level.

Straub Pilsner- of all of my very memorable beer moments in a most excellent 2014, the one that really sticks out the most was the "where in the hell did that come from" after I took my first sips of this beer. This one not only holds its own in a sea of superb PA pilsners, but could just be among the top tier. Way to go Straub! An old-school family regional brewer doing it up righteous! (The rest of the Summer Sampler was also nearly on the same level, imo.)

 

Here's my top 10 (new ratings this year):

FiftyFifty - Imperial Eclipse Stout - Elijah Craig (12 Year)
Kona Brewing - Da Grind Buzz Kona Coffee Imperial Stout
Big Island Brewhouse - Paniolo Pale Ale
Russel Brewing - White Rabbit
Stone - RuinTen IPA
Four Winds - Juxtapose Brett IPA
Driftwood - Entangled Hopfenweisse
New Belgium - Hop Kitchen RyePA
Green Flash - Road Warrior Imperial Rye India Pale Ale
Brouwerij Huyghe - Delirium Nocturnum

 

My faves off the top of my head, in no order:

Rivertowne Headless Wylie
Espresso Oak Aged Yeti
Lagunitas NightTime
The Brew Kettle El Lupulo Libre
Revolution Unsessionable
Bell's Mars
Clown Shoes Space Cake
Three Floyds/Surly/Real Ale Blakkr
Three Floyds Behemoth Blonde Barleywine
Stone Xocoveza

 

In no particular order:

The Lost Abbey Framboise de Amorosa
The Bruery Sour in the Rye
The Bruery Befuddlement
Russian River Beatification
Noble Ale Works Showers series (some are better than others but they're ALL pretty good--I think Simcoe was my fave)
New Belgium LOF Le Terroir
Stone Xocoveza
Stone Smoked Porter with Congo Coffee & Orange Peel (NOT the chocolate & orange peel)
Prairie Bomb!
HF Abner
Grassroots Brother Soigné

That's actually eleven--so sue me.

 

Side Project ~ Pulling Nails Blend #2
Side Project ~ Saison Du Blé
Anchorage/Mikkeller ~ Invasion IPA
4 Hands ~ Ca$h Mony IPA
Side Project ~ Saison Du Fermier
Prairie ~ Prairie Hop Saison
Green Flash ~ Hop Odyssey Black IPA
Side Project ~ Saison de Rouge
Urban Chestnut ~ Wolpertinger - Red Wine Barrel Aged
Local Option ~ Kentucky Common Wild Ale

 

In no apparent order....the best new to me in '14

Tree House Green
Tree House Haze
Tree House Very Hazy
Tree House Very Green
Tree House Good morning
Tree House Yaaaarrrgh
Trillium Big Sprang
Nebco Locust Reign
Lawson's Sip Of Sunshine
Otter Creek/Lawson's Double Dose

that's about how I spent the 2nd half of 2014

 

I've got a BBQ sitting back home waiting to be had. Hopefully that is a wow beer for me as well, and help start some diversity in my top rankings.

 

I will stick to my top 10 new beers of 2014 (in no particular order):

Lawson's Finest Liquid's Sip of Sunshine
Stone Xocoveza Stout
Sixpoint Hi-Res
Anderson Valley The Kimmie, The Yink, & The Holy Gose
Anderson Valley Highway 128 Session Series: Blood Orange Gose
Yazoo Embrace the Funk Deux Rouges
Smuttynose Bouncy House IPA
Victory Wild Devil
Three Floyd's Chevalier Bertrand Du Guesclin
Lazy Magnolia Southern Hops'pitality

 

No particular order...
Indeed Mexican Honey
Surly Darkness barrel aged
Dark Horse Plead the Fifth
Northgate Pumpion
Clown Shoes Spacecake
Dell's Brewing Rustic Red
Southern Tier Warlock
Hammerheart Hail to the Dark Gourd
Founder's Breakfast Stout
Surly Abrasive

 

Lawson's "Sip o' sunshine"
Hill Farmstead's "What is Enlightenment"
Fiddlehead's "Mastermind DIPA"
... I know I had some other good ones, but seriously, none of them were in the same league as these three. Vermont is killing it right now.

 

Couldn't rank these bad boys...

Treehouse julius
FFF permanent funeral
Half acre beer hates astronauts
Pipeworks sure bet
Surly Todd the Axe Man
Lengthwise Ale Ya
Lagunitas Born yesterday
TG pseudo sue
Columbus Bodhi
Kern Citra

 

no order here, either

BA Abraxas
King Henry
SP Black and Wild
BA Sump
DB Hunahpu
Zombie Dust
Double Barrel Jesus
Dinner
Viet Speedway

 

Is there an acronym for in no particular order? Cause here are mine, INPO.

Stone Enjoy By
Goose Island Madame Rose
2013 KBS
Victory Hop Ranch
Petrus Aged Pale
Monks Cafe Flemish Sour
Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero
Clown Shoes Space Cake
Southern Tier 2Xpresso
DFH Festina Peche

 

New to me in 2014: No particular order

1. Pipeworks Citra
2. Zombie Dust
3. Focal Banger
4. Heady Topper
5. Pseudo Sue
6. Unsessionable
7. Gandhi Bot
8. The Crusher
9. Stone W00t Stout 2.0
10. Permanent Funeral

 

1. Rum Marshal Zhukov
2. Rum Ba Caffe Americano
3. Atrial Rubicite
4. Prop
5. Transient presque wine barrel aged
6. Chocolate Rain
7. Rum white oak jai lai pineapple
8. Melange 3
9. Apricot grove
10. The wanderer

 

Alchemist heady topper
Tree house Julius
Ballast point sculpin
Hill farmstead Everett porter
Maine beer company lunch
Jácks Abby bride maker
Trappist rochefort 10
Jácks Abby cocoa nut barrel aged Framinghammer
Jácks Abby lager ness monster
Samuel Adams utopia

A very good year

 

No particular order but:

Hill Farmstead- Friendship & Devotion
Hill Farmstead- Abner
Hill Farmstead- Edward
Hill Farmstead- Double Citra
Hill Farmstead- Excursions #1
Alchemist- Heady Topper
Alchemist- Focal Banger
Tree House- Double shot
Bissell Brothers- Substance
Stone- Xocoveza

 

Somewhat order, but mostly random:

Treehouse - Julius
Treehouse - Good Morning
Hill Farmstead - Convivial Suarez
Hill Farmstead - Anna
Cigar City - Hunaphu
Bissell Brothers - Substance
Parish - Ghost in the Machine
Lawson's - Sip of Sunshine
Stone - Xocoveza
Goose Island - Bourbon County Vanilla Rye

Could go on for days...I drank/traveled for too much epic beer in 2014.

 

So many good brews in 2014, I’m going to try to keep it to new to me brews.

Double Sunshine
HF Abner
Cantillon Gueze
HF Double Citra
3F Golden Doesjel
HF Anna
HF Brother Soigne
HF Edward
Three Floyds Zombie Dust
Sip of Sunshine

Honorable Mention: KBS, HF Everett, Good Morning, Sucaba, Mastermind IPA, Treehouse & TG David, Treehouse Lucid & Treehouse Double Shot.

 

The one I have been drinking by the case all year

Round guys fear of a Brett planet

Enjoy

 

Not in order

Oskar Blues Bulleit Rye Ten Fidy
Grapefruit Sculpin
Jackie o's Black Maple
Westbrook Rummy Old Time
Westbrook Double Barrel Mexican Cake
Indeed Rum King
Upland Darksynth
Cigar City Bourbon Barrel Big Sound
Surly Darkness '11
FiftyFifty Eclips Christian Bros. Brandy Barrel

 

No particular order either, and I really got into beer early summer so this accounts for basically half the year:

BCBS
Backwoods Bastard
Xocoveza
Dragons Milk
Bells Mars
Big Bad Baptist
Founders Imperial Stout
Zombie Dust
Bellwoods Bring Out Your Dead
Muskoka Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout

 

Bourbon County Barleywine
Bourbon County Stout
Stone Sublimely Self Righteous
Stone Ruination/ RuinTen
Stone Enjoy By
Noda Hop Drop And Roll
Alchemist Heady Topper
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
Sierra Nevada BBA Narwhal
Green Flash Palate Wrecker

 

It's always tough to narrow down all the great beers that I had in 2014. Here goes nothing. In no particular order, of course.

Bissell Brothers Substance Ale
Cantillon Lou Pepe Kriek
Grey Sail Captain's Daughter
Lawson's Maple Tripple Ale
Cantillon Iris
Noda Hop Drop N Roll
Bell's Black Note Stout
3 Floyds Zombie Dust
Jack's Abby Vanilla Barrel Aged Framinghammer
Tree House Haze

 

2014 was my best year in beer yet. Hoping the trend continues in 2015! Favorites by style:

TG KBBS
Founders CBS
Hardywood Trickery
2014 Darkness
Stone Xocoveza

TG Zeelander
TG King Sue
Neshaminy The Shape of Hops to Come

Fou Foune
New Glarus CranBic

 

SP Black and Wild
SP Blanc de Blancs
BCBS Vanilla 2010
BCBS Vanilla 2014
SITR w/kumquats
Sump Kyoto blend
Madame Rose 2010
Civil Life big American Brown
Pliney the Elder
BA Abraxas

 

No order:

Treehouse Green
Treehouse Julius
Trillium Heavy Mettle
Hill Farmstead Abner
Cascade Bourbon Cherry Quad
Jack's Abby Cocoa-Nut Barrel Aged Framinghammer
Hardywood Gingerbread Stout
Cantillon Zwanze
Boneyard Hop Venom
Firestone Walker PNC