Favorite Beers of the year

For my final entry of 2010, I thought I'd look back over the year at a few beers that I tried and really enjoyed.  Overall, I reviewed 43 beers this year, not bad considering there are 52 weeks in a year.  However, unless you're like me and keep an excel spreadsheet list of what you've been drinking, it can be pretty hard to keep track of them.  Unfortunately, many of the double porters and imperial stouts I tried were one offs and limited editions at bars and festivals, so I neither smart enough nor sober enough to write down reviews.  But here's a brief stroll my favorites that I was lucky enough to have a bottle of and review this year.

Snake River, Zonker Stout

HUB, Organic IPA

Brasserie d'Orval, Orval

Mikkeller, It's Alive!

Stone/Brew Dog, Bashah

Port Brewing, Hot Rocks Lager

Allagash, 2009 Fluxus

Mikkeller, Nelson-Sauvin Single Hop IPA

Rogue, John John Ale

Sierra Nevada, 30th Anniversary Charlie, Fred, and Ken's Bock

And that's it.  Not a bad list all things considered.  All these beers are four stars and above with the exception of the Fluxus, which I believe I was a little harsh on with three and a half.  The John John should get a special mention just for the creativity of using Gin barrels to age the beer, very unique and a great ale.  Of these, I'd have to say that Mikkeller's Nelson-Sauvin is my pick of the year.  This was just such an awesome beer and worked perfectly with his single hop series.  It's the only beer I gave five stars to all year.

That's it for this year of Brews Clues, hopefully you've enjoyed my thoughts, info, and reviews.  Have a great New Years party, drink lots of good beer, and look for more posts in 2011!

cheers,
Dave

Snake River Zonker Stout

"Toasted, roasted weenie," was the shout that my friends and I used to hear as we exited the campus bar. During the final two years of my college career, a middle-aged man, of undecipherable foreign ethnicity, had taken to setting up a camper outside Smoke's (full name, Smokey Joes), our often attended yet little remembered campus bar of some 60 or so years. He would take a small $29.95 charcoal barbeque and cook up packaged hot dogs, selling them to inebriated Penn students, who would gladly shell out the $2 for a slightly burned dog that would soak up the massive amounts of Miller, Budweiser, and Yuengling in their stomach and undoubtedly on their clothes. On ocassion, I was one of these customers that stumbled to the rallying cry of "Toasted, roasted weenie," or simply "toasty, roasty," as months of success allowed the man some room for trademark and branding.

I delve into memory lane, because as I try the Zonker Stout, the first words that popped into my head are, "toasted, roasted." Seven different types of malts in all: 2 Row Pale, Carastan, Caramel, Crystal, Black, Chocolate, Roasted Barley. The front end has a surprising complexity of flavor, mixing roasted barley, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, licorice, and just a hint of coffee. While hops include Chinook, Sterling, and Hallertau, they aren't incredibly present in the bouquet except for a small trace in the finish, which doesn't really help or hurt the beer to any degree.

While the body and nose on this beer are outstanding, it's in the finish where I feel that it needs work. There's a slightly unpleasant aftertaste, not unlike the acidity of eating unsweetened chocolate. Otherwise this beer is quite good handywork.

Zonker Stout: ****