Evan's beer rankings:
| Top 5 Overall (to avoid redundancy beers are not on more than one list) | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
1 |
EKU 28 "Kulminator" | Kulmbacher Brauerei AG, Germany | Eisbock | Eisbock is an obscure style, but basically what they do is make a doppelbock, and after fermentation, partially freeze it and remove some ice, thus concentrating the beer. Then they drop in down into caves for 9 months to lager. Crystal-clear, amber hue. Smells like scotch, taste is perfectly balanced between the maltiness and the high alcohol levels (~11% abv, although the alcohol never burns, even when it gets warmer). The ultimate beer to snift in front of a fireplace. |
2 |
Westmalle Trappist Tripel | Brouwerij Westmalle, Westmalle Belgium | Belgian Tripel | Tripels are my favorite Belgian style because they are so misleading, being both very pale and very strong (~10% abv). Westmalle has a slight reddish hue, and has a very pleasant cidery-sourness that other tripels usually lack. |
3 |
Prima Pils | Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, Pennsylvania | German Pilsener | In my estimation, the best US beer hands-down. These guys have managed to get more hop flavor and aroma into a pale lager than anyone else has yet managed to get in an IPA. Yet, the beer is well-balanced with and awesome bready malt-sweetness. I have no idea how they got that much malt flavor into such a pale beer. |
4 |
Hennepin | Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, New York | Belgian Farmhouse Ale (Saison) | Could drink this beer everyday. Pale yet fairly strong. Lots of flavors going on, spicy, and very dry. The ultimate beer for the summertime. Makes you want to go mow someone's lawn. Hops are subdued but definitely present. |
5 |
Two Hearted Ale | Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo, Michigan | American IPA | Not the hoppiest or strongest IPA, but the best balanced. The hops have a distinct taste unique from other IPAs (Centennial, I believe). Definitely grows on you. |
| Top 3: India Pale Ale | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | 90 Minute IPA | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Delaware | Double IPA | This beer sets the standard for double IPAs. Tons of malt, tons of hops, and enough alcohol in each bottle to enbalm a small dog. |
| 2 | Simcoe Double IPA | Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, Pennsylvania | Double IPA | SImcoe hops rock. Tastes like pine needles and grapefruit. A very distinct beer. |
| 3 | Snake Dog IPA | Flying Dog Brewery, Denver, Colorado | American IPA | The aroma on this one is huge. Not overly bitter, but tons of hop flavor. Great beer. |
| Top 3: Stout | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout |
Nøgne Ø - det kompromissløse bryggeri, Lillesand, Norway |
Russian Imperial Stout | Just remember that it was nearly perfect. Smooth, roasty, chocolatey. Very black. Great wintertime beer. |
| 2 | Guinness Extra Stout | Guinness Ltd., Dublin, Ireland | Irish/Dry Stout | To anyone who doesn't like Guinness, it is probably because you had it with one of those stupid nitrogen-releasing widgets. As far as I can tell nitrogen kills a beer's flavor. The stuff out of the regular bottle is just perfect. Sour, dry, and not that heavy, contrary to popular belief. |
| 3 | Old Rasputin | North Coast Brewing Co., Fort Bragg, California | Russian Imperial Stout | Been a while since I had this, but it stands out in my memory. If I remember correctly, it is quite bitter but delicious. |
| Top 3: Maine beers | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Geary's Hampshire Special Ale | Geary's Brewing Co., Portland, Maine | English Strong Ale | Brings back such fond memories of Maine. This beer is very similar in taste to a barleywine except lower alcohol and lower hops. Fairly boozy tasting, which I think adds to this beer. Very sniftable. |
| 2 | Coal Porter | Atlantic Brewing Co., Bar Harbor, Maine | Porter | One of my all-time favorite porters, mainly because they didn't shy away from roasted malts. This would be a good beer to drink on an oil rig or maybe a construction site. |
| 3 | Geary's Winter Ale | Geary's Brewing Co., Portland, Maine | English IPA | Not what you would expect from an IPA. The hops are very mellow and mostly the malt comes through. Has that distinct Geary's taste that I long for. |
| Note: I left Maine before I got into beer, so my experience with Allagash is limited. I'm sure they will find there way onto this list soon. | ||||
| Top 3: Strong lager (bocks, doppelbocks, baltic porters, etc.) | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Ayinger Celebrator | Brauerei Aying, Aying, Germany | Doppelbock | Liquid bread. Very dark, lots of sweet fruit flavors (raisin, plum, molasses) but not cloying like a lot of doppelbocks. Had this one at Flying Saucer in Raleigh. |
| 2 | Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter | Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, North Carolina | Baltic Porter | Not the most enjoyable style, but good in small quantities. Has the consistency of motor oil, blacker than anything you have seen. But its pretty smooth, albeit on the sweet side. This would be a good beer to drink in a log cabin during a blizzard. |
| 3 | Spaten Optimator | Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu, München, Germany |
Doppelbock | A bit on the sweet side but lots of good malt flavor here. Goes perfectly with a cigar. |
| Top 3: Lager | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Pilsner Urquell | Plzensky Prazdroj, a. s., Plzen, Czech Republic |
Bohemian Pilsener | The classic pils. Unfortunately pilseners get a bad rap thanks to all the crap macro brews in the US abusing the world "pilsener". Main gripe with this one is that a fair amount of diacetyl is present, but overall this is a darn good beer. Lots of nice Saaz hop flavor. |
| 2 | Boston Lager | Sam Adams, Boston, Massachusetts | Vienna Lager | Smooth, malty, and a hint of spicy hops in the background. Seems to be much better on draught than out of a bottle. |
| 3 | Warsteiner Oktoberfest | Warsteiner Brauerei, Warstein, Germany | Märzen (Oktoberfest) | Only have had this once, it was at Christy's in Greenville, NC. Remember that it was delicious...can't remember much else. |
| Top 5: Homebrew | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Yeager Pale Ale (YPA) | Corey's house | American IPA | Wish we wrote the recipe down better. Cascade hops come through big time in the aroma but the bitterness was a little one-dimensional. Best part was the color (coppery-red) and the malt flavor. Mashed ~ 10 lbs Maris Otter and whatever specialty grains we could find. A bit overcarbonated though. This stuff didn't last long in my possession. |
| 2 | Improvised witbier | Corey's house | Belgian Witbier | A homebrew miracle. Wanted to make a witbier but we had no yeast or wheat malt. So I went to the grocery store and got about 4 lbs of raw bulghur wheat and wheat germ, mashed that along with 5 lbs pilsner malt, 1 lb wheat malt, and some oats. Mashed all afternoon and wound up with a higher gravity than we predicted! Added some coriander and fresh orange zest, and a dash of lactic acid. Then, pitched onto a giant yeast cake already in a carboy from another beer. Not my favorite style, but this is the best witbier I have ever tasted. This beer was also a miracle in its carbonation speed. We bottled it on a Sunday, my MS thesis defense was on a Friday. By Friday, it was ready! I think the beer knew. |
| 3 | Dema-goddess | Corey's house | Belgian Special Ale | 17% abv. This stuff could kill a donkey. Tastes great, although on the hoppy side in my estimation. Changes every week in the bottle, lately a lot of sour fruity flavors are starting to become more prominent as the beer dries out (been in the bottle for ~4 months). Has a strange side effect of making you want to get in a fight with someone. |
| 4 | Banana-beer | Corey's house | Hefeweizen | Simple hefe but came out great, thanks to the awesome Weihenstephaner yeast we used. Very banana-ey thanks to the yeast (hence the name). Might try fermenting this beer a bit cooler (~68) next time to tame those wild flavors. |
| 5 | Pils v1 | Matt's house | German Pilsener | Nothing but pilsner malt. Did a double decoction and used a blend of four noble hops. Fermented around 50 F for 2 weeks and lagered at 37 F for about 5 weeks. Had a definite lager taste out of the carboy, although now that it is bottled tastes closer to an IPA. Very tasty, but too hoppy, even for a pils. |
| Top 5: Beer available in Peru (aside from Heineken) | ||||
Rank |
Name | Origin | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Cusquena | Cusco, Peru |
Macro lager | Actually a decent beer. Probably wouldn't buy it if I saw it in the US, but for Peru this is the top-shelf stuff. Actually tastes like they used barley in this one. |
| 2 | Pilsen Callao | Lima, Peru | Macro lager | Definitely the best party beer. Crisp and easy to drink, best enjoyed in massive quantities while standing in a circle with friends. Noticeably improves dancing capabilities. |
| 3 | Brahma | Sao Paulo, Brazil | Macro lager | Not as good as Pilsen, but about 3 cents cheaper per bottle on average. |
| 4 | San Juan | Pucallpa, Peru | Macro lager | Very similar to Pilsen, the main difference is that it tastes like they used water straight out of Rio Ucayali to brew it with. |
| 5 | Cristal | Lima, Peru | Macro lager | The only difference between this stuff and water is the color. Makes a good water substitute, particularly if you are in Lima. |
| Top 3: Barleywine | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Duck-Rabbit Barleywine | Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, Farmville, North Carolina | American Barleywine | This has something that the other barleywines don't have: a sour-fruit flavor and aroma. Barleywines can be heavy, but this one isn't (but it is darn strong, 11% abv). The 2008 is different than older ones in that it is hoppier and fruitier. |
| 2 | Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, California | American Barleywine | Probably the hoppiest barleywine I've tried. At first taste it is pretty harsh, but you warm up to it. I think I went through a 6 pack of this stuff one night. |
| 3 | Old Horizontal | Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, Pennsylvania | American Barleywine | Doesn't stand out compared to the others, but the hops are more mellow and the beer is more drinkable. Has stronger malt flavor than the others. A good beer to drink before bedtime. |
| Top 3: Fruit beers, hefeweizens, and otherwise girly beers | ||||
Rank |
Name | Brewery | Style | Comments |
| 1 | Hoegaarden | Brouwerij van Hoegaarden, Hoegaarden, Belgium | Belgian Witbier | Don't get me wrong, this stuff is great. Just make sure to follow it with a Kulminator or Bell's Expedition stout to regain your status as a Man. This is the classic witbier, and is very refreshing. Anyone that drinks it with an orange should be punched though. |
| 2 | Bar Harbor Blueberry ale | Atlantic Brewing Co., Bar Harbor, Maine | Fruit Beer | If it is going to be a blueberry ale, it has to be the Atlantic Brewing version. |
| 3 | Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier | Brauerei Weihenstephan, Freising, Germany | Hefeweizen | Like other hefeweizens, except this one actually has flavor. A distinct banana flavor and smell is noticeable, thanks to their special yeast strain. |