Posts Tagged ‘Troegs’
Paste Names Best 25 American Breweries
Paste Magazine’s most recent “List of the Day” surveys the 25 best American breweries of the decade. Just hours after it was posted, a friend asked us what we thought. Overall, we think it’s pretty solid. We’ve had beer from all of the breweries, some more than others, especially Paste’s picks for the two top spots, Dogfish Head and Allagash. Still, we have a few beefs…
We wouldn’t have placed Victory or Founder’s in the top five. Those spots should have been reserved for cutting-edge breweries like Lost Abbey and Russian River. Similarly, we love Weyerbacher but probably would have placed Bell’s in its top 10 spot. And Jolly Pumpkin way down at 19? We don’t think so.
Perhaps going beyond the bounds of Paste’s rating method, we would have listed Brooklyn, Stone, and Samuel Adams much higher for their widespread efforts to inform American drinkers that there’s more to beer than Bud, Coors, and Michelob, as well as raise the status of beer in general. We also would have tried to squeeze Flying Dog, Left Hand, Troegs, and Duck Rabbit somewhere into the top 25.
Beyond that, if we could have done a Top 40, we would have tried to get O’Dell’s, The Bruery, Boulevard, Full Sail, Captain Lawrence, 21st Amendment, Sly Fox, Anderson Valley, New Holland, Clipper City, Bear Republic, and Elysian on the list, but it would have been very difficult to decide who goes where. Since many of the aforementioned breweries are up and coming, we have a good feeling several of them will be on next decade’s list.
Imbibe Vs. Beerspotter: Seasonal Beers
In the September/October issue of Imbibe, the editors selected their 99 favorite beers in different categories, such as seasonals or beers to drink with a burger. In “Imbibe Vs. Beerspotter,” Y&H’s Beerspotter takes each list to task.
Offer a beer for a limited time, and beer lovers will chase it, as was the case last spring when Troegs Nugget Nectar and Bell’s Hopslam lit up Beerspotter’s Twitter feed like someone caught the Real World-ers sipping it. I look forward to them every year, as well as the nominated Anchor Christmas Ale and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale.
But Imbibe left out at least two important seasonal styles: doppelbocks and barleywines. Brewed by German monks for sustenance during Lent, doppelbocks are as central to spring as March Madness (and for NFL fans, February’s postpartum depression). Ayinger Celebrator is the standard-bearer for the style, while the Lager Heads have their eye on the rarer Weltenburger Asam Bock. Both, though, will fill your belly with raisiny and chocolate-cake malts while you’re holding out for penitence.
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Another D.C. Beer Week? Yes, Please.
Update: Through some legal snafu, Brew at the Zoo will not be technically affiliated with D.C. Beer Week. All events are still on, though. For beer drinkers, this mostly means that you won’t see them listed on the same poster.
The Lagerheads piqued our interest earlier about a potential D.C. Beer Week in August that would culminate with Brew at the Zoo on August 20.
It’s official now: The festivities will run from Aug. 16 to 21, and so far 15 tastings, happy hours, meet-the-brewers, food pairings, and plain old drinking parties have been announced. There’s lots of H Street NE action, what with one of the organizers being Teddy Folkman of Granville Moore’s. Brew at the Zoo still seems like the main event, but The party ends on Friday with a Nats game featuring a discount for Beer Week attendees. (They’re playing the Milwaukee Brewers, natch.)
Here are the full listings. You will want to bookmark this sucker because there will be updates. The Web site’s not finished, but they’re also Facebookin’ (sorry, federal employees).
On July 4th Weekend, Buy American Beer
When I was little I once saw a Family Circus cartoon in which the father, on Independence Day, thanked China for their fireworks, Germany for their picnic of sausages and coleslaw, and so on. It was about as funny as, well, Family Circus — but the message stuck with me.
So on that note, I remind those of you stuck in the imports section of your beer store that America is home to the world’s most diverse beer selection, including many of the finest and certainly the freshest. This Independence Day weekend (I’m starting mine today), buy American beer. If you have a friend who thinks Stella Artois is the gods’ gift to Belgium, send ‘em this way for a list of proper American substitutes.
- Heineken (or Stella Artois) — Of the imports on this list, Heiney’s the one I’m least offended to get for free at a party. But it’s still just the Budweiser of Europe. If crisp, clean lagers are your thing (and in July, they’re certainly mine), try Stoudt’s Gold Lager or Sierra Nevada Summerfest.
