Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Hungover Gourmet's Favorite (New) Beers of 2013

I knew taking pictures of the beers I "tasted" over the course of 2013 was a good idea!

Sure, thumbing through a digital diary of all those beers was, um, sobering and made me think "that's a lot of beer" but it also made it easy to separate out the ones I simply liked from the ones I really loved.

So without further ado, here's The Hungover Gourmet's list of Ten Favorite New Beers of 2013...

  • Ballast Point Sculpin IPA: expensive but worth it!
  • Steen Brugge Tripel Ale: a Christmas Eve treat
  • Union Craft Duckpin Pale Ale: a hoppy, canned tribute to a Baltimore pastime
  • Harpoon Summer Beer: the beer of summer 2013
  • 21st Amendment Brewery Marooned on Hog Island Stout: a perfect warm weather stout brewed with oyster shells
  • Stone Brewing 11/11/11 Vertical Epic Ale: another Christmas Eve tasting... complex and peppery
  • Troegs DreamWeaver Wheat Beer: the surprise entry on the list as wheat beers aren't usually my thing but I loved every cloudy, fruity glass
  • Sierra Nevada Beer Camp (Imperial Red Ale 2013, Sierra Nevada IPA and – my favorite camper – Belgian-Style Black IPA): I couldn't pick just one... probably dropped more $ on these than any other beer on the list
Honorable Mentions go out to: Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, 21st Amendment Bitter American, Lancaster Brewing Kolsch, Victory Brewing Summer Love, Finch's Fascist Pig Ale and Just Beer Project Just IPA.

Granted, these were just my favorite new beers that I tried over the course of the year and doesn't include such old favorites as Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale, Little Yellow Pils and Old Chub Scotch Ale, Dominion Brewing Oak Barrel Stout and Flying Dog UnderDog Atlantic Lager (which would go great with the baby back ribs that are currently slow cooking in my kitchen and making my stomach growl!).

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