50 beers to try

I grew up around beer but it was only quite recently that I developed a true affinity for beer. After I tried some flavorful wheat beers, smoky porters and rich stouts, I realized there was actually something worth liking. And I have since discovered that sipping a good craft beer is like tasting a fine wine.

Last month, my sister introduced me to the term “hop head,” sort of the beer drinkers’ equivalent to a wine snob.  I do enjoy touring breweries, visiting ale houses where I can try flights of beers and I know terms like wort and some of the names of the more common hops. Am I a hop head? I don’t know, but I’ll admit I am a bit of a beer aficionado.

So it was no surprise that the first book I’ve tackled for 2013 is Brewed Awakening by Joshua Bernstein. Joshua was a beer writer for the now-extinct Gourmet magazine, one of my most trusted culinary guides. (I am so thankful it lives on as an app, Gourmet Live, at least) On a broad scale Joshua’s book is a testament to the craft beer revolution, but it touches on everything from the four ingredients that comprise beer and homebrewing to leading craft brewers and beer festivals small and large around the country. And while he focuses primarily on the American craft beer scene, he touches on international breweries of note as well as a few select craft offerings by the macro-brewers. One thing I love about this book is that Joshua weaves in his top picks to try throughout the book, explaining some of the subtleties of what imparts flavor, aroma, etc., to the particular beers to make them unique. I highly recommend the book as a great guide, especially to anyone interested in the burgeoning craft beer scene, but even to those looking to learn more about beer.

Over the past few months I’ve read quite a few lists of beers to try, curious to see how many I’d tasted. On a couple, I’d actually tried 10%, not bad for only a year or so of really exploring craft beer. The best part about these lists is stumbling on interesting beers that I’ve never heard of and might like to try (although tracking some of the smaller craft brews down is another story).

We'll start with two lists I recommend perusing that have a lot of variety. I have tasted 5 of 50 on GQ’s "50 beers to try right now" but I think at some point I will have to try them all. I did a bit better on Cooking Light’s “Best American craft beers." I’ve tried 7 of 50 on this list. Here’s a couple shorter, but equally interesting lists -- Huffington Post’s “10 craft beers to try right now” and Bon Appetit’s “Strange brews: The weirdest beers in America.” I’ve tried zero on either of these lists but there’s two beers included on them that top my list of ones I want to try soon: Ommegang Hennepin and Willoughby Brewing Co. Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter.

There’s just something about kicking back on the weekend, relaxing with a cold beer and some football – simple and enjoyable. But why limit yourself to the usual, or worse to a bland beer. The great craft brewers are experimenting with unexpected ingredients, developing complex flavor profiles and pushing the boundaries of what is expected.  I’ve tried some pretty unique beers, and I’d say 9/10 times I was pleasantly surprised. That’s why I love ale houses that offer flights, it always forces me to pick at least one beer that I’d probably never touch otherwise.

All of this has inspired me to create my own list of beers to try, highlights from my own craft beer adventures. While the beers on my list cross the spectrum, I like some for their easy drinking quality, some for their complexity, and some for the unexpected ingredients, but I enjoy all of these fifty for their great flavor profiles. So without further ado, my top 50 beers to try:

1.       Abita Imperial Oyster Stout

2.       Anchor Brewing Anchor Steam Beer

3.       Anchor Brewing Breckle’s Brown

4.       Anderson Valley Winter Solstice

5.       Ass Kisser Vanilla Pale Ale

6.       Ass Kisser Smoked Porter

7.       Barrel Trolley Belgian White

8.       Batch 19

9.       Bison Chocolate Stout

10.   Bison Gingerbread Ale

11.   Bison Honey Basil Ale

12.   Blue Moon Farmhouse Red

13.   Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale

14.   Boulder Beer Planet Porter

15.   Breckenridge Agave Wheat

16.   Breckenridge Avalanche Ale

17.   Breckenridge Vanilla Porter

18.   Deschutes Red Chair NWPA

19.   Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

20.   Fifty Fifty Donner Party Porter

21.   Four Peaks Peach Ale

22.   Four Peaks Pumpkin Porter

23.   Four Peaks Sunbru

24.   Firestone Walker Walker Reserve Porter

25.   Full Sail Ltd 06

26.   Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale

27.   Lagunitas Lucky 13

28.   Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout

29.   Leinenkugel’s Canoe Paddler

30.   Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark

31.   Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy

32.   Leinenkugel’s Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

33.   Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale

34.   Mudshark Havablue

35.   Nimbus Oatmeal Stout

36.   North Coast Old Rasputin

37.   Odell Cutthroat Porter

38.   Odell Isolation Ale

39.   Prescott Brewing Achocolypse

40.   Prescott Brewing Petrified Porter

41.   Rogue Mocha Porter

42.   Rogue Old Crustacean

43.   Russian River Brewing Pliny the Elder

44.   Speakeasy Prohibition Ale

45.   Stone Levitation Ale

46.   Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers

47.   Stone Suitable for Cave Aging (porter aged in bourbon barrels)

48.   That Strawberry Blonde

49.   Third Shift Amber Lager

50. Wasatch Ghost Rider