Dammit! I missed Cleveland Beer Week!?!
Thanks to a crazy travel schedule...I missed all of Cleveland Beer Week.
If you aren't from the Land of Cleve, you may be asking yourself "What is Cleveland Beer Week!?!" It's a weeklong celebration of craft beer. Every good bar, restaurant, liquor store or grocery store is celebrating with special menus, tastings, colaborations, Pub Crawls, special tappings and experimental treats using craft breweries special recipes.
What am I going to do, now that I know I can't go to the Brew Kettle to try the limited edition "Fusion 23" from Lagunitas!?! I'm going to rank my all time favorite beers.
Note/Rant: Oddly enough...As I am making this list, I am realizing how over IPAs I am. Dear Craft Brewers. Try a new style! I am in San Diego and I tried a Cream Ale from Ale Smith. Ale Smith did not make my list, but I've only associated Cream Ale with Genessee. It was good. different. nostalgic. Please stop throwing an obscene amount of hops into a keg of crappy beer and thinking it tastes good. I can get the same flavor by letting a Budweiser sit on a campfire for a couple hours. Please. Stop it!
Here is my top 13 list:
Southern Tier - Warlock. This beer is seasonal, so the flavor profile changes from year to year. This is not your average pumpkin beer. It's a dark, rich and sweet imperial stout with a slight amount of pumpkin. Dark and mysterious...just like halloween should be.
Lagunitas - A little Sumpthin. This is a perfect beer for BBQ. It's got some hops. It's got some wheat. But the thing I love about it are the sweet brown sugar notes are perfect with any grilled pork recipe.
The Brew Kettle - Altbier. My sister throws an annual Iron Chef style party. A bunch of us team up at TBK and brew beer to use as the secret ingredient in our reipies. If my count is accurate, we've brewed over 35 kegs at TBK and have had a blast doing it every tim. Altbier has been my favorite brew. It's smooth. It's got character. Tasty.
Heavy Seas - Marzen. I think they recently changed the branding of this product to "Cutlass Amber Ale". I hope the recipe hasn't changed with the name. The Marzen has a nice malty character that I really like.
Refuge Brewery - Blood Orange Wit. This is a small brewery in Temecula, CA. My San
Diego family took a wine tasting through the region, but stopped at a couple of breweries. This was my favorite. I tried every beer they made and loved every single one. The Blood Orange Wit was my favorite, because it wasn't like anything else I've ever tried.
Willoughby Brewing Company - Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter. It's like drinking a Reece's Cup.
Clown Shoes - Blaecorn Unidragon. The name alone had me sold. Clown Shoes was the fantasy football team name a friend gave me a long time ago, and Unidragon!?! Come on!!! You gotta try something with a name like that!!! Clown Shoes occasionally has a Ohio Unidragon which is even better, but it is not easy to find.
McEwans - Scotch Ale. A smooth, malty character.
North Peak - Siren. A nicely ballanced beer that comes in a bottle similar to Red Stripe.
Ballast Point - Yellowtail Pale Ale. Hoppy without being a hop bomb.
Portside - Man O War. This new brewery/distillery to Cleveland is putting out some great product. But they are new, so finding them can be challenging.
Unibroue - Trois Pistoles. The label looks like a Ronnie James Dio album cover. It's a little expensive for a 4-pack, but this Canadian beer rocks as hard as the label.
Miller High Life - Light. My go-to favorite beer to drink while mowing the yard. It's cheap, light and tasty. Don't judge.
