Thanks brotha!!! Sorry for the headache!! Let me know if you ever come down to So.Cal so I can repay you for the headache and bad beer!! Cheers!
New Glarus R&D Sour Ale Crooked Stave Persica Hill Farmstead/Tired Hands Delicado Pizza Port Dusk til Dawn
I feel like the Delicado and Persica, at least, are both whales—just maybe less hyped. SLIGHTLY less hyped, in the case of Delicado (helps that there weren't any official bottles to make the rounds).
I got one as an extra in a trade a few months ago. It was phenomenal. Dark Horse hasn't disappointed yet.
For me the shear unexpectedness of Enjoy By and the Ruination 10th Anniversary. Also had my first Zombie Dusts acquired in a trade and realized that 12 was not enough. So many great tastes this year. Compiling all of them for my year end list. Cheers.....
I am not sure but I think it is single batch release, it was around RI for awhile, I think they do a different batch every year but probably didnt make many
For me Lawson's Chinooker'd without a doubt! First thought after trying it was that I think I'd bathe in it and that thought hasn't changed since.
Some great surprises (from stuff released for the first time this year): -Enjoy By -R&D Sour Ale -Sour Black
Without a doubt, this was my "drive-by" beer of the year, I still can't stop chomping at the bit on this one!
I had the fortune to help out with Toronado's Cascade event here in San Diego during our Beer Week (reads month), awesome time! I enjoyed all of the event beers so much but after the event I tried Sang Royal at the bar...blown away! Really like the way things are now with Cascade, hope I can make it up there later on in the year! All in all, excellent choice! Cheers!
I just had a Batch 0 that I picked up while in Amsterdam last year, so freaking good! My contribution to this thread is Escoffier by Vivant. I keep tooting its horn. Wild Ale with Brett in a can, it is awesome. One of the best food beers I have ever had.
I gave Mitch a hug for making that beer at GABF this year! I remember seeing him as an AB guy in Beer Wars, makes you think...so many people are really quick to judge.
Mind and bottle blowing! The batch I had (clear label, not blue) exploded with every bottle I cracked open, so much damn fun! Best matched up with Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" (my opinion).
NG Serendipity, NEBCO Galaxy and several Toppling Goliath brews (Mornin' Delight, Millennium Falcon, ZeeLander and PsuedoSue)
Terrapin Oak Aged Big Hoppy Monster and believe it or not, Leinenkugel's Big Eddy's RIS - tastes like a cherry brownie. Shocked by this one, but I am cruising this 4 pack.
In addition to all of the ones already mentioned and replied to, today I had the fortune of going down the road to the Stone Comapny Store in South Park and tasting/growlering (is that a word?) Suitable for Cave Aging: An Imperial Smoked Porter Tribute to Danny Williams aged in Bourbon Barrels. Really damn good BBA brew! Not really whale in the monetary sense but definitely elusive and sporadic, ready to be burned at the stake.
Schlafly A IPA Elysian Great Pumpkin and Dark o'the Moon Flying Dog Dogtoberfest Weyerbacher Insanity BCBS SN Narwhal and Ruthless Rye
You can never beat an old standby, Old Rasputin is one really awesome Imperial Stout for the cost which is generally no more than $10 a four pack. Next in line? Probably Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad. I know it is a 750... I know it is $11 to $12... but my god. The quality and the taste and just freakin' everything about that beer is amazing and totally worth the price. I've payed upward of $20 for same size bottles and even more for smaller amounts but have not been quite that satisfied. It's worth every penny. To end, Weyerbacher Simcoe Double IPA. Under $7 for a 750ml... 9% abv... and one really really good Double IPA. Can't be beat. Totally obliterates my hop cravings every time.
The whole "whale" thing confuses me. Lol. I've even seen threads that try to explain the difference between whales and non whales and I'm more confused after reading them. I just think I've seen a lot whales listed here. Don't mind me, lol.
Stone Arrogant Bastard, Sublimely Self Righteous, and Sam Adams Noble Pils, due to the fact that the first time I had those beers I hated them. Now after revisiting those brews a year or two later, I love them. (Hooray for evolving palates).
Simtra. Just a monster of an IPA. Not the cheapest, but I'll be picking up lots of these in the near future. Row 2, Hill 56. Not expensive, not hyped. But harder to get ahold of than Pliny
Maybe the one that stood out the most this year because its $8 a six is Lagunitas Maximus. Also Sierra Nevada's Narwhal is a great one at $8 too. Seems like every brewer big or small wants to be in that $10-12 segment.
So far this year my stunner was how much I enjoyed the light but tasty Agave Wheat from Breckenridge, who I find to have a fairly underwhelming quality to most of the stuff I've had, this one I would definitely seek out as a nice sessioner. The other stunner has to be picking Coors Light out of a blind taste test w/some light beer macro loving friends. It certainly had what you'd call the essence of taste, the "want to" if you will compared to Butt Light & Filler Lite...perhaps running the old Banquet beer up the flag pole is on the '13 horizon
