Wine Enthusiast has handed out its picks for the best 25 beers of 2009. This is a tremendous undertaking, and I think it would be awfully tough to rank beers on any scale, but I have to hand it to Lauren Buzzeo for giving the top 25 a go and coming up with quite a fair list. Turns out, only one beer we’ve reviewed, Deschutes Jubelale, shows up here. Guess we have some work to do.
I obviously have some qualms with the selections (Eliot Ness shouldn’t be anywhere near the top ten; any beer I’ve had from Southern Tier has been a little overblown in my opinion; Sierra Nevada Summerfest?!?), but I do agree with a number of the picks (Sam Adams’s Boston Lager has always been an incredibly underrated beer for what it is, and tastes marvelous out of a tap; love seeing the Jolly Pumpkin folks, and a fellow Michigan graduate, getting some respect) and I also love the diversity in brews selected. But really, what would a list be without a little debate? Be sure to check out Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s December issue for the full list, and also check out its Beer Buying Guide which ran back in June. Both are great reads.
I challenge everyone to make their own list of favorite brews before New Years. We’d love to have your take on the best beers in your eyes, er, tongues.
Wine Enthusiast Top 25 Beer Selections 2009:
25. Victory Festbier (Marzen/Oktoberfest; Victory Brewing Company, PA; 5.6% ABV)
24. Nuova Mattina (Saison/Farmhouse Ale; Birrificio Del Ducato, Italy; 5.8% ABV)
23. Dogfish Head Festina Peche (Berliner Weissbier; Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Inc., DE; 4.5% ABV)
22. Left Hand Oktoberfest Marzen Lager (Marzen/Oktoberfest; Left Hand Brewing Company, CO; 6.0% ABV)
21. Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale (Pumpkin Ale; Smuttynose Brewing Co., NH; 6.0% ABV)
20. Sierra Nevada Summerfest (Czech Pilsener, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., CA; 5.0% ABV)
19. Nostradamus (Belgian Dark Strong Ale; Brasserie Caracole, Belgium; 9.0% ABV)
18. Samuel Adams Boston Lager (Vienna Lager; The Boston Beer Co., MA; 4.7% ABV)
17. Bam Biere Farmhouse Ale (Saison/Farmhouse Ale; Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, MI; 4.5%)
16. Allagash White (Witbier; Allagash Brewing Company, ME; 5.2% ABV)
15. Stone Vertical Epic 09.09.09 (Belgian Dark Strong Ale; Stone Brewing Co., CA; 8.9% ABV)
14. Deschutes Jubelale (Winter Warmer; Deschutes Brewery, OR; 6.7% ABV)
13. St. Bernardus Wit (Witbier, Brouwerij St. Bernardus, Belgium; 5.5%)
12. The Lost Abbery Duck-Duck-Gooze Ale (American Wild Ale; The Lost Abbey, CA; 7.0% ABV)
11. La Moneuse Saison (Saison/Farmhouse Ale; Brasserie de Blaugies, Belgium; 8.0% ABV)
Check below the jump for Wine Enthusiast’s top ten beers of 2009.
of refreshing celery and a subtle hint of orange. The celery was something I wasn’t expecting, and not being such a fan of celery in general, this maybe wasn’t the most inviting beer in the world. However, the smell was uniquely crisp and fit the end of a hot and muggy day well. As for being an extra IPA, the initial blast of hops was kicked back to the endnotes, where said hops lingered for quite some time and were almost chewy. An earthy and woodsy quality of the beer was also quite prominent and coupled well with the lingering hop notes. This one certainly stuck around for a bit, but I expected a more rounded feeling of hops out of this guy.
