As the cult of “crispy boi” continues to find more acolytes among craft brewers, it’s too easy to think of lager as an exercise in minimalism. (North American lager brewing has come a long, long way over the past decade.) But in the scope of our Summer lager issue this year, Templin Family’s Granary Kellerbier stood out for what it was, and not for an overly reductive idea of what it wasn’t. Parsing quality among the number of well-made lagers we taste becomes a finer and finer exercise every year. It’s a beautiful beer-lively and sunny, more invigorating than rigorous-that showcases creativity and restraint in equal measure. ![]() With Headspace, they’ve again found ways to take this curious corner of IPA flavor-driven by pink lemonade, peach, and pomegranate notes, and underpinned by subtle dankness-and support it with lean malt and an endearing bitterness that’s playful and satisfying. However, the team at Finback is particularly adept at processing evolving trends and personalizing them. We long ago disabused ourselves of any notion that the geographic origin of styles should dictate who is good at brewing them. Their breadth is equally impressive: Those beers span styles from barrel-aged stout to modern lager, hazy IPA, and now West Coast IPA, too. When you’re hot, you’re hot, and Finback continues to prove that they’re not just creative but consistent, with nine beers that have scored 95 and above with our judges over the past several years. Our blind-review panel gave top marks for this West Coast–style IPA as well as their dry-hopped Crispy Town pilsner (for which we have the recipe here). It’s a curious situation when a brewery finds itself with two potential Best in Beer contenders, but that’s the case for Finback. And it’s another beautiful example of the creativity possible in mixed-culture beermaking. ![]() It’s a masterfully deft handling of strong and challenging ingredients, with a vibrant energy that defies its age. Faint oaky notes hang around the aromatic margins, offering just a touch of vanilla-like softness. It’s full yet artfully defined, juicy yet dry, with just the right amount of acidic twang. The color itself suggests berry-like sweetness that isn’t there-a clever sleight-of-hand that creates spaces filled by our brains. The dynamic push-pull between the earthy, bitter, fruity flavors of the beets and the tart citrus, offering a lifting freshness and a light touch of flinty fermentation funk, creates vivid yet unexpected contrast. But when we revisited Jitterbug Perfume in our Best in Beer tasting, the decision was unanimous. It’s also encouraging to see more brewers expand their horizons with beautiful-looking beers that connect with a different audience.īut the beer itself? You can read our reviewers’ thoughts toward the back of this issue. This trend of packaging lightly funky, colorfully fruited, low-hopped beers in clear bottles is a vivid way to connect them with the emerging cohort of natural-wine drinkers. The clear bottle broadcasts the captivating intensity of magenta, courtesy of a hefty beet addition. The first thing you see is the color-you can’t miss it. ![]() After a few days of blind tasting and lively discussion, we narrowed more than 1,000 beers down to these 20 that reflect different dimensions on the year’s best. ![]() For our yearly take on the most noteworthy beers, we assembled an all-star squad-including contributors Kate Bernot, Stan Hieronymus, and Patrick Dawson-to consider our blind review panel’s top scorers from the past year and to taste new submissions.
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