Best of 2012 – The People's Choice

Each year since Brewpublic began in 2008, we’ve taken special pleasure in rounding up the best-of-the-year lists. Most often you’ve witnessed these year-end inventories in the form of top 5’s. And, to not let down, we’ve rounded up this year’s superlatives in a multi-part series we will bring you throughout the rest of the year.

For 2012, much like we did last year, asking craft beer experts, industry workers, enthusiasts, and friends to conjure up their fondest beer memories of 2012 as well as sharing what they eagerly anticipate for the future in the coming year. We’ve also asked these folks to attest to top trends witnessed in the craft beer scene over the past year as well as some favorite events of 2012.

While we realize that such lists are next to impossible to formulate with any real certainty, the process of thinking back on all of the remarkable brews tested and tasted is a fun and nostalgic process. We will not hold these reputable individuals to their beer choices with absoluteness, because we realize, as mentioned in the past, that choosing just one beer, or even only five for that matter, as a favorite, can be as constrictive and limiting as choosing a favorite song, work of art, or even friend. Variety is the spice of life, just as hops is readily that of Northwest craft brews. So, without further adieu, let’s hear what the people have to say.

Name: D.J. Paul

Position/company: Brewpublic Contributor

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Less extreme and more mild beers. I also look forward to the opening of the Breakside Brewing production facility in Milwaukie, OR and Worthy Brewing in Bend, OR.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• 10 Barrel Brewing DUB
• Gigantic Brewing The City Never Sleeps
• Rogue Ales Good Chit Pilsner
• Oakshire Brewing Skookumchuck Wild Ale
• The Commons Flemish Kiss

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Gigantic IPA

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• Festival of Wood and Barrel Aged Beers-Chicago, IL
• KillerBeerWeek-Portland, OR
• Zwickelmania-Bend, OR
• Belmont Station 15th Anniversary Celebration (Enjoyed the 15 year old Rogue Old Crustacean that was poured later in the evening)-Portland, OR
• Hood River Hops Festival-Hood River, OR

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

Brewers going to more extremes to find and use more unique ingredients. Some are hits but along with them comes a lot of duds.

 

Name: Dan Culver

Position/company: Contributor for Brewpublic

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Trying new and excellent beer of course.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

So many great ones, let’s go with most memorable:

• The Alchemist Heady Topper
• Logsdon Peche N’ Brett
• Stone Enjoy By
• Alpine & New Belgium Super IPA
• Goose Island Bourbon County Stout (’07-’12 vertical, thanks DJ!)

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Green Flash Rayon Vert

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

Brewpublic Killer Beer Fest 3.5, Eugene Beer Week, GABF, Brewpublic Killer Beer Week 4, and Everett Craft Beer Fest.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

More great collaborations, yet more expansion of craft breweries, the whole “enjoy by” campaign, prevalence of barrel aged beer, and the increase (and demand) of wild ales. Oh, and too many beer fests…

Learn more about Dan in this interview with #pdxbeergeeks

 

 

Name: Tim Ensign

Position/company: El Jefe of Sales and Distribution, Fort George Brewery

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

I’m really looking forward to my new full-time position with Fort George Brewery and the Festival of the Dark Arts in Astoria on February 16th.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

Since there are so many beers to choose from I’m going to mention some of my favorites hoppy beers (listed in no specified order):

• Stone Brewing Company, Enjoy by 12.21.12 IPA
• 10 Barrel Brewing Company, Dub Imperial IPA
• Fort George Brewery, Fresh Hop Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale (with Citra hops)
• Lagunitas Brewing Company, Waldo’s 420 Imperial IPA
• Barley Brown’s Brewpub, Tankslapper Imperial IPA

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

This would have to be Fort George Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale (I know why it is the staff favorite at the brewery!). We were ecstatic to have this beer selected recently as one of the Top 25 Beers of 2012 by Draft Magazine.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

Again, there have been so many. You know that I love Killer Beer Week, it was off-the-hook this year. I also really enjoyed the Pacific Northwest Brew Cup, NAOBF, Holiday Ale Fest and it was amazing to make it back to Denver for GABF after a 5 year hiatus.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

This year we saw more of everything I love. Cans. Big hoppy beers. Sour beers. Barrel-aged beers. I love beer being pushed to the fringe. Newer, unique breweries like Ale Apothecary, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales and Pfriem Family Brewers are creating very specialized beers that bring a fuller experience to craft coinsures in our market. I’m thankful to have access to such an array of great beer.

 

Name: Matt Van Wyk

Position/company: Brewmaster, Oakshire Brewing

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Slinging a sixer of  Watershed IPA over my shoulder. Cans are on the way for Oakshire. Plus we will be opening an offsite Public House in early 2013.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Oculus, Crooked Stave
• Lady of Avalon, Ninkasi
• Reclamation Lager, Oakshire,
• IPA Breakside
• Barrel Aged Brrrbon, Widmer

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

I don’t think I’ve ever had a go-to beer or ever will. Maybe an idea for our second canned offering. Stay tuned…

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

The renewed Brewers Games in Hood River, Killer Beer Fest of course, Oregon Beer Month, Burger Brawl at Hop and Vine, NAOBF

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

So much beer…. so many breweries…… The variety of craft beer today seems endless.

 

Name: Eric Steen

Position/Company: Director of Focus on the Beer and Beers Made By Walking

What do I look forward to most in 2013:

Lots of people joke around about the innovations and crazy experimental beers that have happened in the past few years. I really enjoy a lot of those beers but in 2012 I spent some time coming to grips with the fact that I just love a good tall pint of pale ale, amber ale, and the like. I don’t need anything crazy although I’ll gladly drink it. In 2013, I look forward to drinking more pints at the pub with friends, and being less concerned with all the experimental bottled beers.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Ska Brewing Mexican Logger
• Full Sail Wreck the Halls
• Avery Uncle Jacob Stout
• Crooked Stave Batch 1
• New Belgium Tart Lychee

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

In the summer it was definitely Ska Mexican Logger, in the colder months it has been Deschutes Jubelale…as always.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• Vail Big Beers and Barleywines Festival in Vail, Colorado – Definitely the best beer event I’ve ever been to. Nothing compares to a two day beer festival in the Rocky Mountains complete with a giant mountain to snowboard on.
• Beers Made By Walking in Denver – This may be a little selfish of me but this event was really special for me. I had worked on it for a whole year and it took place during the Great American Beer Festival, I worked with ten fantastic breweries to make beer based off nature hikes they went on, and I thought the beers were amazing.
• Beer Bacon Breakfast – Another selfish decision but I spent more time organizing events than going to them this year. This was a 6 course breakfast, each course contained bacon and paired with beer. I collaborated with a local barbecue joint called Front Range BBQ.
• Saison Festival – At Trinity Brewing in Colorado Springs, this is a wonderful event, can’t speak highly enough of it.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

Overload – It’s been literally impossible to keep up with beer things this year, both in my reading, writing, and with my wallet even though I’ve spent more time than ever before trying to do so. There are tons of new breweries, so many of the older ones are expanding, there’s lots of new writers, lots of new people on twitter, etc. etc. etc.

Session Beer Day – This was great, even though there weren’t any Session Beer events in my town, I noticed a lot of people talking more about it because of the official day and I’m really happy about that.

Indigenous Beer – A new category in the BA list of styles. I’m not sure that I saw an outstanding list of examples, and I think some of the guidelines could be honed in more, but I am very excited that brewers are looking to their own local landscapes (I wish it was even more local than what it is currently) for inspiration. Very cool.

Brettanomyces – It seems, at least here in Colorado, that more and more breweries are taking on Brettanomyces in new and interesting ways. I believe the charge is led mostly by Crooked Stave, with others like Trinity and AC Golden also really doing their part. The point is to create delicate beers, to defy what was previously known of the yeast, to not use it just with souring. It’s a lot of fun, but my body can’t handle Brett the same way it handles Sacc, so I have to be careful with those beers.

It’s not just beer, it’s so much more – I’ve noticed more and more breweries taking on interests outside of just beer culture. Deschutes has started those River Recordings, Dogfish Head is making beer inspired by music, New Belgium has always worked with bike culture but is more hardcore than ever about it. Breweries inspired by black metal, breweries inspired by the outdoors. These have always been around but I’m noticing that it’s not purely a marketing thing, it’s more an authentic interest in the collaboration of beer with other hobbies and lifestyles. This is nice because life is more diverse than geeking out on beer.

 

Name: Michael Higgins

Position/company: President, Buckman Botanical Brewery

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Beard Beer

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Boneyard RPM
• Rogue Roguenbier Rye
• Buckman Apple Beer
• 10 Barrel ISA
• Cascade Barrel House Kriek

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Rogue Good Chit Pilsner

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• Killer Pumpkin Fest
• Oregon Brewers Festival
• Cheers to Belgian Beers
• The Wedge

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

West Coast Brewery expansion to East Coast. Growth of craft distilling. Shear number of existing breweries, coupled with those in planning.

 

Name: Dan Bartlett (aka the Beer Admiral)

Position/company: Astoria Ale Trail Guide

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

More beer.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Pelican Mother of All Storms
• Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast
• Sierra Nevada Narwhal
• Stone Bottleworks 13th Anniversary
• Boneyard RPM or Fort George Vortex

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Fort George Vortex or Fort George Roscoe IPA

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

Great Canadian Beer Festival my all time favorite fun time; Great British Beer Festival , Pouring at the Coast (Seaside) and Pacific Northwest Brew Cup. Did the GABF but found it to be too loud; too crowded and too many beers for so little time.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

The sour thing may be passing. It seems more folks are doing good session beers.

 

Name: Jim Bonomo

Position/company: Manager, The BeerMongers

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Barrel-aged Bigfoot from Sierra Nevada

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Burnside International Incident
• Old Schoolhouse Fresh Hop Ale
• Cascade Pumpkin Smash
• Columbia River Paddler’s Porter (bottled batch 1)
• Stone Suitable for Cave Aging

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Firestone Walker Pale 31

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

Breakside Anniversary Party, Elysian Great Pumpkin Festival, Stone Vertical Epic Day

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

The increasing popularity of craft cider among beer drinkers, an overabundance of mediocre black IPAs, increasing prices.

 

 

Name: Erika Huston

Position/company: Beertender & FOH Manager at Saraveza Bottle Shop and Pasty Tavern

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Well, for starters, The 9th Annual Strange Brewfest in Port Townsend, WA! And Sasquatch BrewFest and IIPA Fest and all the fun releases and one-offs!  There is no such thing as “Craft Beer Month”, it’s called, “Craft Beer YEAR”!

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Block 15  “Strawberry Fields”
• The Commons  “Urban Farmhouse”
• Upright  “Blend Love”
• Solera – “Peche Bier”
• Double Mountain “Rainier Kriek”

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Hop Valley “Alphadelic” IPA in a can

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

Strange Brew Fest – Port Townsend, OR

Sasquatch Brew Fest – Eugene, OR

IIPA Festival – Saraveza – Portland, OR (I’m not partial or anything)

Portland Beer and Cheese Fest – Portland, OR

Holiday Ale Festival – Portland, OR

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

I am loving the Belgian and French influence that is occurring in our local breweries. It has been a long time coming, but I feel that our brewers are truly beginning to master working with foreign and “wild” yeast strains and the complexity and variety of beers being produced has increased tenfold. I was also so excited to see such widespread recognition of our Oregon Breweries at GABF this year! It was a great year for beer here in the Pacific Northwest and I think it will only continue to improve; the sky is the limit!

 

 

Name: Molly Gilbert

Position/company: PR Rep, BridgePort Brewing Company

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Oregon Brewers Fest (again, but this year as the sponsored brewery).

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Shiner Cheer
• BridgePort Enchanted
• Russian River Pliny the Elder
• Boneyard RPM
• New Belgium La Folie

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

BridgePort IPA

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

Ah!

• Belmont Station Puckerfest
• Holiday Ale Fest
• OBF
• GABF

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

Herbs, sours and beer cocktails.

 

 

Name: Sarah Pederson

Position/company: Publican and founder, Saraveza Bottle Shop & Pasty Tavern,  Bad Habit Room

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Fine tuned session beers with fun adjuncts, more high gravity canned, converting more people into craft beer drinkers!

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Cascade Honey Ginger Lime
• New Glarus Staghorn Octoberfest
• Gigantic Black Friday
• Logsdon Peche ‘n Brett
• Hair of the Dog Flanders Fred

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Burnside Sweet Heat and Breakside Aztec

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

Saraveza’s Berliner Weiss Oasis (inside the IIPAfest!), Amnesia Holiday Ale Fest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

• More and better chili beers
• Nano brewery growth
• Growing interest in aging beers
• Defining moment: Westie hitting the shelf with insane demand
• Watching local talent grow and kill it along the way (Gigantic boys, Breakside growth, Beetje, etc)

 

 

Name: Ashley Rose Salvitti

Position/company: Owner & Beer Lover, BREWVANA Portland Brewery Tours

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

BREWVANA growing and being able to introduce more people to craft beer.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Calapooia Chili Beer
• Breakside’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Aztec
• Boneyard’s RPM
• The Commons Flemish Kiss
• Hopwork’s El Gourdo 2: Electric Boogaloo– Bourbon Barrel Aged Double DOA blended with Pumpkin Ale

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Hopworks Abominable. Once they started canning- I had access to the low fills, and kept my fridge stocked at ALL times. It NEVER got old. I still LOVE it.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

I have a hard time remembering past this weekend, but:

• OBF– nothing really beats it.
• Portland Beer Week– Lisa Morrison’s Progressive Dinner with BREWVANA
• Breakside’s Winter Formal
• BREWVANA’s Holiday Party at the NW Production Center

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

The opening of so many breweries (Sasquatch, Gigantic, Stickmen, Base Camp, Pfriem, Old Town, Kell’s, Humble, etc) as well as the expansion of others (Breakside, Hopworks, Alameda, Natian, the Commons, etc) has proved the steadily increasing trend of the craft beer industry in Portland and Oregon. This makes my job SUPER exciting!!! Stoked about 2013!!!!

 

 

Name: Josh Grgas

Position/company: Jack of all trades, Commons Brewery

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Having more space in our brewery and releasing some of the beers we currently have in barrels. I also have a visit to Belgium marked which means it was nice knowing yoos guys.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

Allagash Resurgam – yet again proving that spontaneous fermentation beats cultured wild yeast. This is easily the most magical beer I had this year.

Marble Brewery Cuvee d’Abricot – a sessionable american wild ale with a strong apricot profile from New Mexico.

Commons Plum Bretta – I cut a lot of plums to make this beer taste as good as it did.

The Bruery Cask Smoking Wood w/ Bacon – one of those moments where you think something is going to be awful, but it’s not.

Hof Ten Dormaal Winter 12 – saison with Dog Rose petals added from one of the coolest breweries in the world. Google them!

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Deschutes Chainbreaker – I’m pretty sure this beer was designed just for me.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• Breakside Anniversary Block Party – Drinking in a sunny street is always fun. It’s made even better by great beer, friends and food.
• Commons Anniversary – I still cannot believe how many people came. We’re very lucky guys.
• Great American Beer Festival – This was my first year attending and I felt every bit a newb.
• Belmont Station’s Puckerfest – This event has a permanent place on my list every year. The hole in my wallet can confirm.
• WWJB – I could tell you but I’d prefer not to.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

The growing appreciation of more sessionable beers has made my (not so) inner old curmudgeon smile. There was also two WTF just happened moments when our beers medaled at World Beer Cup and GABF.

 

 

Name: Ashley V Routson

Position/company: Director of Awesomeness, Bison Organic Beer and founder of Drink With The Wench blog

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

So many awesome things on the horizon! The brewery I work for is planning to release a bunch of new seasonals as well as a brand spanking new IPA (shhhh!). Saison de Wench, my baby, will be among the seasonals getting packaged this year (yay!). I’m also looking forward to presenting a panel on social media at the Craft Brewers Conference in 2013 – my first real speaking gig in the craft beer industry. Last but not least, I’m most looking forward to celebrating my 1st anniversary with my ever-amazing husband 🙂

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Cascade Black Cap Raspberry
• Cantillon Zwanze
• Block 15 Ferme de La’Ville Provision
• Drake’s Aroma Coma
• Commons Brewery Killer Weiss

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

It would either have to be (Russian River) Pliny the Elder or Moonlight Death & Taxes. Both beers are on tap at a few of my favorite local bars and I always try to have a Pliny or two on hand at the casa.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

GABF is usually my favorite event, but this year was a little rough for me because I was sick the entire time. As for best events, I’d have to say that the Legendary Boonville Fest probably tops the list. Nothing beats camping out with beer industry friends, lots of great beer, and lots of awesome food. Other than that, SF Beer Week was a blast – as always – and I had a great time partying at KillerBeerFest 3.5.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

The nanobrewing trend exploded last year. What used to be a small niche has now become a huge trend. It’s exciting, for sure, but I’m anxious to see where this trend goes from here.

 

Name: Devin Flannery

Position/company: Project Specialist – AVI-SPL Sports & Entertainment Group

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

I am looking forward to the 2013 special releases and discovering new brands, bars, breweries, and festivals out here in the South East.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• The Bruery – Tart of Darkness
• Cask & Larder – Olde Southern Wit
• Anderson Valley – Winter Solstice
• Sierra Nevada/Russian River – Brux
• The Bruery – Rueuze

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Cigar City – Maduro Brown

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

 

• DeLand Craft Beer Festival
• CFHB Sunshine Challenge
• Central Florida Scottish Highland Games

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

I have noticed a greater awareness of craft beer though the use of social media networks. Through Instagram I have been able to follow craft breweries and aficionados, which has given me insight into which beers are trending and new releases that I should be on the lookout for.

 

 

Name: Jonathan Carmean

Position/company: General manager, beer steward, expert at Saraveza Bottle Shop & Pasty Tavern

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

I look forward to seeing even more people in the U.S. pushing the boundaries of what they’re willing to try. It’s already been exciting over the past several years to see folks that were staunchly committed to bland domestic offerings suddenly asking about IPAs, Imperial Stouts, Farmhouse Ales and even beers that are a little wild and funky. We’ve seen this progression over the last four years at Saraveza and it’s been reassuring; the renaissance of this time in this country continues to be the elevation of standards in all the essential pleasures of life. Better food, coffee, wine, beer and all else is met with increasing demand as these become more and more readily available as the new standards. Good for us.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Breakside’s “Strawberry Rhubarb Pie”
• The Ale Apothecary’s “Sahalie”
• Logsdon’s “Seizoen Bretta”
• Solera’s “Peche Bier”
• Gigantic “Dyn-O-Mite!”

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Hop Valley’s “Alpha Centauri”

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• The Holiday Ale Fest
• Saraveza’s IIPA Fest (of course)
• Point Blank’s Beer Pairing Dinner at “Beast”
• Double Mountain’s Beer Pairing Dinner at “Podnah’s”

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

I think people are starting to relax a little about craft beer, and I don’t mean they’re becoming complacent or disinterested, just not so exclusive and elitist about it. There seems to be less of the “Oh, you think you know something about craft beer, eh?” -type attitude that I sense was far more pervasive in tap rooms before this year. Why make someone feel stupid for wanting to try something new and learn about it? What a wasted opportunity to better the whole scene!

Are people still scrambling like mad to be the first to try something new and/or rare? Hell yes they are, maybe even more so; just ask anyone who had to answer the phone at their bottle shop on December 12th. Everybody had the fever that day. The intrigue and excitement creating that feeling when you try something special will always be integral to the strength of this industry. Equally important is sharing that feeling with anybody who’s curious and willing to try it, even if they don’t know much about craft beer…yet.

 

 

Name: Michel J. Brown

Position/company: Sales Manager, F. H. Steinbart Co.

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

More session beers, and more smaller neighborhood brewpubs and breweries

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine
• BridgePort Brewing Old Knucklehead
• Great Divide Yeti (and all of it’s variants)
• Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
• Russian River Pliny the Younger

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Ettaler Kloster Edelhell

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• Spring Beer and Wine Festival
• Lucky Lab Barleywine and Big Beer Tastival
• Hop Madness
• Hard Liver Fest
• Portland Int’l Beer Fest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

Seeing the end of the beer wars. Everybody trying to see who can outdo who in the gravity and hop competition. This brings beer back more in line with traditional standards of brewing practices and will make for more sessionable beers striving for flavor, aroma, and depth of character.

 

 

Name: Erin Grey Kemplin

Position/company: Oregon Regional Brewery Rep for Stone Brewing Co.

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Continuing to work on and increase our barrel aging program at Stone which means more barrel aged beers to Oregon and the Northwest.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• The Commons Flemish Kiss
• Stone Suitable for Cave Aging in Bourbon Barrels
• Alpine Duet
• Logsdon Farmhouse Ales: Peche n’ Brett
• Stone 10th Anniversary Ruination IPA

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Flemish Kiss

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• OBF
• Pucker Fest at Belmont Station
• NBB Sour Blending Symposium at Saraveza
• Zwanze Day at The Hop and Vine
• Portland Beer Week’s Barrel Aging Symposium at Widmer Brewing

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

• Continuing growth of all things barrel, sour, bourbon, etc
• Collaborations continuing to gain popularity with more and more breweries working together
• Popularity of Growler Fills, doesn’t seem to be slowing down
• Canning

 

 

Name: Amber Jansen

Position/company: 2BeerGuys.com

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

A continuing forward momentum in the craft beer industry.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Fisherman’s Rock Porter- Cape Ann Brewing Company
• Jack D’Or- Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project
• Figgin’ Forty- Throwback Brewery
• Riverwalk IPA- Riverwalk Brewing Company
• The Maple Collaboration- Peak Organic Brewing Company

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Jack D’Or- Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

My Favorite beer event was The Festival in Worcester, MA

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

I am excited to see that many American’s beer palates are changing in general and that sours are ever more popular and available!!!

 

 

Name: Marc Demeule

Position/company: Brewpublic correspondent form Québec

What do you most look forward to in 2013? All those new brewery projects. It seems it will never over-saturate.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

Québec beers.

• L’Éclispe from Black Barn Brewery, a 1150 IBU experimental beer.
• Stout Impérial from Brasseurs du Monde
• L’impératrice en Fût de Bourbon from Microbrasserie le Trou du Diable
• L’étoile du Brasseur from Microbrasserie Pit Caribou
• Obscur Désir en Fût de Bourbon

From the world

• Mikkeller Black Hole, De Proefbrouwerij
• Armand’4 Oude Geuze Zomer, 3 Fonteinen
• Rising Tide Ursa minor, Rising Tide Brewing Company
• Struise Pannepot, De Struise Brouwers
• Zoe, Maine Beer Company

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Boréale IPA from Brasseurs du Nord

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

All those new players who put some high quality products on the already crowded shelves. A nice headache.

 

 

Name: Jen Muehlbauer

Position/company: Beer writer, blogger, connoisseur at EastBayBeer.com

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

The opening of Faction Brewing (Alameda, CA) and Rare Barrel (Berkeley), and visiting Beltane Brewing (Novato) and Altamont Beer Works (Livermore) which just opened this month.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

Staying away from the rarities and big names I’m sure everybody else will be mentioning, and bearing in mind I could still easily list 100.

• Hops on Rye from Firehouse Brewing (Sunnyvale, CA), which may never be the same now that brewer Steve Donahue doesn’t work there anymore 🙁
• Double Mountain (Hood River, OR) Hop Lava single-handedly revived my love of IPA this summer
• Ale Industries (Concord, CA) Unity As In Edward. I’m friends with these guys so I’m biased, but this begins their legacy as brewers of sour beers.
• Campfire Stout from Highwater Brewing, brewed at Drake’s (San Leandro, CA). I didn’t WANT to like this. SO GOOD. Why???
• Pick any Craftsman beer and put it here. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this outstanding SoCal brewery distributes in the Bay Area now

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

My husband’s homebrew out of the kegerator.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• The same-day dueling Bay Area beersplosions that were the Drake’s Hopocalypse release party and Beer Revolution’s second anniversary party.
• Sour Sunday at Triple Rock (Berkeley)
• The Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego
• Boonville Fest
• Making this video, even though I got MGD up my nose:

 

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

I’ll let the others muse on the trends among the beer elite. I beertended all year, so here’s what the average beer bar customer seemed to be thinking this year. We as beer nerds have some educating to do.

• Many beer drinkers FREAK out if their one favorite brand is not available.
• Many beer drinkers are still exclusively drink the gateway style trifecta: wit, amber, hefeweizen.
• Sours! Suddenly half the world wants sours! Who cares if it’s good, make it sour!!!11!

 

 

Name: Isaac Grindeland

Position/company: writer, Focus on the Beer, BJCP judge

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Moving to Bend, OR, and experiencing the vibrant craft beer scene in that town as well as Oregon. Having lived in Colorado for seven years and being part of craft beer community here, I am excited to compare and contrast the two states. Eric Steen has been relentless in stating the Oregon is the best, but I want to make sure Eric hasn’t been corrupted by the Willamette mafia.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• New Belgium Tart Lychee
• Cascade Blueberry
• Boneyard RPM
• Crooked Stave Batch #1
• Bruery White Chocolate

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Ska Modus Hoperandi

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• GABF in Denver, CO
• Big Beers, Barleywine, and Belgian Festival in Vail, CO
• Zwanze Day at Crooked Stave Brewing in Denver, CO
• Brewers Rendezvous in Salida, CO

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

Expansion of the craft beer industry very quickly. It seemed like this year there was a new brewery or two opening up every month in the state of Colorado. What used to be a somewhat easy brewing community for gathering beer news has now turned into an almost impossible feat due to the increased number of breweries.

Less secret stashes and half empty events. Gone are the days of finding Pliny or other highly sought after beers on the shelf in Colorado. Say goodbye to that lesser known liquor store with a couple dusty bottles of Cantillon. The days of the half empty beer fest with no one in line for that awesome barrel aged imperial stout are also over. The beer consumer appears to be more interested and knowledgeable in craft beer, and there appears to be many more craft beer drinkers in this category.

 

 

Name: Charlie Herrin

Position/company: Founder and star of  The Beer Traveler

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

What isn’t there to look forward to, it’s going to be a great year. Honestly, all the different companies associated with craft beer that we get to visit and film. We are so excited to tell the different stories in this amazing business. I don’t think enough people in the U.S. have any idea whats going on with the industry and we intend to introduce them to this incredible movement.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

Seriously! It’s all good, just some are a bit better. Thats like asking me to tell you which of my three boys is my favorite, not fair. Since it’s for Brewpublic I’ll try, but I say damn you Angelo!

• Upright Seven
• Pfriem Belgian Stout
• Commons Enkel
• Block 15 The Demons Farm
• Logsdon Farmhouse Seizoen Bretta

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Whatever was exciting and new at the time. I did drink a fair amount of Full Sails Limited Edition Lager No. 6

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)? Always love

OBF (Oregon Brewers Fest), NAOBF (North American Organic Brewers Fest), Hood River Hop Fest, Holiday Ale Fest, and KillerBeerFest, which is hands down my favorite. It is the one festival that you get to catch up with both friends in the industry and craft lovers.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

That’s a tough one, since I had my head buried in my project that I actually missed some great things that went on in the industry. One trend that I am really enjoying is the blending houses that are coming on the scene. I love to see the merging of the new techniques with old world. The Brewers continue to amaze and fascinate me with their love and artistry you find in each beer you drink. If ever there was a time to be a part of this I would say it’s NOW! Can’t wait to see what the brewers introduce all of us to next. I personally couldn’t imagine doing anything else at this point in my life.

 

Name: Sean Thommen

Position/company: Brewer/Amnesia Brewing

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Expanding independent hop distributors and increased relations from farm to Brewery.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Aztec- Breakside
• Seizoen De Bretta- Logsdon
• Flemish Kiss- The Commons
• Fantasia- Upright
• The Vine ’10- Cascade

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

RPM- Boneyard

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• Amnesia Single Hop Fest
• Sean Fest
• Bailey’s Barrel Aged Beers Fest
• Holiday Ale Fest/Roscoe’s Winter Ale Summit
• Hood River Fresh Hop Fest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

Several larger scale microbreweries opening in Portland and Oregon wide will reshape the malty landscape for the future of the Northwest craft brewing scene. For better or worse. I can see the article in Beer West now… “Approaching The Fizzy Cliff?- Will the bubble burst on an exploding Northwest brewing industry?”

 

 

 

Name: Alex Ganum

Position/company: Owner & Brewer, Upright Brewing Company, Co-Owner, Grain and Gristle

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

Hanging with my pal De Ieso Spades when he comes up to Portland!

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Burnside Stout
• Breakside Cedarbaumbier
• Commons Flemish Kiss (bottle)
• Occidental Hefe
• Upright Alt

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Red Beers at Podnah’s

 

 

Name: Sean Jansen

Position/company: Co-Founder of 2BeerGuys.com, Man of mystery, Beer Lover.

What do you most look forward to in 2013?

The 4th Annual Beer Bloggers Conference coming to Boston. We’re excited to showcase the great beers from New England.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2012.

• Stone Brewing Enjoy By 12.21.12
• Cuvée Des Jacobins Rouge by Brouwerij Bockor
• 2012 Sam Adams Utopia
• Redhook Double Black Stout
• Westveleteren 12

What was your go-to beer of 2012?

Heady Topper by Alchemist in Waterbury, VT.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2012 (name up to 5)?

• 3rd Annual Portsmouth Beer Week, featuring Kate the Great Day.
• 3rd Annual Bloggers Conference in Indianapolis, IN.
• Roadtrip to Indy, where we visited F.X.Matt Brewing, Rohrbach, 4 Horsemen, Three Floyds, Goose Island, Lafayetteville Brewing, Sun King, RAM, Triton Brewing
• Starting a New England Podcast with other local bloggers #SBLHangout
• The Festival – Worcester, MA

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2012?

The opening of new breweries – many breweries started the process to get their license in 2011, but opened in 2012. With all of the new breweries, it’s hard to keep track of who’s who and what’s going on. Its interesting to see how different each one is… whether it’s a Belgian style brewery, or a “all lagers” brewers, OR it’s a nano, a contract model, or a gypsy – everyone is finding their own nitch. Craft Beer loves and business folk are diving into the market. We wish good luck to all and to remember to stick to your beliefs. What 2013 will bring is the year of “fighting for shelf and tap space”.

 

 

If you were not included in this post and would like to share your answers, please do so as a comment below. Cheers!