The people have spoken. Here’s what some brewers, beer geeks, and bloggers have to say about the best beers of 2009.

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Sarah Pederson – Owner, Saraveza Bottle Shop & Pasty Tavern. Portland, Oregon.

Today, we at Brewpublic thought we might share our thoughts on a few beers available in the Portland metro area (and perhaps in your neck of the woods) that might tickle your fancy.  So, here is a list of beers that you can still buy today in the area that might slip under one’s radar, albeit, to the uber-geek, SNOB, connoisseur, whathaveyou, these may simply be old news.  Either way, they are beers we stand behind and salute.  Prost!

Widmer TEAser Fresh Hop Extra Pale Ale:  Currently unique beer is available only at the Widmer Gasthaus, but soon to be poured at the remaining two Oregon Bounty Fresh Hop Festivals. The thing that makes this fresh hop offering so interesting is its use of a special (not sure if it is hybrid like the X-114) hop that supposedly possesses no alpha acids.  This means the beer is light and crisp with out the excess piny bitterness of many other hopped beers. TEAser’s glowing golden, yellow body is a great indication of its drinkability.  The beer does have some bitterness to it, perhaps from an addition of some dry hops earlier in the boil, but overall, it is quite a specimen.  Enjoy this beer as well as a German Alt, Widmer’s Decorator Weizendoppelbock, the Old Embalmer Barley Wine, the W ‘06 NW Red, and a wonderful Killer Bee Mead, all available at the Gasthaus while supplies last!

Port High Tide Fresh Hop IPA:  The good folks at By the Bottle in Vancouver, Washington are stoked to have this wonderful beer as well as an assortment of other Port and Lost AbbeyPort 2nd Anniversary IIIPA beer on their shelves as well as the 2008 Alpha King winner, the Hop-15 hop bomb. Thanks to distribution laws, one of the best brewery’s in the country has a magnetic pull on beer geeks to one of Washington state’s premier bottle shops.  You see, these brews are still not available across the river in Oregon. The High Tide is an orangey apple juice looking beer with a fluffy rich head and a wonderful C hops aroma.  A little cookie dough/biscuit maltiness is there, but this beer is all about the exploration of the hop and just how far Tomme Arthur and his minions can take it.  By the Bottle also has limited bottles of the

My beer brewing friend Shane Walz and I compiled this list of ways to determine if you are a beer SNOB/geek.

You might be a beer snob if:

Cerveza says:

1. You’ve paid as much or more to ship beer as you have for the beer itself.
2. You take pictures of your beer.
3. You’ve actually returned beers.
4. You choose an eatery based upon taplist.
5. When you hear the name “Michael Jackson”, your first thought isn’t about a pop star.
6. Your vacations are planned around beer spots.  (This could mean you’ve never been to places like Alabama or Mississippi)
7. You become agitated if forced to utilize what you consider to be “improper glassware.”
8. You wear craft brew t-shirts to rock concerts.
9. You could spout off five beers with “dog” in the name in less than thirty seconds.
10. Your guests’ itinerary revolves around “must have” beers.
11. You call bars in advance to find out what they have on tap.
12. You’d pour out a beer just to try a different one.
13. A typical conversation for you and your friends involves the terms “IBU”, “ABV”, and “GABF.”
14. You consider telling a brewer how his/her beer could be better.
15. You possess a hops or malts tattoo.
16. “The Reinheitsgebot” are fightin’ words.
17. Every meal involves a pairing.
18. You’d consider spending time around someone you do not particularly care for in order to try a beer you consider hard to find.
19. You attempt to justify a night night out as “research” or “field work.”
20. You know how to spell Brettanomyces, Lactobaccilus, and Saccharomycetales.
21. You’ve paid more than $1 per ounce for beer.
22. Your favorite party accessory is a mixed-six.
23. You check the Dow Jones or market report for hops trading stock.
24. You whiff your beer before most quaffs.
25. The last word alphabetically in your common vernacular is “zymurgy.”
26. You’ve sought out fungus beers.
27. You care more about the barrel empty.
28. You have beer holidays marked on your calendar.
29. You know the exact dates of beer festivals 4-6 months in advance.
30. You look forward to the change of seasons due to new beer releases.
31. You have a favorite distributor.

That’s it for now.  Happy sampling!