Best of 2014 – The People’s Choice…..Part 2

 

Yesterday we brought you the first installment of our Best of 2014 – The People’s Choice where we ask members of the craft beer industry their top picks of the past year along with what they see as industry trends for the coming year. We featured a wide array of individuals, some were professional brewers, others were craft beer oriented business owners, while others were professional beer writers that were all thrown in together to come up with their top picks.

Yes, this being individual picks from over 3,000 possible craft breweries, there were no right or wrong answers, just opinions. However, from looking over the results from yesterday there were a few beers and breweries that kept popping up across the choices from the industry folk.

Today we bring you the 2nd and final installment in the Best of 2014 – The People’s Choice. Will we still see the same trends as yesterday?

Well here are well over 20 additional picks from the craft beer industry. Let see how these compare with yesterday’s choices.

 

Name: Larry Sidor

Position/Company: Brewmaster / Founder Crux Fermentation Project

Website: www.cruxfermentation.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

• First, the next great beer
• Second, beer drinkers purchasing local

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like).

• Deschutes Fresh Squeezed
• Hair of the Dog Matt
• Cantillon Gueuze
• New Glarus Raspberry Tart
• Crux Better off Red

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Crux Parkway Pilsner

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Winterfest – Bend
• Cheers to Belgian
• Cruxaplooza

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Support of local Brewmaster owned breweries. Sellout of breweries owned by non-brewers.

 

Name: Sarah Pederson

Position/Company: Owner, Saraveza

Website: www.saraveza.com

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Stone Xocoveza Mocha Stout
• Ale Apothocary The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache
• Ninkasi Sleigher
• Breakside Passionfruit Sour Ale
• Agrarian Ales Blazin’ Wild Fire Smoked Chipotle Porter Aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels

What was your go-to beer of 2014? 

• HUB 7 Grain Stout
• Unita Duhbe Imp Black IPA

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• increased event admission pricing
• increased distribution allocation

 

Name: Bolt Minister

Position/Company: Brewmaster – Clark County, WA

Website: Twitter @vivalagoldens

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

I’m most looking forward to starting my own project in 2015. I’m also excited for the Commons production facility and CBC.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Boulder Beer Shake
• Rock Bottom Portland Tart Wheat
• Gigantic Pipewrench
• Hanger 24 Helles
• Pro-Am Collabo from 10 Barrel Brewing and Lee Hedgmon

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

• Full Sail Session
• Hamms
• My (Old Town Brewing) Pilsner and Kolsch.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Zwickelmania
• Cheers to Belgian Beers
• Willamette Week Pro-Am

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

The best trend of 2014 was the continued growth of more sessionable beers.

 

Name: Erika Huston

Position/Company: GM & Beer Buyer for Saraveza Bottle Shop & Pasty Tavern

Website: www.saraveza.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

I think that having the Craft Brewer’s Conference in Portland is going to be huge.  My only regret is that I’ll be working events of my own that week, so probably won’t be able to attend any at my favorite places and I’m sure they’re all going to be great. I need a clone that can share sensory experiences with me!

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Agrarian Ales ‘Blazin’ Wildfire’ Smoked Chipotle Porter Aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels
• Barley Brown’s/Trinity “Pallet Stapler” Wild IPA
• Block 15 “100% Gangster” Brett IPA
• Oakshire “Prestidigitation” White Chocolate Milk Stout
• Logsdon “Fresh Hop Seizoen Bretta”

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

This was my toughest question to answer, as I don’t necessarily have a ‘go to’.  I am constantly switching things up at work and I don’t drink at home unless I’m having people over, so there’s rarely a six-pack of anything in my fridge.  My guess is that I probably drank more Evil Twin “Ryan & The Beaster Bunny” – Saison, than anything else this year.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Oakshire Hellshire Day & Barrel-Aged Beer Fest
• Portland Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival
• Anderson Valley Booneville Beer Festival
• Belmont Station Pucker Fest
• Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America Festival

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

I am mainly blown away by the sheer number of new breweries opening in Oregon and across the nation. According to recent numbers from the Brewer’s Association, there are an average of 1.5 new breweries opening per day in the U.S., which is amazing and mind-boggling! I also find it very exciting that craft beer sales have surpassed those of the traditional domestics. I feel very lucky to be alive and working in the craft beer industry at this time. We’ve all been working hard to raise the bar and put focus and energy into supporting breweries that are making beers that are creative, artistic and flavorful, using the highest quality ingredients available and it’s starting to pay off.

 

Name: Ritch Marvin

Position/Company: Behind the Pint & Marvin Estates Peppers-Founder, The New School-photo & video contributor

Website: www.BehindthePint.com, www.newschoolbeer.com, Twitter @SnobRitch

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Being a super beer nerd, in 2015 I would like to see more beer “science experiments”. For example, brew two batches of the same beer, except ferment each with a different yeast strain, then offer them side by side for comparison. Also single hop beers are a good way to highlight the characteristics of a hop, even single malt beers would be interesting. I think the best experiment in 2014 was when Upright and The Commons breweries exchanged recipes and brewed each others beers, I would love to see more of that in 2015.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Breakside Bourbon Barrel Aztec
• Hopworks Motherland Imperial Stout
• Upright Fatali Four (I think its the best year yet)
• Ninkasi Lux
• The Commons Aji Citron Reserve  & Breakside PortmunderX (I had to put both of these in one spot because I helped brew these beers, so they are my babies, and I love them equally.)

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Ninkasi Lux was my go-to beer. I mean every time I fired up the BBQ, mowed the lawn, or worked in the garden, I had one of these…and it was a long summer.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• GABF
• Willamette Week Pro-Am
• Fruit Beer Fest Home Brewers Dinner
• Cheers to Belgian Beers
• Holiday Ale Fest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

The trend I feel like I can mention every year, but maybe more so this year, is new breweries. It feels like every month there are one or two opening in Portland. I don’t worry so much about over saturation of breweries, but maybe more about over saturation of mediocre to bad beer!

Also, 2014 seems to be the year of the growler fill station. These places are popping up everywhere like corner stores, strip malls, gas stations, and grocery stores. What’s next, 7- Eleven installing a growler station next to the Slurpee machine? Maybe.

Finally, session beers were more abundant. It seems that every brewery offered up a lager and/or session ale this year, which is a trend I hope continues.

 

Name: Don Scheidt 

Position/Company: Washington state correspondent, Celebrator Beer News; Content wrangler, SeattleBeerGuide.com

Website: SeattleBeerGuide.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

• Brewers will continue to push boundaries of creativity and (re)discovery. I plan to indulge in as many of the delicious results as is practical.
• More choice and variety than ever, as brewers create their own niches in the craft brewing ‘verse

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like)?

• De Garde The Boysen
• Cascade Cranberry
• Reuben’s Alt
• Wild Earth Tamarack Belgian-style Pale Ale
• Stoup Porter (Silver medal winner at World Beer Cup 2014)

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Bayreuther Bierbrauerei Zwick’l at my local German beer bar on warm, sunny beer garden days; otherwise, no one beer dominated my go-to A-list.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Elliot Bay Brewing’s Invitational Barrel-Aged Beer Festival, Seattle
• BelgianFest, Seattle
• Portland Fruit Beer Festival @ Burnside Brewing, Portland
• Cask Ale Fest, Seattle
• FredFest, Hair of the Dog, Portland

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• The sheer abundance, penetration, and growth of craft brewing
• More rediscovery and interpretations of old styles (Gose, Kuyt, Gruit, etc)
• Brewers using more variety in barrel-aging programs (it’s not just about bourbon any more)
• Sours/wilds growing from accepted to eagerly sought after, and getting increasingly sophisticated
• General increase in quality and variety of beers across the board

 

Name: Kerry Finsand

Position/Company: Founder of Taplister

Website: www.taplister.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

The continued growth of the craft beer industry, specifically new craft brewery growth in the US and beyond.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

This was hard, but hear out some of my standouts.

• Half Acre Heyoka IPA
• Three Floyds Permanent Funeral
• Prairie Artisan Ales / Evil Twin Bible Belt
• Barley Brown’s Tank Slapper Imperial IPA
• Sierra Nevada / Ninkasi Beer Camp Double Latte

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Barley Brown’s Pallet Jack

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Portland Beer & Cheese Fest
• Rye Beer Fest
• Hellshire Day
• Festival of Barrel Aged Beers
• Elysian Brewing’s 10th Annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• New hop varietals.
• Craft beer outselling Budweiser in the US.
• InBev acquiring 10 Barrel.

 

Name: Chad Kennedy

Position/Company: Brewmaster, Worthy Brewing Co.

Website: worthybrewing.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

The further proliferation of “experimental” beers brewed with non-traditional ingredients- aka beers brewed with a culinary mind.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like).

5. Stone, Cervezeria Insurgente & Chris Banker – Xocoveza Mocha Stout

4. Worthy – Walk on the Wild Side

3. Double Mountain – Lulu

2. Breakside – Salted Caramel Stout

1. Commons Brewery – Myrtle

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Worthy Pale Ale

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Feast Portland
• Oregon Craft Beer Month
• Zwickelmania
• Bend Brewfest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

The march on of sours, wild ales, fruit beers and combinations of multiple non-traditional ingredients.

 

Name: Sean Campbell

Position/Company: Owner The BeerMongers

Website: www.thebeermongers.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

The Fresh Hop Beer Festival in Amsterdam

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Anderson Valley Gose
• Upright Urban Farmhouse
• Woodland Empire Rosemary Saison
• Propolis Beltane
• 10 Barrel Cucumber Crush

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Breakside Post-Time Kolsch

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Foyston Fest during Killer Beer Week
• The Commons Farm to Farmhouse Zenger Farm Fundraiser
• Pucker Fest at Belmont Station

 

Name: Chris Tappan 

Position/Company: Buyer/BeerMongers

Website: www.thebeermongers.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

• Well made lagers
• CBC

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like).

• Anderson Valley The Kimmie, The Yink and The Holy Gose
• Stone Xocoveza
• Rare Barrel Cosmic Dust
• Tie…Barley Browns Fresh Hop Pallet Jack/Comrade Superdamp IPA

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

IPA. Duh.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• PIB
• GABF
• Boneyard/Barley Browns/Melvin tap takeover at Sassy’s
• Festival of Dark Arts

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• Experimental Hop usage
• Fresh hop beers are out of control!
• Two new small craft beer distributors

 

Name: BrewDad

Position/Company: BrewDad.com Founder

Website: www.brewdad.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

What crazy new styles will come to the forefront of the brewing industry. Wondering will the blonde stout be a passing fancy? Will smoked beer come back or will it be a extra strong blonde barrel aged cream style. What new hop will be the new driving force behind the IPA. This year Mosaic was Alpha 😉

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

1. Georgetown Brewing –  Eddie (IPL)
2. Breakside Brewing – Alan from the Wood
3. Sixpoint Brewing – Hi-Res  (Imperial IPA)
4. Reuben’s Brews – Blimey That’s Biter (Imperial IPA)
5. Rainy Daze Brewing – Mind Funk Oatmeal Pale Ale

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

• Georgetown Brewing Lucille
• Top Rung Brewing – IPA and CDA

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Beer Bloggers Conference (San Diego)
• Washington Brewers Festival
• Bremerton Summer Beerfest (90 degree plus day scorching sun baked day)
• Fred Fest
• Olympia Brewfest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• There seems to be a nervous feeling amongst the smaller craft brewers with the bottom falling out in the craft brewing world.
• When will we see a slowdown of new brewers starting up?

 

Name: Ginger Johsnon 

Position/Company: CEO & Founder, Women Enjoying Beer

Website: WomenEnjoyingBeer.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Times with friends – both planned and unscripted – enjoying conversation, food & beverage. Opening more minds and changing culture for the better through our work. Travels coming up, working with client partners, speaking & writing all over, and being invited to do so more and more.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

1. The one in front of me.
2. The next one.
3. The one you’re pouring for me.
4. The one fresh on draft in my travels.
5. The one in my fridge I’ll enjoy at dinner with my family.

Use go-to instead of favorite – favorite eliminates the discovery. Go-to’s are goodies we look forward to returning to and counting on when we want them.

What was your go-to beer of 2014? 

Standing Stone Brewing Company’s Freestone (sour) Peach AND pFriem’s Tiny  – yum yum yum…….

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

All Beer Events are fair game – including beer dinners at home as well as abroad: Toronto’s Festival of Beer/Toronto ONT CA; KLCC Brew Fest – a winter snow storm amped up the fun!; Gorge Blues & Brews, Stevenson WA – sipping on the majestic shores of the Columbia River….some highlights.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Flavor is trumping ‘style’ talk – we should absolutely start with flavor first; style is irrelevant to those who are unknowing as well as beginning. Using flavor talk first will get a lot more people into a lot more beer.

There is no such things as a definition of the word ‘craft’ for anything – it’s too dynamic, changing, personal and contextual. If it’s what you like and want, engage. If not, be a diplomat and walk away.

Bigger conversations about women + beer. Women have always been involved in beer, beer making, beer drinking, and the beer community. It’s ludicrous to think that it’s novel and new for women to be involved in beer – no way!! The fact that so many beer brands, of all sizes, still use sexism is flabbergasting. If your products aren’t focused on quality then get out of the field. Period.

Beer is for everyone, benefits our communities and households the globe over. Moving the gender equity conversation forward means we all include women and men in all facets of beer.

 

Name: Josiah Kelley

Position/Company: Co-owner/ Head brewer at Seven Brides Brewing

Website: www.sevenbridesbrewing.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Expanded distribution into CA.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like).

• pFriem Belgian Dark Strong
• Crooked Finger IPA
• Monki Love
• Lurisia Blonde
• Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Series

What was your go-to beer of 2014? 

Drama Princess English style pale ale

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Holiday Ale fest
• Killer Beer Week
• KLCC
• Septoberfest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

The more the beer industry develops in Oregon, the more the world is attracted to how great it is here.

 

Name: Morgan Miller

Position/Company: Beer Guy at BEER (the bar on Stark). Ronin. Urban myth.

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Craft Brewers Conference in April in Portland is going to be huge, 13,000 people expected from around the world. Step up your game PDX beer folks. Time to shine.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Gigantic Pipewrench Gin Barrel IPA – Ransom Gin and an Gigantic IPA something to treasure. Stocked up on bottles.?
• 13 Virtues Jean Claude Van Damn – Pinot aged Belgian Strong. Fun watching the look of bliss on folks’ faces when drinking.
• Hogshead Brewing – I’ve been living in Denver part time. I’m lucky this English style brewery is my Denver local. Cask brewery that reminds you that English beers can be great.
• Hair of the Dog Single Malt Adam – I’ve always recommended Adam is probably the best/most important beers to come from Oregon. Single Malt upped that estimation. Sublime. ?
• Commons. Just duh.

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

• DENVER: Wild Beers from UK. Great example of American brewing styles being picked up across the Atlantic. My lawnmower beer in CO.
• PDX: Coalition specialty beers. Elan and the new brewer, Mike have really stepped up Coalitions’ game. Sours, barrel aged, etc available at the tasting room in the brewery. Solid, well made, interesting beers always in my growler.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Closing time at Belmont Station. Great group of people, all beer lovers, friends.
• Roscoe’s summits. Quyen and Jeremy have turned a local dive bar into one of the great American beer bars without stopping being a local dive bar. Probably the best curated beer selection I’ve ever seen.
• Cask Beer Fest at Denver’s Hogshead Brewing during Craft Brewers Conference.?

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Explosion of breweries and beers. Just watching the growth in the industry and wondering where it will all go.

 

Name:  Jason Yester (AKA Saison Man)

Position/Company:  Capitaine of the Pirate Ship

Website): www.trinitybrew.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

We’ve been slowly but sincerely expanding the territories we’re shipping Trinity beer to.  Indirectly I have the opportunity to travel a lot because of this, and become very immersed in new beer/culinary cultures.  It’s always a personal goal to make connections with the local scene and have a good grasp of the people receiving our beers outside of town.  It’s really quite the treat though as there’s quite a bit of unbelievable regional beer and food I get to try !  We’re starting small bottle allocations in Seattle, Columbus, and New York City in 2015 and I can’t wait to fully explore all those new cities.  I’m also looking forward to several trips back to Oregon this year, including the Craft Brewer’s Conference in March.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like).

• Barley Brown’s Forklift
• 7th Sun Under Pressure
• Wild Apple Saison (Collab we did with Epic Brewing)
• Agrarian Dandelion Porter
• Off Color Brewing I Brewed This Myself Død Yuzu

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Pivo Pils !

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Festival of Barrel Aged Beer
• Hellshire Day
• Farmhouse & Wild Ale Festival (Saraveza)
• Saison Festival (Trinity)

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Culinary influence alongside and within beer recipes. In Colorado, the threads between artisanal beers and creative culinary designs are becoming continually more interwoven. I’m not only speaking towards the growing number of elegant food pairings/dinners, I’m also referring to brewers making new beer designs that have been inspired by dishes from great chefs.

 

Name: Spencer Raymond

Position/Company: Co-Owner The Civic Taproom & Bottle Shop

Website: www.thecivictaproom.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

The Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America coming to Portland. I can’t wait to show everyone what this city has to offer!

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Buoy Helles
• Feckin IRA
• HUB Abdominal
• Base Camp S’more Stout
• Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Cider! Anthem Pear all summer long.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

I went to the Oregon Brew Fest on Wednesday with almost zero crowd and it was glorious.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Where’d all this cider come from? It went from zero to everywhere in just a year, it feels like.

 

Name: Rik Hall 

Position/Company: Owner/Brewer/Baerlic Brewing Company

Website: baerlicbrewing.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

For beers, I look forward to our Pinot Barrel Aged Belgian Golden Strong. Non beer related…….some time off.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like).

• Baerlic Brewing The East Side Oatmeal Pilsner
• Breakside Wanderlust
• Gigantic IPA
• Laurelwood TreeHugger Porter
• The Commons Anniversary Beer

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Whatever my wife brings home

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

Benfest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Sour beers and Saisons were very popular. Let’s see how they do in 2015. Also, so many people keep talking about the

craft beer bubble and the IPA bubble.

 

Name: Alethea Smartt LaRowe

Position/Company: Freelance Writer/Oregon Beer Growler

Website: oregonbeergrowler.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Visiting breweries; trying new beers; traveling to visit breweries outside of Oregon

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• The Commons Urban Farmhouse Ale
• Breakside Safe Word
• Rogue Double Chocolate Stout
• Fat Head’s Bumbleberry
• Boneyard Notorious

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

The Commons Urban Farmhouse Ale

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• OBF Brewers Dinner
• Concordia Cup
• Crosby Hop Farm Harvest Party

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Barrel aging; continued growth in the industry (more breweries opening than closing); 10 Barrel sale

 

Name: Drew Worden 

Position/Company: Beer Manager / the Hop & Vine

Website: www.thehopandvine.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Aside from CBC, I most look forward to even more collaboration in the brewing community, more pushing the envelope, and more and more consumers making the decision to drink better beer on a daily basis.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Stillwater Gose Gone Wild
• Trinity Red Swingline
• Breakside India Golden Ale
• Elysian Dayglow IPA
• De Garde Imperial Raspberry Bu

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Heater Allen Pils

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)? 

• Int’l Beer Festival
• Portland Fruit Beer Fest
• Peche Fest
• Portland Farmhouse Fest
• Fire & Brimstone

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• Gose/Berlinerweisse multi-packs (cans!!)
• The explosion of the Session IPA
• Craft Pilsner
• Rapid decline of the CDA
• Mobile Packaging enables anyone to come to the table on shelves

 

Name: Alex Ganum

Position/Company: Upright Brewing owner/lead brewer

Website: www.uprightbrewing.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Producing more beers with fresh fruit, like nectarines or different wine grapes

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like).

• Occidental Hefe
• Breakside Matcha Milk Stout
• Sierra Nevada Estate
• Commons Fleur de Ferme
• Stormbreaker Pale Ale

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Engelberg Pils

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

Vancouver Beer Week (BC)

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Finally a decent amount of lagers being produced locally!

 

Name: Theo Skourtis

Position/Company: Brewpublic Fanboy

Website: twitter.com/@lawTheo

• What do you most look forward to in 2015?
• Experiencing craft beer events locally as well as across the US.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Perennial Artisan Ales – Abraxas
• Sierra Nevada / Ninkasi Beer Camp – Double Latte
• Fort George / Block 15 / Boneyard – 3-Way IPA
• 10 Barrel/AB – Black Currant Crush
• Haymarket Brewing – Clare’s Thirsty Ale

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

3-Way IPA from Boneyard / Block 15 / Fort George

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• Hellshire Day & Barrel Aged Beer Fest
• Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild Harvest Festival
• The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest
• Bend Brewfest
• Brouwers Big Wood

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• The emergence of IPLs and ISAs in the Portland Market
• Motueka Hops explosion in California (they will explode here soon)

 

Name: Geoff Phillips 

Position/Company: Owner/Bailey’s Taproom

Website: baileystaproom.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

Craft Brewers Conference

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Gigantic Pipe Wrench
• Ale Apothecary Be Still
• Fort George/Boneyard/Block 15 3-Way IPA
• 10 Barrel Cucumber Crush
• The Commons Rauch Helles

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Breakside Post Time Kolsch was probably in the fridge the most.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• OBF
• Holiday Ale Fest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

Kettle souring, session beers, single hop beers, new hop varieties.

 

Name: Niki Ganong

Position/Company: author of The Field Guide to Drinking in America

Website: Twitter @SudsSister &  www.goodreads.com/author/show/8402685.Niki_Ganong

What do you most look forward to in 2015?

• New bottle club memberships at the Ale Apothecary and Wolves & People
• Small group bottle shares
• More travel, seeking out the best that the country has to offer

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014.

• Ale Apothecary Sahalie
• New Glarus Raspberry Tart
• Gigantic Massive Bourbon Barrel (2013)
• Breakside Salted Caramel Stout
• Octogose from Flat 12 Bierworks (J’s fave)

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

That’s a hard one to nail down, but you will always Fred in my fridge.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

• The Great Taste of the Midwest
• Holiday Ale Festival
• Cheers to Belgian Beers
• Bailey’s Barrel Aged Beer Fest

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?

• Thanks to Oregon’s 2013 growler legislation, fill stations popped up everywhere in 2014, from strip malls to gas stations.
• Breakside took home GABF gold for its IPA!
• American monks brewing (Oregon’s Benedictine monks and the Trappists in Mass.)
• Out-of-season seasonals — summertime is now Jubelale time?
• Radlers and shandys made for a juiced-up summer

 

Name: Michael O’Connor

Position/Company: Beer Buyer, Bailey’s Taproom

Website: baileystaproom.com, oconnoblog.com

What do you most look forward to in 2015?
Always in motion the future is. Difficult to see…

But here’s what I *hope* to find in the new year:
1) The continuing ubiquity of sour beers that don’t cost $8 for a half-pour and $30 for a bottle.
2) An expansion of lower ABV offerings that are still complex, nuanced and inventive.
3) A growing appetite among mainstream beer drinkers for more unusual or arcane beer styles.
4) New and experimental hops used in creative ways in non-IPA beers.
5) No more craft breweries bought out by grotesquely massive evil corporations.

Name 5 of your favorite craft beers of 2014 (for brewers, feel free to include your own if you like)?
Five beers that left my tongue simultaneously speechless and yearning for another drop were:

• Oakshire Hellshire IV
• Wicked Weed Freak of Nature
• Southampton Abbot 12
• La Trappe Bockbier
• Barley Browns/Boneyard Allocation IIPA.

What was your go-to beer of 2014?

Dead-heat tie between Fort George Three-Way IPA and Pints Konvention Kolsch.

What were your favorite craft beer events of 2014 (name up to 5)?

I should probably confess to something: I don’t typically attend many beer events; I prefer a quiet bar and a corner table over tickets, plastic mugs, and large crowds. However, thanks to my generous co-worker, Ryan Spencer, I was able to attend a barrel aged beer seminar at Hopworks over the summer and was thoroughly impressed. All the brewers brought a special beer with them and spoke in great detail about the many tricks inherent in the barrel-aging process. They were extremely gracious with their time and the audience was interested and knowledgeable, so there was some great back-and-forth and in-depth discussion that broke out. Of course, it should also be mentioned that the beer portions were hearty and the lineup absolutely stellar.

What are trends or defining moments in craft beer that have emerged or stood out to you in 2014?
It was a HUGE year for craft beer in Oregon. Here are just a few of the highlights:

1) Hops: Just as I was starting to tire of Yet-Another-IPA, brewers figured out how to make 2014 a banner year for hopheads. What’s changed most dramatically in the past twelve months are the kind of hops that brewers are getting their hands on and experimenting with. There were a number of limited single hop brews at the beginning of this year that translated into breweries reformulating their IPAs or concocting new flagship IPAs to join their existing lineup. The dominance of the Mosaic hop in particular, and to a slightly lesser extent, New Zealand and Australian hops like Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin are completely rewriting the flavor profiles of the modern-day IPA and its ilk.

2) Collaborations: Some of the best and most interesting beers of the year were the result of brewers joining forces to concoct something insanely delicious. I love the creativity and enthusiasm that collaboration beers inspire, and obviously I’m not alone, because there are lots more on the way! Locally, we’ve seen breweries like Fort George, Barley Brown’s, Breakside, Widmer and Ecliptic reach out to friendly breweries both near and far away, but it’s obvious the collaboration fever is growing into something truly massive when a big-time brewer like Sierra Nevada teams up with breweries all over the country as they did in this summer’s Beer Camp Across America.

3) Re-emergence of German beer styles: Local breweries like Heater Allen and Occidental have been churning out reliably great German-style lagers for many years now, carving out a niche in the Oregon craft beer scene, but this year, everybody jumped on the German beer wagon. Old Town, Full Sail, and Pints brewed some of my favorite lighter style beers of the year, including Kolsches and Pilsners, while Belgian-style breweries like Pfriem and The Commons ran through an entire year of German-style brews, from light lagers to hearty bocks and fruity wheat beers, picking up where Upright left off last year when it introduced a year-long German beer program. But the best surprise of the year might be Ninkasi’s swerve into German beer territory with their Prismatic Lager Series; each and every beer to come out of that program was a knockout!

So this second installment closes out our Best of 2014 – The People’s Choice. We sure hope these lists helped you reflect upon the last year in craft beer. By no means are these the most definitive of top picks but it can be a great starting place when diving deeper into the many nuances of craft beer.

Thanks to all in the industry that replied to our questionnaire, we understand that it takes time from your busy schedule and families during the holidays. But in doing so please be aware that it means a lot to both Angelo and myself. And with saying goodbye to 2014 we want to wish you all a Happy New Year!