Smole’s 2009 Favorites
2009 surprised me, at least in terms of what I drank and what it says about my tastes. The “new” was impressive, but sometimes what was most surprising was how the old and familiar snuck up on me, jumped me, and left me senseless.
Favorite Draft
As a rule, I love brew pubs. Drinking the local is one of the only things I look forward to when travelling. Vacation without a brew pub list is completely unthinkable. The local isn’t always good, but it’s normally a purveyor of fresh beer and, hopefully, filled with interesting insights into the area’s beer culture. With that as my basic expectation, the summer took me to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, and the Outer Banks Brewing Station was just down the road from the hotel.
A few things to get out of the way: the building is lovely, the menu is filled with tasty, and the brewery is wind powered. The beer list is not as heavily biased towards light summer beers as you might think.
I ordered the sampler, as is customary, and as a lark–and because my significant other is less likely to make “yuck face” when sipping wheats–I ordered the Lemongrass Wheat Ale. I like hefeweizens, but they’re not my “go to” style. I figured the combination of lemon grass and yuck-free tasting would at least make for something to talk about at the table.
Now, to be clear, the Lemongrass Wheat Ale tastes like Hoegarden’s incredibly hot sister moved to the beach and became a bit of a lemongrass sipping hippie. There is a lot going on in this beer, but its mellowed out into an incredibly sippable, warm-weather flavor explosion. This beer wasn’t just tastily good enough to order a pint (or two), it was so good that the SO actually enjoyed it.
Of course, I picked up bottles, but they didn’t travel perfectly (not surprising). And, sadly, when you expect mind blowing, the second taste is never as good. But that first pint was incredible, and I’m looking forward to my next trip to the Outer Banks.
If you’re going, I have a hotel to recommend.
Favorite Bottle
I should have had my favorite bottled beer on tap in 2009. I regularly had the opportunity. However, the fact that I didn’t is an explainable oversight: I’ve never had this beer on tap. And, in 2009, I only drank one six pack of this beer during the entire year. Given how much I really enjoy it and how long it’s been since I first discovered it (and how often I drink beer), this is beyond surprising. It’s flabbergasting.
[I so rarely get to use the word "flabbergasting" that I couldn't resist. I apologize. It was fun, though, eh?]
Raison D’etre is the first beer from Dogfish Head I ever had, and I loved it at the time. From there, I sampled the rest of the brewery’s beers and started drinking beers from all over the world. (Yes, I am incredibly lucky that a Dogfish Head was one of the first beers I pulled off the shelf to legally buy.) But, in my quest for new beers, I did not return to this beer. On a whim, late this year, I grabbed a six pack and remembered all the reasons that this beer knocked me out the first time.
I won’t rehash the tasting notes. Suffice to say, “tasty, incredibly tasty.” For me, drinking this beer again was like being suddenly struck by the memory of why and how you fell in love, and, with all the experience that life brings, knowing how right that was in a way that you couldn’t the first time. Given how much my taste has changed over the years, that fact that I still love this beer so much–and would select it above so many others–is a testament to how good it really is.
I’m not in a rush, but I am planning on having it on tap this year. Soon.
Favorite Brewery
The receipts do not lie (as such, please do not ask what the receipt total was): I drank more beer from Sierra Nevada than from any other brewery in 2009. I drank every seasonal, laid hands on the limited releases I could, and stocked my fridge with Sierra Nevada’s regulars in between.
Long Reach for a Celebration
Even in retrospect, I’m not sure how it happened. For years, I’ve considered Sierra Nevada to be a safe fallback, their Pale Ale a consistent staple beverage in a pinch. And yet, something clicked around the start of 2009, and I started picking up Sierra Nevada more often than not and following their release schedule regularly.
I could lay the blame on a housewarming gift towards the end of 2008. After a day of moving, Sierra’s Pale Ale was the beer a friend bought to help us close out the day. I’d never enjoyed a Pale Ale as much, and I’ve really enjoyed Sierra’s in particular every time since.
Like my favorite bottle of 2009, I think I came around again to Sierra, saw their beers with more experienced eyes, and remembered why they were a standard in the first place. In 2010, other breweries have started to consistently turn my head, but I’m glad I had such a rock-solid go-to in 2009.
