Beer of the Weekend @ 10



Beer of the Weekend has turned 10.

It has been a decade since I posted my first BotW on April 19, 2008. “My new Friday night ritual of live beer tasting begins tonight,” I began that first review. “Aren’t my weekend nights exciting?”

No, they were not, and they still aren’t. (The more things change . . .) But for the last 10 years they have been tasty—sometimes very tasty.

So what can I say about BotW’s 10th year? It was nothing spectacular. I reviewed a mere 51 beers, the lowest number in BotW history. This is the second straight year I have set the record for fewest beers reviewed in a year. That is not a good sign.

I love beer still, but it does not excite me the way it used to, the way it did 10 years ago. My interest and thirst (literally) for knowledge peaked over the first two years of BotW, and it has decreased slowly ever since. Once a passion, I feel beer has dipped to and plateaued at the level of weekly habit, hobby, or pastime. I repeat the motions because it’s what I have done for so long.

However, maybe I’m exaggerating. Perhaps beer is so much a part of my life and personality now that I take it for granted; it is no longer new and exciting, but it is still as much a part of me as it was in the past. When I was in Toronto a few weeks ago, I sought out and bought beer I had never tried before—something I have done everywhere I have gone for the past 10 years. Much as I am drawn to bookstores, I gravitate toward beer aisles. I take my time to peruse the selection on the shelves and rarely think twice about buying beer from a brewery I have never heard of before. I don’t return home with beer from wherever I go, especially if my visit is brief, but I do it if I can.

Homebrewing would take me to the next level, but I have not done it despite many resolutions to do so. I should do it, though. My life needs something new, something different, and homebrewing fits the bill.

Anyway, here’s the (short) list of beers I reviewed in year 10:

#825: Tropical Torpedo (B)
#826: Amber Waves (B+)
#827: Session X Mt. Hood (B)
#828: Local’s Light (C)
#829: Space Rock (B)
#830: M-43 (A)
#831: Cheap Date (B+)
#832: Huma Lupa Licious (A-)
#833: Michigan Cherry IPA (B)
#834: Freedom of ’78 (B-)
#835: Cranium Crush (B+)
#836: Dark Knight IPA (B)
#837: Surf Zombies IPA (B)
#838: Uptown IPA (B-)
#839: Tragedy of the Common (A-)
#840: Mango Bohemian (C+)
#841: Enamored Amber (C+)
#842: Leinenkugel Summer Shandy (C)
#843: Exile Zoo Brew (A-)
#844: Sea Rose (C)
#845: Ugly Pug (C+/B-)
#846: Stiegl Lemon Radler (A)
#847: #Merica (B)
#848: Uinta Golden Ale (B)
#849: Uinta West Coast-style IPA (B)
#850: SurlyFest (B+)
#851: Samuel Smith’s Organic Raspberry Ale (A)
#852: XHops Maroon (B)
#853: Furious Black (A+)
#854: Yoga Poser (B+)
#855: Uinta Baba (B-)
#856: Bolt Cutter (A)
#857: KC Pils (C/C+)
#858: Yebisu (Premium) (C)
#859: Fortunate Islands (B+)
#860: Changeling Dark Sour Ale (D*)
#861: St. Bernardus Abt 12 (2012 magnum edition) (B+/A-)
#862: Bully! Porter (B+)
#863: Trend Bucker (B)
#864: 17 Grand Réserve (2013) (A-)
#865: Oja (C+/B-)
#866: Cherry Oja (D)
#867: Diablo Red (B+/A-)
#868: Westown IPA (B)
#869: Brown Eyed Girl (C+)
#870: De Facto Pale Ale (A-)
#871: Summit Keller Pils (A-)
#872: Modus Hoperandi IPA (A-)
#873: Fire, Skulls & Money (C)
#874: Ash Tree ESB (B)
#875: Muskoka Cream Ale (C+)

The Primo Island Lager BotW@10 Worst Beer Award: Cherry Oja.

“It’s Just a Little Taste of Heaven” BotW@10 Best Beer Award: Furious Black. Surly beers are hit or miss; some are good, some are unspectacular, others are a waste of money. Furious Black is a bullseye. Black IPA is my favorite beer style, and Furious Black is likely the best black IPA I have ever had. That doesn’t mean it’s my favorite beer of all time, though. I’m not sure what my favorite beer of all time is. That’s a tough one.

BotW@10 Ultimate Six-pack: M-43, Stiegl Lemon Radler, Samuel Smith’s Organic Raspberry Ale, Furious Black, Bolt Cutter, Summit Keller Pils.

(The intro pic is of the instructions to my uncle’s Yakima trunk rack, which comes with built-in bottle openers.)

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