Beer of the Weekend @ 13

Beer of the Weekend is now a teenager!

It’s once again time to look back on the year in beer, and 2020-2021 was slightly more productive than 2019-2020—a positive trend I want to continue. I drank a lot of beer—though maybe not as much of it as I have in the past, even despite the pandemic—but I did not review a lot of beer, which has been the trend the past couple years. I would much rather relax with a PBR, Easy Eddy, or whatever else we have in the fridge than make a special trip to get something new and take notes on the experience. However, I reviewed the new beers I tried, and I want to make it a point to review more beer this year. Maybe I can even get to 1,000.

Here’s the breakdown of the last year:

#934: Crispii Pilz (B)
#935: Downstream Daydream (B-)
#936: Basic Batch (C+/B-)
#937: Roboti (A-)
#938: 16 Days (B-)
#939: Carrera 2.0 (A+)
#940: Zoinks! (B-)
#941: A Christmas Beer (B+/A-)
#942: Iowa City Lager (B)
#943: Saint Nick’s (B+)
#944: Northside Helles (C)
#945: Confluence Imperial Brown (B-)
#946: The Hermit (B)
#947: Neon (B)
#948: Floral (A)
#949: Unify Hazy IPA (B)
#950: Zack Morris Cell Phone (B)
#951: Moon Rabbit (B+)

The whole year was probably a B average, which means I’m still playing it safe with my beer choices—or at least being lucky and choosing decent beer. I need to venture out of my comfort zone; I need to try more doubles and imperials, not only because I have avoided them for a long time but also because they dominate local beer shelves. It’s insane how many of them are out there. It blows my mind that people drink four- and six-packs of 7+ percent ABV beer. My tolerance level is not what it used to be, and a couple 7+ brews would put me under the table—no doubt a testament to how little I drink now compared to the past. These days, I feel pretty relaxed and tipsy after a couple PBRs.

On to the awards!

The Primo Island Lager BotW@13 Worst Beer Award: None. None of the beers were terrible, so I have decided not to award this dubious decoration this year.

“It’s Just a Little Taste of Heaven” BotW@13 Best Beer Award: Carrera 2.0.

The BotW@13 Ultimate Four-pack: Let’s do another four-pack since I have so little to choose from. How about this: Carrera 2.0, Floral, Roboti, and Moon Rabbit.

(The pic was taken at the Goldfinch Tap + Eatery in Marion. I took it because of the stratified layers of head left on the glass. I can’t remember what beer I had, but it had amazing head retention. I have never seen a beer do that.)