Beer of the Weekend @ 18

Beer of the Weekend is now old enough to vote. 

Every year I am amazed by how long I have been reviewing beer. I can’t believe I’m still at it after all this time, and that I still have beers to try. I’m a persistent one who loves habits and routines. BotW is a testament to that.

Sadly, I think I am reaching the limit of my local selection. I often walk into a store and either don’t see anything I have not tried or don’t see anything new that strikes my fancy. Sure, there are sections at John’s that I avoid because I know the beer there costs more than I want to pay, so I might have to venture there more often. I try my best to avoid the big chain stores, but I might have to check them out more. And instead of snubbing a beer for whatever reason, I need to try it for the sake of trying it.

I could also be more involved in the local and online beer communities. Trading would let me access beers I may not have the opportunity to get otherwise—and I may give others access to beers they want but can’t get where they live. I recently thumbed through a book of “beers to try before you die” and thought it would be a worthwhile endeavor to try them all. I would need to get really creative to get many of them, if they are still brewed, but it might be worth a try.

I reviewed 38 beers this year, so I was not as productive as in the past. It is not a priority, but I fit it in when I can. Here’s the annual list (and, no, I have not transferred my master list to Excel yet):

#1,116: A-OK IPA (B)
#1,117: Bohemian Premium (B+)
#1,118: Crispy Lager (C)
#1,119: Canoe Chase (B-)
#1,120: Floyds Deluxe (B)
#1,121: Sombrero Weather (B-)
#1,122: Tursi Pils (B-)
#1,123: Maria (B+)
#1,124: Wild Eddy (A)
#1,125: Summer Soother (B)
#1,126: Servus! (C+)
#1,127: Blueberry Lemonade Avalanche (B+)
#1,128: Dive Beer (B-)
#1,129: 3 Sheeps Pils (C)
#1,130: New Glarus Pilsner (B)
#1,131: Neighborhood Beer (B-)
#1,132: Iowa Gold (B-)
#1,133: Cuttin' Grasses (A)
#1,134: Polka Band (A-)
#1,135: Westoberfest (A+)
#1,136: Hawktoberfest (B)
#1,137: Erdinger Oktoberfest (C)
#1,138: Tyskie Gronie (A-)
#1,139: Eastside Dark (B)
#1,140: Czech Style Pilsner (C)
#1,141: P3 Lager (B)
#1,142: Pilsner Dubuque (A-)
#1,143: Saftig (A)
#1,144: Old Tavern (C)
#1,145: Confluence Pilsner (B)
#1,146: Coco Stout (A-)
#1,147: Zumwalt (A)
#1,148: Dirty Bastard (B-)
#1,149: Lupo (C)
#1,150: Chucktown Brown (C+/B-)
#1,151: Triple Berry Pie Wizard (B+)
#1,152: Cooler Nights IPA (B-/C+)
#1,153: River Haze (B+)

“It’s Just a Little Taste of Heaven” BotW@18 Best Beer Award: Westoberfest. (For years, apparently, the worst beer award came before the best beer. Why? I have no clue, but no more.) Simple and damn good. It is the definition of the style and probably my favorite märzen now.

The Primo Island Lager BotW@18 Worst Beer Award: Erdinger Oktoberfest. There were no bad beers this year, but Erdinger Oktoberfest was a disappointment.

The BotW@18 Ultimate Six-pack: Wild Eddy, Cuttin' Grasses, Westoberfest, Tyskie Gronie, Pilsner Dubuque, and Saftig.

(The pic shows our tour group’s label from the Coors brewery. Touring the brewery in Golden was one of the things my family did on our epic trip to Colorado in the summer of 1995. We were given the Artic Ice Light labels to identify our group, and I found it recently while sorting through memories and old stuff at my parents’ house. Note that the spelling is “Artic” instead of “Arctic”.)