Well, here we are again, the best craft beers for me in 2022, this is the top 10 which follows closely on the heels of numbers 11 to 20 here. It's been a great year for me involving some long overdue leisure travel, this year I visited the USA and Denmark, both great beer drinking nations and the quality and variety of ale on offer didn't disappoint!
1. Little Rooster from Trillium (IPA - 5.80%) - Sampled while on my Boston trip this year, this beer was an absolute stonker. I must admit that I first tried it directly after the long flight from London and it was about 28 degrees in Boston so a cold beer was definitely in order! However, I did have the same beer later in the week and my appreciation of it hadn't diminished. Lovely use of Nelson hops, perfectly balanced and carbonated, with a delicious and creamy mouthfeel, an almost perfect American pale ale.
2. King Julius from Treehouse (DIPA - 8.20%) - The stuff of legends, this beer was the talk of the town when it first launched half a dozen years ago and impossibly difficult to get hold of in the UK. A double or perhaps even imperial IPA it's brewed in an East Coast style, i.e. hazy AF and is loaded with the most flavoursome American hops you can imagine. "Mango smoothie" is a descriptor often used for this beer and it's certainly that, a positive onslaught of flavour, an unforgettable taste experience.
3. Edward from Hill Farmstead (IPA - 5.20%) - Celebrating the name of the grandfather of the head brewer at Hill Farmstead, Edward is a classic American pale ale featuring a mixed platter of US C-hops and a decent lump of toasty caramel malt. There's nothing unusual about the hops or malts used in this beer, what's different is the balance, so easy to drink and not a hair out of place! You can tell instantly that this is a beer made with an attention to detail and quality that's difficult for most breweries to achieve. Grapefruit and pine, perfect carbonation, refreshing and smooth, totally professional, near perfect.
4. Putty from Verdant (DIPA - 8.00%) - My top UK beer in the list and predictably it's from one of my top UK producers, Verdant. Putty is a yearly homage to all things hops. Loaded to the gunnels with aromatic hops this beer changes it's recipe slightly each year (Galaxy, Mosaic and Azacca) and is almost always snapped up within days of launch. This year it was delicious, mango, lemons and peach, classic Verdant mouthfeel and as smooth as you like, a top beer.
5. Hatch Shell from Trillium (IPA - 7.10%) - Another Boston discovery this beer celebrates the open-air performance venue by the Charles river in the city, it's made with a host of NZ hops along with a fistful of US Simcoe in the dry-hop which gives it a wonderful lemon-lime and dank vibe, really complex and aromatic, superb stuff.
6. Heady Topper from The Alchemist (DIPA - 8.00%) - Another world famous beer, first launched back in 2004 by brewing legend John Kimmich. Sampled while in Stowe, Vermont (the source) I was somewhat late to the party on this beer (18 years!) but wow, what a beer, classic pink grapefruit flavours, pine, spice and other blended tropical fruits. While not unique these days I can see why this beer caused a real stir back in the day, craft beer history.
7. Dead Flowers from Foam Brewers (IPA - 6.20%) - Tried at source in the Foam taproom by the shores of lake Champlain, Burlington. Mostly NZ hops in this one, a real zinger of a beer, a luscious lime-bomb but with a hazy, creamy body and lingering white wine flavours with hardly any bitterness to speak of, probably never going to see this in the UK but so glad we made the effort to visit these guys in Vermont.
8. Green from Treehouse (DIPA - 7.50%) - Another legendary Treehouse beer, perhaps their most famous. This double IPA has seen many variations and improvements over the years but this one was sampled at source (from the Brewery in Massachusetts) and was delicious. A mix of US and Australian hops it's has a smooth, lime-sherbet vibe to it, intense flavours but also balanced it also has decent body with a hint of bitterness, a desert island beer for sure.
9. Time Hops - Citra-Mosaic from Siren (DIPA - 7.00%) - Sampled this Summer and part of the Siren Time Hops project this beer attempts to reflect another beer from another of the US breweries in this list. It features Citra and Mosaic hops and is most like the famous beer "Focal-Banger" from The Alchemist in Vermont, providing dank, citrus flavours and a wonderful thick mouthfeel. I felt this was the best beer in the series, a view which was backed up by the fact that it ran out within days of launch! I'm hoping that Siren make this one again, it was a proper banger!
10. 55|Double IPA – Galaxy & Bru-1 from BBN (IPA - 8.00%) - Drunk at source in Bermondsey this is part of a series of beers produced by BBNo that feature different hop combinations and experimental new hops. This one was amazing, almost like drinking fresh orange juice it was hazy, smooth and rich, but the balance was good, nothing in excess with a satisfying body and lingering finish, a very well made beer, can't wait to head back that way to try more from the range!
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