Every year, I take stock of some of the beers I had throughout the year that made me stop and go, oh wow, what is this? As someone who drinks a lot of different beers (in moderation), it’s always exciting to have a beer stop you in your tracks and make you reevaluate what you thought beer could be. These eight were the beers that stood out to me in 2024, in no particular order.
Best Beer: ForeLand/Kings and Daughters Traveler Rest Best Bitter
A delicious bitter on a sunny winter day served in a German style wili becher glass (that was Christmas themed for some reason) was a lovely decision.
Em Sauter
It was a sunny day in Portland, Oregon when I got to the homey, new to me brewery of ForeLand Beer for their happy hour with good friend and fellow beer writer Jeff Alworth. Pours of their collaboration with Hood River, Oregon brewery Kings and Daughters were pouring on cask, meaning the beer is pulled up via hand pump, the Co2 is lower and the beer is served warmer than your normal keg pours. The beer was served in a German style glass celebrating Christmas (it was March), which added to the whimsical charm. Cask beers have taken off in the U.S., with breweries understanding its nuance and dedication it takes to do well. This was the best beer I had on my trip to the West Coast and I still think about its toasty malt backbone.
Top Beer: Counter Weight Rauchbock
My home state of Connecticut brews some of the best lagers around and Counter Weight is one of our best. The experts agree as they have won three medals for various lagers at the lauded Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup competitions. It was a very chilly day in January when we stopped by and Manny, their friendly tasting room server demanded I get the rauchbock. A rauchbock is a stronger style of smoked lager that has roots in Bamberg, Germany. What a wonderful decision. It was smoky, rich and dark with a light mingling of alcohol. At 6.2% ABV, it was perfect for that crisp winter day.
Myself and my husband are all smiles after seeing a total solar eclipse at Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, Vermont on April 8, 2024.
Em Sauter
Top Beer: Hill Farmstead Charlie: Plum Low-Alcohol Farmstead® Ale Aged on Organic Plum Pomace
After seeing a total solar eclipse for the first time and being utterly amazed at its beauty and tranquility, I had a pint of this low alcohol mixed fermentation sour at Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, routinely named one of the best breweries in the world. Plum can be hard to brew with due to its muted flavor but as you can see from the picture, this beer was deep purple thanks to using pomace (pomace is what is leftover after a fruit has been juiced) and it was bursting with plum notes. I loved the lower ABV of this beer as well, only 2%!
Offset Beer caters to locals and ski bums at this chill tasting room a few minutes from the glitz of downtown Park City, Utah.
Em Sauter
Top Beer: Offset DOPO IPA
While visiting my sister in Utah, we stopped by Offset Bier Co., a small brewery near the glamour of Park City. The tasting room had a relaxed vibe and was very inviting. This DOPO IPA, a 5% ABV beer made with Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin and Simcoe hops was particularly enjoyable. The perfect type of beer for any outdoor activity. I wasn’t the only person who enjoyed this beer: Craft Beer and Brewing magazine also put this beer on their “best of” list this year.
Top Beer: Masthead Hazy Headlines Hazy IPA
When you visit Ohio, everyone says you got to have a Masthead, a brewery based in Cleveland. And I complied, ordering their hazy IPA in the classic Cincinnati dive bar Knockback Nat’s after a Reds game. As someone who is from New England aka the birthplace of the hazy IPA, I always have the bar set incredibly high but from the first sip, it had everything I wanted in a hazy: juicy orange, fuller mouthfeel, utterly drinkable. I immediately drowned the first 6.7% ABV beer and ordered another.
Upon taking the first sip of Old Peculier and eating a bag of the classic pub snack scampi fries, I remarked to my husband “this may be the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Em Sauter
Theakston Old Peculier Old Ale
After a refreshing, crisp walk through the Yorkshire Dales in early September while on vacation in England, we settled into the Green Dragon pub in the small village of Hadrow, popular for its use in the show “All Creatures Great and Small” on PBS. Old Peculier (a “peculier” is a parish outside the jurisdiction of a diocese) is a classic of the U.K. beer scene, a beer that has utter devotion from geeks to new beer drinkers alike and has been brewed in Yorkshire since the early 1800’s. Getting to have a pint of this 5.6% ABV beer near its source with its deep cherry and toast notes was one of the highlights of my life.
Third Eye Gourd-Darn It Pumpkin Stout
While drinking through myriad of styles at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, myself and Don Tse, my cohost of the All About Beer podcast stopped by Third Eye Brewing from near Cincinnati, Ohio on account of hearing about them through their various competition wins. Pumpkin beers are not usually what I gravitate towards unless they are in a stout and then I’m all in. I went back for seconds of this 6.3% ABV beer was so excellent with balanced pumpkin pie flavors and a roasty chewiness.
At Apóstol Tap Room in central Merida, local beers are poured with a comfortable vibe.
Em Sauter
Cerveza Fervor West Coast IPA
Wandering the streets of Merida, Mexico in October, myself and Karl Strauss brewmaster Paul Segura stopped by a beer taproom near a lively square. The place sold local brewery beers, simply labeled by style. When a friend of mine we had bumped into to at the taproom ordered the west coast IPA, he immediately remarked at its freshness and lovely hop character. I was intrigued as IPAs can struggle in hot climates due to keeping the hops cold and fresh before using. After one sip, I repeated his sentiments and immediately asked the bartender who brewed this beer to which he replied Cerveza Fervor, which is a very small beer project that is relatively new, started in 2021. In the week I was in Merida, I had four pints of the 5.6% ABV beer and went back to the taproom specifically because of that beer.
Cheers to great beers drank with friends and family in 2024 and here’s to another year of delicious beer, a global beverage that brings people together.