30 Notable Beers of 2008

Allagash Fluxus 2008 This year's Fluxus was a ginger-spiced witbier. It was rather tasty.

Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel Rosée d'Hibiscus Another wit - but this one is flavored hibiscus. This is possibly the only 'girly' beer I've ever enjoyed. Brooklyn Brewery Flemish Gold A saison from Garrett Oliver's arsenal - lots of flavor.

Brouwerij de Molen 1914 London Porter All beer-geek archivists read Shut Up About Barclay Perkins, yes? If you do not already, you should begin, since the blog and, hence, the beer are the fruits of researcher/author/blogger Ronald Pattinson's hard work in various European beer archives. And it's great.

Brouwerij de Molen SSS 1914 Triple Stout Like the beer above, this is a fantastic recreation of a historic recipe - one I'd be happy to drink every day.

Dogfish Head Sah'tea Also something of a historic recreation (this time of a Finnish sahti), but as this is Dogfish Head, it had a modern twist - actual tea in the brew, and a weizen yeast. More refreshing than it is possible to convey.

Dogfish Head Theobroma It sometimes seemed that every new beer I tried this year featured chocolate in some way, but nothing could compare to the latest archaeological beer from Dogfish Head. Unique, and a very different brew in tap and in the bottle.

Earth Bread + Brewery The Bradley Effect A winner from the much-anticipated brewpub (see below, and try the flatbreads - they are amazing) with a very unusual style - it was a black gruit (and was on tap just in time for the election).

Earth Bread + Brewery Here's Brucker I seemed to have enjoyed many alts this year - this was one of the best, despite the terrible pun.

Earth Bread + Brewery Love Your Mother After much wrangling over a liquor license, Earth Bread + Brewery finally opened; this mild was in their starting lineup. Really a nice beer, especially for someone who is stuck driving later. HaandBryggeriet Norwegian Wood It was too smoky for me, but I could appreciate the work that had gone into it - the juniper was a nice touch, and I look forward to their other offerings.

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 16 I am generally not a fan of anything wood-aged, but perhaps there's something about whisky casks that makes it OK. Harviestoun took their reliable Old Engine Oil and deposited it in some Highland Park casks for a while (I also tried the 12 and 30 varieties), with a very tasty (and, for completists, individually-numbered) result. This one was just right.

Moa Noir I am often suspicious of a beer that has made a long journey in a bottle, but this dark lager from New Zealand was great - more, please!

Nils Oscar Kalasöl A märzen from Sweden, and a good one, too - not to mention an excuse to use two umlauts in rapid succession.

Otter Creek Sea Otter My favorite from the Otter Creek World Tour series - a Baltic porter with a ton of flavor.

Port Brewing/De Proefbrouwerij Signature Ale Possibly the oddest beer I've had this year, and one I thought I would dislike since I am not the world's biggest fan of Brettanomyces. This works perfectly for me, though.

Ridgeway Bad King John A dark, bitter stout, but in a very good way.

Rogue Double Dead Guy As per usual, Rogue can get away with front-loading the hops - there's still plenty of malt to make this a perfect Halloween brew.

Rogue John Locker Stock #10, Oktoberfest This was something of a departure for Rogue - the malt finally got a chance to shine.

Russian River Blind Pig IPA West coast brewers truly understand how to do the über-hoppy thing while maintaining great flavor. Southern Tier Choklat Rather like its sibling below - I wish these came in airline-sized bottles.

Southern Tier Crème Brulee Definitely a 'dessert only' beer - very, very sweet and lives up to its namesake.

Southern Tier Oat It's an imperial oatmeal stout. It's very tasty. It needs to come in a smaller bottle.

Stone XII Anniversary Another chocolate beer, this one a bitter chocolate oatmeal stout. Really nice, but it was hard to match the memory of the XI Anniversary, which remains my current favorite beer. Can it please become a year-round offering? Pretty please? Update: Thank you, Stone Gods!

Struise Black Albert I know every other beer geek loves it. I see how it's well-crafted, really I do - but it's too wine-y for me; the grape flavor and I are not friends. Nice maltiness, though. Struise Mikeller Belgium and Denmark came together to make a strong golden ale (or something along those lines). It was tremendous. Struise Tsjeeses It was blond tastiness.

Troegs Scratch #6 The Troegs Scratch series has been great fun; I am not normally a huge fan of the Dortmunder Export style, but this won me over.

Troegs Scratch #7 Who doesn't like a weizenbock?

Victory Yakima Twilight It's something like a dark double IPA (not quite a Stone XI Anniversary, but perhaps a distant relation) and quite hoppy for Victory, whose stable of lagers made me realize lagers could be Good Things. I hope to have more.

So, there you have it - a partial sampling of Things I've Really Liked this year; if I had to pick a favorite, it's going to be a narrow victory for the 1914 London Porter, just edging out the SSS 1914 Triple Stout. I wish you good luck in obtaining a bottle in time for New Year's Eve.