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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Draft Magazine Top 25 Beers of 2012


Here are a few that are or were available at The Wine and Cheese Place

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We still have these beers from the list in stock now!


Wookey Jack | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Specialty Beer
This black IPA delves deep into the world of dark grains without ever losing its composure. A thoughtfully smooth, chocolate and roasted malt base is the perfect stage for the hops’ juicy orange and tangerine, while the clever use of a black wheat malt and two types of rye elevates the swallow with a
playfully edgy, spicy kick. It’s big (8.3% ABV), it’s bitter (80 IBUs), and it’s the best black IPA we’ve had to date.

Lava | Ölvisholt Brugghús | Smoked Beer
Straight from a tiny farmhouse brewery in Iceland, the newly imported Lava does the land of volcanoes justice: Rustic birch smoke permeates this chewy beer’s roasted malts, rich chocolate, dark cherry and raisin, while a frisky 9.5% ABV lightly singes the back of the throat. Its complex depth and noticeable brawn make for a perfect snifter on a blustery winter night—absolutely fitting, considering its origin.

Milk Stout Nitro | Left Hand Brewing Co. | Sweet Stout
The year began with Left Hand setting its sights on a certain ubiquitous Irish beer when it reimagined its classic Milk Stout by bottling it with a proprietary nitrogen system instead of the widget you find in other stouts. The brewery’s kept the science close to its vest, but we do know this: The ultravelvety version of the original mocha-and-chocolate-packed ale exceeds what we’ve always considered one of the best stouts in America.

Zwickel | Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. | Zwickelbier
Urban Chestnut’s zwickelbier brings the nearly forgotten German style (it predates the pilsner!) back to life with perfection. This 19th-century spin-off of the kellerbier reminds us just how charming a lager can be: Fluffy and bready with a snappy, grain-driven finish, Zwickel’s a premier example of honest, simple beer refreshment.





These we had earlier in the year, but are sold out no
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Bacon Maple Ale | Rogue Ales | Specialty Beer
It was the year’s most divisive beer, and we couldn’t get enough. The concept: recreate Portland, Ore.-based Voodoo Doughnut’s Bacon Maple Bar in a bright pink bottle. A staggering list of ingredients included seven malts (three of them smoked), bacon and pure maple flavoring, yielding a spot-on profile of doughy bread, molasses and smoky bacon—and the most decadent foodie beer of 2012.
Prunus Saison | 4 Hands Brewing Co. | Fruit Beer
As powerful, enamel-erasing sours continue to trend, subtlety is just what the dentist ordered. This new St. Louis brewery delivered with its first (and our favorite) spring seasonal release, a saison brewed with sour cherries. This fluffy brew’s effortless fusion of gentle tart cherry with playful black pepper and clove was a revelation; delicate, refined and incredibly quaffable, Prunus is flawless.

16th Anniversary IPA | Stone Brewing Co. | Specialty Beer
Stone unleashed a slew of hoppy brews this year—Ruination 10th Anniversary IPA, Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale and the potentially game-changing Enjoy By IPA—but it was the brewery’s 16th Anniversary IPA that left us speechless. An imperial IPA at heart, additions of lemon verbena, lemon oil and
a dash of rye malt created a ridiculously enjoyable, razor-sharp profile backed by the biggest, sunniest swell of lemon we’ve ever tasted in an IPA. This beer draws a new line for imperial IPA intensity.

Bolt Cutter | Founders Brewing Co. | American Barleywine
We can’t decide what’s more impressive: This beer’s malt-hop complexity, or its masterfully masked 15% ABV. Bolt Cutter, the brewery’s 15th anniversary beer, explodes with young malt flavor and vivid fruity hops sans the harsh fresh barleywine burn, making it our top cellar candidate of 2012—though you’d do just as well to enjoy the beer’s doughy, toasted bread; caramel; maple syrup; and citrusy, tropical hop notes today.

Love Child No. 2 | Boulevard Brewing Co. | Specialty Beer
Brewed with Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and aged in bourbon casks, Boulevard’s first wide-release wild ale is the most intensely sour beer we sipped this year. Big cherry and fierce sour swells roll back in waves; hints of bourbon and barnyard funk add incredible complexity. It took the brewery eight years of experimentation to get into the wild ale game, and its debut is a reflection of uncompromising effort.

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