Half-year accolades for excellent craft beers

THE BEER NUT: Half-year accolades for excellent craft beers
By Norman Miller
Posted Jun 16, 2010 @ 10:23 AM

I've been writing this column for a few years now, and have been drinking craft beer for about a decade, and 2010 is by far the best year I can ever remember for good beers.
So far, in the first six months of 2010, there have been more "oh my God," beers than I can ever remember coming out in one year.

1. Brooklyn Brewery, Sorachi Ace (7.6 percent alcohol by volume (ABV)), New York
Rarely does a beer with such a hefty ABV taste delicate, but Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace is one of those few beers. The first thing that came to my mind when trying this beer was "delicate perfection." It's a saison brewed with a relatively underused hop called Sorachi, which gives the beer hints of lemon both on the nose and on the palate. Described on the bottle as tasting like sunshine. If this is what sunshine tastes like, give me more.

5. Brewery Ommegang, Tripel Perfection, (8.9 percent ABV), New York
Brewery Ommegang brews fantastic Belgian-inspired ales, and this is one of the brewery's best. It's a bit boozy, but that doesn't detract from the classic tripel flavors of easy drinking and enjoyable sweet malts, pepper, coriander and even some fruitiness. It lives up to its name.

7. Dogfish Head/Victory/Stone Collaboration, Saison du BUFF (6.8 percent ABV) Delaware, Pennsylvania and California
What happens when three of the country's most successful breweries get together and brew a beer together? A saison brewed with a boatload of herbs. The Saison du BUFF is going to be a beer a lot of people may not like -- sage, parsley, rosemary and thyme aren't usual beer ingredients -- but for those who get past that, it's a really excellent beer. It smells like a fresh herb garden and it goes down fantastically. A great beer to pair with a roast chicken or even a Thanksgiving meal.

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