It’s tempting to begin by saying “this has been a banner half-year for new craft beers,” but the truth of the matter is that every year is now a banner year for craft beer. In an industry experiencing such rapid and continuing, exponential expansion, great beers are coming from all sides, as are unexceptional offerings. But as every small city and most small towns get themselves a brewery, the odds grow ever higher of the next great beer arising from an unknown, unexpected source. The only shame is that nobody gets to try them all.
Here, then, are 10 of the best new beers that we at Paste have had a chance to sample this year. Keep an eye out for the ones still on the shelves, and an ear alert to whenever the others will be brewed again.
And of course, leave your angry comments about how we missed your hometown brewery in the comments box below.
10. Destihl Abbey’s Single
There’s plenty of American breweries cranking out Belgian abbey ales of every description, but most of those are dubbels, trippels and quads. For whatever reason, the lowly “singel” has never gotten much play, and that’s a shame. This beer from Bloomington, Illinois brewer Destihl (one of the first two beers to roll off their new canning line) is an argument in favor of the style, which is really the ideal sort of Belgian session ale. Light-bodied, with a nicely bready malt presence and a dash of Belgian funk and spice, it’s like a monk’s lawnmower beer.
9. Solemn Oath Butterfly Flashmob
First brewed in 2012 but not widely available until earlier this year, Butterfly Flashmob is a Belgian IPA from Solemn Oath, who are making solid inroads into the “hoppy Belgian beer” market in Chicago that is often associated with the city’s Haymarket Brewing Co. An assertive West Coast-style hop presence is layered on a light malt foundation and a strain of Belgian yeast that doesn’t make itself felt too strongly in the funk or spice department. Rather, its fruity yeast character throws in alongside the hops to reinforce a dominant hop presence and add a blended, tropical note. Though purposefully unbalanced, this is a nuanced beer from a young brewery that seems to be coming into its own, confidently exploring new territory.
8. House Beer
Sometimes, you just want something simple, but that’s no excuse for a product not being well-made. As the craft beer market explodes, there is more of an emerging market than ever for craft brews that are legitimate “Bud/Miller/Coors replacements,” and that’s pretty close to what House Beer is going for. A tiny company based out of L.A., they’re currently making one of the better pure “American lagers” around. There’s nothing too complicated about it, but there’s not supposed to be—all it needs is a pleasant, rounded malt presence, a touch more sweetness than your bone dry Budweiser and a dash of floral noble hops to realize that the “American lager” is a worthy style for craft beer pursuits. Here’s hoping we see more beers like this.
7. Clown Shoes Space Cake DIPA
Perhaps because of their penchant for self-aggrandizing labels and ad copy, there’s a contingent of people out there who don’t give Clown Shoes a lot of respect. And that’s a shame, because when it comes to huge IPAs and American stouts, there are few breweries doing it better these days. Space Cake is pretty much par for the course, a hugely flavorful beer that combines aromas of lemon custard, dried fruits and an unusual strawberry note with massive hop and caramel-heavy malt flavors. It’s a big, brash DIPA with a substantial malt and alcohol presence to back up the hops, what some beer geeks would refer to as the ill-defined “East Coast DIPA.” Either way, it’s challenging, tasty stuff.
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