Top 5 Beers in 2005
1) Piece Dysfuntionale
MTV fans might remember Piece as the pizza place where a bunch of insipid hipsters worked in the Real World a couple years ago. I don't, because I didn't watch it. I heard it was pretty boring. Maybe they should have drunk more beer. I won't hold anything against Piece, because they bake great pizza and brew some amazing beer. I mentioned somewhere in a previous blog post that their Dysfunctionale was the best beer I've ever tasted. It's like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which is already one of my favorite beers, but raging on hop steroids. Very intense fruity, hoppy flavors made this a gold medal winner in the Great American Beer Challenge.
2) Grolsch
The summer of 2005 was the summer of Grolsch. My neighbor, chef Suzy, turned me on to Grolsch while enjoying the summer on the deck of our building. It's the perfect summer beer: light, lemony, and slightly sweet. It didn't hurt that for most of the summer it was on sale at Jewel for $10.99 a 12 pack, in bottles, sans the cool ceramic swingtop cap. I'm finding that it isn't too bad in the winter either. This beer gets the FiveTone best buy award.
3) Harrisons Black Diamond Stout
I tried many of the fine beers at Harrisons in Orland Park after disc golf last summer. I don't usually like to drink dark beer in the summer, but the Black Diamond Stout really was phenomenal. Even though it was super dark, it went down so easily, almost like an adult chocolate milk shake. Kudos to this fine suburban brewery.
4) New Belgium Fat Tire
I had the pleasure of tasting this pleasant, flavorful, very drinkable beer while visiting one of my disc golf buddies in Kansas City. It's not available in the Chicago area, so I brought a case home. The brewer, New Belgium, makes many other fine beers, so I wish they would get some distribution this way.
5) Goose Island Anniversary Ale
Sadly, not once in 2005 did I make it into the Goose Island Brewpub in Lincoln Can't Park. Dr. Dave and I had plans to go several times, but they always fell through. So, I missed out on the Dunkel Weizenbock, the Bourbon County Stout, and the Imperial IPA. I did however pick up the Anniversary Ale at Binny's, and it was piney, citrusy fantastic!
Honorable mention: I tried a couple of beers from Two Brothers brewery in Warrenville that weren't bad. The Sam Adams Winter Sampler featured more variety last year, adding a tasty Black Lager and Holiday Porter, in addition to Boston Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, Cranberry Lambic, and Winter Lager.
Beer I miss: My favorite neighborhood pub stopped carrying Leffe, a wonderful blond Belgian ale.
Worst beer: For some reason that I can't quite understand, my Grandma started stocking her fridge with Rolling Rock light. Regular Rolling Rock is horrible enough, but the light is even worse. I love you grandma, but please let me buy the beer!
MTV fans might remember Piece as the pizza place where a bunch of insipid hipsters worked in the Real World a couple years ago. I don't, because I didn't watch it. I heard it was pretty boring. Maybe they should have drunk more beer. I won't hold anything against Piece, because they bake great pizza and brew some amazing beer. I mentioned somewhere in a previous blog post that their Dysfunctionale was the best beer I've ever tasted. It's like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which is already one of my favorite beers, but raging on hop steroids. Very intense fruity, hoppy flavors made this a gold medal winner in the Great American Beer Challenge.
2) Grolsch
The summer of 2005 was the summer of Grolsch. My neighbor, chef Suzy, turned me on to Grolsch while enjoying the summer on the deck of our building. It's the perfect summer beer: light, lemony, and slightly sweet. It didn't hurt that for most of the summer it was on sale at Jewel for $10.99 a 12 pack, in bottles, sans the cool ceramic swingtop cap. I'm finding that it isn't too bad in the winter either. This beer gets the FiveTone best buy award.
3) Harrisons Black Diamond Stout
I tried many of the fine beers at Harrisons in Orland Park after disc golf last summer. I don't usually like to drink dark beer in the summer, but the Black Diamond Stout really was phenomenal. Even though it was super dark, it went down so easily, almost like an adult chocolate milk shake. Kudos to this fine suburban brewery.
4) New Belgium Fat Tire
I had the pleasure of tasting this pleasant, flavorful, very drinkable beer while visiting one of my disc golf buddies in Kansas City. It's not available in the Chicago area, so I brought a case home. The brewer, New Belgium, makes many other fine beers, so I wish they would get some distribution this way.
5) Goose Island Anniversary Ale
Sadly, not once in 2005 did I make it into the Goose Island Brewpub in Lincoln Can't Park. Dr. Dave and I had plans to go several times, but they always fell through. So, I missed out on the Dunkel Weizenbock, the Bourbon County Stout, and the Imperial IPA. I did however pick up the Anniversary Ale at Binny's, and it was piney, citrusy fantastic!
Honorable mention: I tried a couple of beers from Two Brothers brewery in Warrenville that weren't bad. The Sam Adams Winter Sampler featured more variety last year, adding a tasty Black Lager and Holiday Porter, in addition to Boston Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, Cranberry Lambic, and Winter Lager.
Beer I miss: My favorite neighborhood pub stopped carrying Leffe, a wonderful blond Belgian ale.
Worst beer: For some reason that I can't quite understand, my Grandma started stocking her fridge with Rolling Rock light. Regular Rolling Rock is horrible enough, but the light is even worse. I love you grandma, but please let me buy the beer!
posted by FiveTone at 2:24 PM
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