Twenty-Five Beers for 2024
Beers I Like
A few weeks back I wrote about the cultural dynamics that influence our taste, while also giving an account of what has shaped my own tastes in beer. I followed up with an exploration of the kinds of beers I like, ending that piece with a list of beers that had caught my attention of late.
That list is still at the end of Beers I Like, and Why, but it’s way down at the end of a piece that’s already fairly long. So I’m turning the list into a standalone post (with a few modifications and different photos) to draw more attention to these superb beers.
A quick recap if you haven’t read the piece above: To keep things simple, I confined my selection to beers I drank for the first time in 2023. Even if the list doesn’t encompass every one of my favourite beer styles, it represents the kinds of beers I seek out from one day to the next. It’s also a testament to the kinds of beers that surprise me — and a reminder to keep an open mind about those styles and categories of beer we might not drink every day. And it’s a list that brings me full circle to the kinds of experiences I mentioned in the first piece in this series, Accounting for My Tastes in Beer.
Prost, everyone! Here’s to finding some of these beers out in the wild in 2024.
Twenty-Five Beers Worth Your Time
Aecht Schlenkerla (Bamberg), Erle (4.2%). The alderwood used to smoke the malt lends Schlenkerla’s newest beer a dusky quality in keeping with its ruby-black robe. Cola and licorice root make common cause with mission figs and fruity char in this Rauchbier thick with fragrances of Westphalian ham and autumn campfires. The beer I drank most often during the latter half of 2023.
Big Friendly (Oklahoma City), Lloyd’s Lager, Leichtbier (3.5%). A light beer that tastes like a Vollbier, a beer that made me sit up and go “wow!” And proof positive that North American breweries can get flavour and fullness into a diminutive ABV package. Big Friendly’s entire stable of lagers is top-shelf. Keep an eye out in 2024 for their delicious Czech Pils brewed with Saaz hops and a Moravian barley variety grown and malted by Sugar Creek of Indiana.
Blauer Tapir (Cologne), Tapir Entertainment System IPA (6.8%). A harmonious blend of hops that comes together like the best spice mixes. And that suggestion of residual sweetness from the honeyed malt and light brown sugar flavour is the perfect ballast for the hops.
Brauerei Griess (Geisfeld, Franconia), Kellerbier (5.2%). Plush, soft, and round, but with a complex hoppiness and veiled bitterness to round out the country bread and fresh hay.
Brauerei Kemker Kultuur, Aolt Beer (6%). I could have picked other beers from Jan Kemker’s selection of Westphalian farmhouse beers, including his delicious Gentiana Amaro Ale or his equally compelling Venn Gagelbier, a gruit beer made with myrica gale. But Kemker’s old-style Münster Alt will make you pine for the days when this style was much more complex than the rivers of Pinkus Alt that flows through Münster’s cobblestone lanes. Kemker brews and blends his Aolt in a way that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Belgian lambic brewery or gueuzerie.
Brauerei Rössle (Ehingen), Naturtrübes. Plenty of spicy-herbal hops leaven the acacia honey and cream-of-wheat malt character in this crisp Kellerbier that wouldn’t be out of place in Franconia.
Brauerei Sauer (Roßdorf, Franconia), Urbräu Lager (4.9%). Crisp and refreshing, with graham cracker, meadows in bloom, cinnamon, and a minerality reminiscent of Riesling. From my notes while drinking it atop the ethereal Roßdorfer Felsenkeller: “This is where Kellerbiers are at!”
Brauerei Schöre (Dietmannsweiler/Tettnang), Dunkel (4.8%). Focused yet complex and full flavoured. Like liquid Lebkuchen, but refreshing enough that you’ll go for seconds and thirds.
Brouwerij de Molen (Netherlands), Mooi & Meedogenloos (Beautiful & Ruthless) Imperial Stout (10.2%). Just the standard four beer ingredients, but smells and tastes like cocoa, milk chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate chip cookie dough.
Browar Fortuna (Poland), Komes Baltic Porter (9%). An expansive beer that’s a bit like a Doppelbock meets a barrel-aged imperial stout.
Buddelship (Hamburg), Maibock (7.1%). Brewed with Saphir and Petit Blanc hops. A traditional Bock through and through, especially in its malt profile. Yet it’s a showcase of what a judicious use of newer hop varieties can bring to the beer as well, adding nuances like subtle fruit and assertive but not overpowering herbal notes reminiscent of Campari. Buddelship’s Helles also uses non-conventional hops (Tardif de Bourgogne and Amarillo hops) — ample proof that new interpretations of old German classics don’t have to taste like a clean American pale ale. Be on the lookout for Simon Siemsglüss’s other project, Lost Horizon, as well (see below).
Die Weisse (Salzburg), Festbier/Herbstbier (5.6%). A wonderfully lush and honeyed autumn Weizen the colour of cognac. I’d love to see more of these kinds of harvest season Weissbiers.
Hofbräuhaus (Munich), Winterzwickl (5.5%). Once rare, unfiltered dark beers are slowly taking the stage. HB’s Winterzwickl combines the best of Dunkel lagers (dark bread, chocolate, and dried dark cherry) with the yeasty roundness of golden Zwickls. All in all, it’s a bit like drinking spiced chocolate milk with a shot of coffee.
Hofbräuhaus Traunstein (Bavaria), Maximilian Dunkler Bock (7.8%). Some Doppelbocks like Celebrator are brooding and slightly edgy personalities. Others are more warm and cheerful. HB-Traunstein’s velvety Maximillian is the latter. It’s a symphony of Spanish chocolate-fig cake, cocoa, pumpernickel, mocha, and dates with some residual caramel sweetness. If you’re there when the snowflakes are flying, try the Winterbier (5.9%), honeyed and floral-spicy with tangerine notes. It splits the difference between an Export and a Heller Bock.
Kettelbräu (Münster), Porter (5.8%). A smooth and fruity chocolate-inflected porter that has plenty in common with imperial stouts. What isn’t there to like about pumpernickel bread spiked with Caramilk, mocha, and ganache?
Klosterbräu (Bamberg), Bamberger Schwärzla (5%). Exquisite balance between malt complexity and a low-key Lebkuchen hop spice note.
Lost Horizon (Hamburg), Lambic (6.2%). Lambic-style blend with haskap fruit. Haskap (Lonicera caerulea) is more commonly known as blue honeysuckle berry, but even then, it’s not the most common fruit. But this farmhouse ale is uncommonly good. Lost Horizon’s tart and jet-black Bauernfrühstück, billed as a Flemish porter, is what I’d imagine porters from England to the Baltic might have tasted like in the days when porter was a blend of young beer with ale that had been aged in vats. From the same folks who bring you Buddelship.
Nikl-Bräu (Pretzfeld, Franconia), Weisse Eule (5.5%). Elegant clove, allspice, and banana bread with a twist of tangerine and a honeyed residual sweetness. A dangerously quaffable Hefeweizen after the hike way, way up to the Bierkeller overlooking the Wiesent Valley.
Omnipollo (Stockholm, Sweden), NOA Pecan Mud Cake Imperial Stout (11%). Brewed with vanilla and pecans. And there’s some bitterness! And even some carbonation and foam!! The bitterness and bubbles lacking in so many pastry stouts keeps this thick beer from being cloying.
Reh-Bier (Lohndorf, Franconia), Ellertaller Landbier Altfränkisch (5.5%). A classic example of these rural beers that don’t fit into conventional styles. It’s copper with mahogany highlights. It seamlessly blends a dusting of cocoa powder and baking spice with fresh hay and hazelnuts. And its subtle bitterness and gentle effervescence guides the beer to a refreshing finish.
Rochefort (Belgium) Triple Extra (8.1%). Brewed with orange peel and spices. Evoking spiced fruit bread and Christmas baking, this plush beer released in 2020 is not your grandpa’s or grandma’s Tripel. A tour-de-force from a Trappist brewery that specializes in tours de force.
Rosenbrauerei Pößneck (Thuringia), Schwarze Rose (4.8%). Some Schwarzbiers are lean like a Pils, others are malty like a Märzen. This one walks the tightrope between malt fullness and refreshing quaffability. And those bright hop notes blending black tea and peppery incense!
Schwanenbräu (Burgebrach, Franconia), Schwana Kellerbier (5.5%). Floral-spicy hops and a yeasty stone fruit minerality balance the lush bread dough, Leibnitz biscuit, and dulce de leche malt notes. Crisp and vivacious.
Skydance (Oklahoma City), Peaches and Cream Milkshake IPA (Juice Wolves Batch 004). Fruity but not over the top. Their flagship Fancy Dance IPA has become one of my go-to beers for those times when nothing but an IPA will do.
To Øl (Denmark), My Honningkage Is Bigger Than Yours (12.5%). Barley wine brewed with ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. Perfect for snowy nights.
Urban Chestnut (Wolnzach), Hallertauer Hopfenperle (5.2%). Dazzling aromas of spice, black pepper, and honeysuckle showcase the Perle and Mittelfrüh hops that come from a hop yard near the Hallertau “outpost” of this St. Louis brewery.
Wayfinder (Portland), Cold IPA (6.9%). Clean, focused, and tangerine fruity. Reminiscent at times of a Riesling with peach compote and a sprinkle of black pepper. And just enough of a malt note to keep it from being *just* about the hops.
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Accounting for My Tastes in Beer
All images by F.D. Hofer
© 2024 Franz D. Hofer and A Tempest in a Tankard. All rights reserved.
Now if only I could find those beers here!
That’s why you’ve got to find a way to come and meet me in Bayern, Stef 😉
You might be able to find Schlenkerla’s Erle in your neck of the woods soon.