Top 10 Beers of the Year
Fifth Hammer Five by Five (Long Island City, New York) Step One: Brew a collaboration farmhouse beer to celebrate mutual five-year anniversaries with Fifth Frame, and call it Between Two Fifths. Step Two: Transfer a portion of that beer into sauvignon blanc barrels with Fifth Hammer’s house mixed culture and age. Step Three: Bottle with New York wildflower honey to naturally condition. The honey unifies a bounty of tropical fruit flavors—a reminder that the Fifth Hammer honey game is strong.
Garage Project Four Legs Good (Wellington, New Zealand) The label says 2.5 percent ABV. My tongue says there must be more. Easier to drink than make, it is fermented with a mixed culture, dry hopped with New Zealand cultivars, and aged in oak. Brimming with bright citrus character, it is tart and full of how-do-they-do-that flavors.
Urban Chestnut Stammtisch (St. Louis) Twice in the past year, I exited a Southwest flight with 10 minutes to spare before I needed to stand in line for the next—just enough time for a Stammtisch. Plastic cup? No problem. It’s 8:30 a.m.? No problem. Enough bitterness to last me until the second flight was 10,000 feet in the air? No problem. The only thing missing was Joe Stange to enjoy it with.