__Aroma:__ “Concord grapes and cherry cough syrup followed up by pumpkin. There’s some chocolate in there and maybe some spice. But a lot of root vegetables, such as sweet potato and carrots. Weirdly reminiscent of processed baby food.” __Flavor:__ “Earthy maple sweetness up front. It’s quickly crushed by waves of pepper heat. The beer is thick, but it’s hot from spice and alcohol heat. Lot of fruit in there, squash, concord grape, and artificial cherry. Very sweet and syrupy with a touch of umami.” __Overall:__ “The thick and viscous body is visually exciting, but one whiff of carrots and peas in the nose jolts you back to reality. On the sip, it gets a bit better at first with a touch of barrel sweetness, but then the vegetal pepper notes catch up and the heat starts to sear the painful memory into a deep part of your psyche that no amount of counseling can cure. Booze and vegetables. Hot and weird.”

**Aroma:** “Hops notes of mango, pineapple, citrus, orange, bergamot, and tangerine, with notes of conifer, pine, spruce, and green tea—even a little cat. Esters of cherry, blueberry, and light, floral perfume. Wheat character that’s like pie crust, or lightly toasted Pop-Tarts that are lower in the mix.” **Flavor:** A great hops-forward flavor that’s full of lemon, citrus, tangerine, and pineapple. At the forefront are fruity/floral esters, which are a great complement to the fresh and juicy hops. The wheat lends a breadcrust and caramel character. The thick mid-palate is resinous and coats the tongue, leading into a dry, crisp finish.” **Overall:** “The transition of flavors is smooth, and flows from one to the next beautifully, and the balance of sweetness and bitterness just works. Nothing in particular dominates, and there is great bready wheat character to remind you this is, in fact, a wheat beer.”

**Aroma:** “Some wonderful fruit notes of blackberry, peach, fresh blueberry, mango, and pineapple balanced against light onion notes and an almost white-wine character. Very resinous, catty and fruity offset with a dank and grassy earth character.” **Flavor:** “Hops present complex fruit notes with a little more citrus character. The onion notes are there too, but not overpowering and provide depth and contrast. Drinks super clean and malt and hops are in balance. Juicy hops flavors up front, reminiscent of grapefruit and pine, along with tropical fruit notes and an appropriate level of bitterness. Finishes dry and clean.” **Overall:** “A very creative beer with a unique, beautiful, and delicious hops profile. Nice dry, balanced base beer with enough malt backbone to support but not crowd the hops, interesting hops profile that showcases both piney, resinous, dank flavors with classic American citrus notes and tropical fruit hops flavors, and a very clean fermentation profile to boot. Extremely drinkable thanks to lower bitterness but no doubt about it, the hops are the belle of the ball. Buy by the case—it’s an excellent example of the style.”

“Big bittersweet chocolate aroma with light coffee, black cherries, tobacco, leather, plums. Moderate caramel and treacle enhance the sweet chocolate in the flavor, then black cherries and overripe black plums chime in.”

**Aroma:** “Grapefruit rind and citrus peel up front, very juicy with a nice subtle caramel malt sweetness that pairs nicely. Dry piney notes are balanced by citrus and tropical fruit hops with prominent mango and lemon zest notes.” **Flavor:** “Grapefruit and citrus hops notes pair well with a subtle malt sweetness. Very balanced with both sweet and bitter flavors shining through. A juicy hops flavor with an intriguingly crisp malt bill that finishes slightly sweet. It may get a little sweet for the style, but the piney and resinous hops flavors balance the fruit notes while the malt backbone supports the hops flavors.” **Overall:** “A very nice, classic APA with a touch more sweetness than most that works to pull the beer together. The malt backbone adds depth and support for the array of hops flavors without overshadowing them—it’s a creative take on the style.”

We asked you to tell us what beers you haven’t had (yet) but are tops on your list to seek out. Note: For the first time since we’ve asked this question, a lager made the list!

**Aroma:** “Coffee and chocolate notes immediately set this one apart. Strong vanilla and oak from the wood gird the dark cherries in an almost barley- wine-like way. Slight BBQ aroma that is quite unique and pleasant.” **Flavor:** “Very high tartness from the first sip all the way through the long, long-lasting linger. Otherwise, very nice cherry flavor and some interesting choc- olate and coffee from the malt. There’s a slight sweet and smoky BBQ note right in the middle of the sip that is quite wonderful. As it warms, strong cherry notes come out. The bracing tartness lingers through to the finish and sits on the tongue and teeth.” **Overall:** “It has a tart, puckering flavor that is long lasting even after the sip has finished. A slight smoky BBQ note in the middle is unexpected and would taste great with ribs or used as a marinade. High cherry note creates a wonderfully deep beer. After the first alarming sip, your pallet relaxes, and the sourness of the cherries take over to create an amazing experience. Sip this beer like a barleywine or winter ale.”

**Aroma:** “An intense candy sweetness that is utterly unique and new to my beer experiences—like Starburst candy on the nose or like the sweetened milk left after eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. It’s a crazy, unique hops aroma that smells like candy or bubblegum and hops, or even more accurately candied hops.” **Flavor:** “The juicy hops character carries through the beer from the start to finish with lemon, orange, grapefruit, and an almost bubblegum sweetness. The malt body is bright with a clean, crisp finish. Intense juiciness, with wild candy sweetness and lavors, ranging from citrus, to banana, to a butter rum hard candy and a touch of bitterness to balance the sweetness.” **Overall:** “One of the most uniquely flavored beer that I've tried, without the addition of any adjunct or specialty ingredients— this beer broadens the hops flavor lexicon. I love being surprised by beers, and this one surprised me in the best way. Seek this one out.”

For our annual Best in Beer survey, we asked you to tell us what beers you haven’t had (yet) but are tops on your list to seek out. Here's what you told us.

Inky-black aroma, hints of coconut, toast, Reese's peanut butter cups, dark chocolate. Throwback stout character—bittersweet chocolate, prune, restrained sweetness.

Hints of anise and cardamom emerge through the coffee, roast, dark-chocolate, and bourbon aromas. The flavor is equal parts roast, bitter coffee, dark chocolate, and vanilla with subtle notes of caramel and oak. Well-integrated and complementary, with enough body to house it all and plenty of alcoholic warmth.

“Rich vanilla, chocolate, toffee aromas. Vanilla and silky chocolate transition into a pleasant warmth that permeates mouth and throat and leaves an impression of sweetness on the tongue. A great balance between sweet and bitter.”

“Pleasant aroma of rum-soaked candied dates, raisins, and dark chocolate; hints of roast malt, vanilla, caramel. Body’s on the thin side, lacking some of the more decadent qualities of the style.”

“Barrel character is forward in the aroma—vanilla oak braces a caramel-raisin-date trifecta. In the mouth, these characters melt into thick caramel, toffee, coconut, toast, dark fruit, and chocolate with a delicious full-bodied sweetness balanced with just the right hops bitterness. A dark spiciness marks the alcoholic warmth, which is aggressive, but never harsh. Between the drying alcohol and the firm touch of hops bitterness, the sweet malt stays within bounds. The aftertaste suggests rum-soaked fruitcake. Yum! One to be sipped and thoroughly enjoyed in front of the fireplace on a snowy night.”

**Aroma:** “Cinnamon raisin bread! Light chocolate note with a medium alcohol note as it starts to warm. Chocolate-covered oranges. Some roast coffee notes. A light suggestion of spicy chile warmth.” **Flavor:** “Moderate chile flavor and chocolate up front with cinnamon spices. A pleasant and subtle heat starts to grow in the aftertaste but doesn't go too high. Very well balanced spice to chile flavor. Very nice chocolate flavor that falls between hot cocoa and dark chocolate. Moderate ginger and cinnamon spice brings some heat. The sweet malt support is likeable, but wish there were more roast.” **Overall:** “It is like drinking cinnamon raisin bread with the raisins coming mostly at the end of the sip. Christmas cookies with a chile chaser. A nice alcohol warming complements the chocolate and body. This is more spice than chile, but it is good nonetheless. For a stout, this could use more roast. If you told me this was a spiced porter I’d believe you.”

“Hops baby! The nose is quite inviting, with deep caramel wrapped around a woody hops bine. Great malt character in the aroma leads you into the first sip, where the sharp hops bitterness asserts itself. Flavor is bitter, bitter, bitter, and astringent. You expect an American barleywine to be bitter, but this is a bit out of balance. With just a little lower IBU count, that malt richness could shine so much brighter.”

**Aroma:** “Some nice roast and toast character. Bittersweet chocolate up front with some oatmeal notes, followed by a subtle coffee-roast note. Just a touch of sweetness, a little nutty, and strong vanilla. No esters or phenolics.” **Flavor:** “Sweet chocolate and almost a milk creaminess. Some mild coffee flavor and dark malt sweetness and some dark cherry and almond notes. Creamy and not overwhelmingly roasty, almost with a soft espresso note. Oak character is subtle and hard to pick out, but lends a touch of vanilla to the flavor. The roastiness lasts on the tongue. Finish is mostly balanced, with a slight sweetness lingering in the end. Tannic character is very subdued. Hops bitterness is supportive.” **Overall:** “A very delicious stout that doesn't quite deliver as a barrel-aged offering. There is not enough barrel or oak character, but it is still tasty. The multi-layered malt profile keeps this beer interesting without becoming novel. The beer had some good sweet and roast qualities but was a little thin in the body. The creaminess reminds me a little of chocolate milk.”

Intense roast and toast notes in both aroma and flavor are complemented by piney hops note to create a properly bitter and boldly roasted stout. It’s a bit unsophisticated and lacks some of the subtle complexity, es-pecially in the malt character. If you love roasted malt notes, this is the stout for you.

Aroma: “Rich and weird, but in a good way. Very breakfast-y with the coffee and maple syrup, and the banana adds a distinctive note that works well with the boozy barrel character.” Flavor: “Crazy and bit disorienting with the first taste. There are a lot of flavors vying for attention all at once. Quite sweet, but this is offset by the spicy roastiness from the coffee. The banana helps pull things together by adding a richness between the dryer character of the coffee and oak. The finish has strong licorice and vanilla character, with lingering maple-syrup sweetness.” Overall: “The brewery put the entire Shoney’s breakfast bar in a beer glass! It’s like licking dried syrup off the bacon spatula and washing it down with some black coffee and bourbon.”

Aroma: “Overwhelming toasted coconut with vanilla notes. Roasted, nutty coconut flavor. Fairly unattractive—no head retention with an oily/chunky sheen.” Flavor: “Syrupy sweet toasted coconut floating in hot chocolate. The alcohol balances the sweet, but it’s right at the edge of cloying (if not over). The aftertaste lets more of the roast shine through. A bit of a barrel note on the swallow. It’s gloriously and unapologetically unbalanced in the best of ways.” Overall: “Fantastic coconut character, though it’s a shame it gives it such a lackluster appearance. Chocolate bar meets whiskey shot meets crème brûlée, meets STFU and drink this! A bit too sweet overall, but enough rich complexity emerges on your palate after that initial sugar shock to keep it interesting. Oily, chunky, uncarbonated, but delicious!”