The Bar Towel

I really don't know how many new beers the average craft drinker tries in a year, but for me 2017 was a huge year with about 350 new beers tried.

Of breweries I tried for the first time, 8 Wired (NZ), Epic (NZ), Flying Dog (U.S.), Omnipollo (Sweden), To-Ol (Denmark), Tuatara (NZ), Lervig (Norway), and Troegs (U.S. and can't believe I didn't try them sooner) were a few that made a very positive impression.

Among first time beers, Epic Hop Zombie, 8 Wired Hopwired, Lervig Way Beer 3 Bean Stout, Ballast Point Sculpin, Mikkeller Peter, Pale and Mary, Founders KBS and Dark Penance, BrewDog Black Hammer, Stone Ruination DIPA, Straffe Hendrik Quad, Sierra Nevada Narwhal RIS, Prairie Artisan Phantasmagoria, Ommegang Three Philosophers, Duvel Triple Hop, Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA, Gulden Draak 9000, Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza, North Coast Old Stock Ale, Poperings Hommel, St. Feuillien Cuvee de Noel, and Urthel Samaranth were some of the clear highlights.

Looking forward to 2018, as my five year absence from the country means Mondial de la Biere has been far to infrequent for me.

For anyone interested, here's a little more detail on the breweries I mentioned in my previous post.

From the breweries I had the following beers:

8 Wired-Saison Sauvin, Tall Poppy, Hippy Berliner, Hopwired, and iStout.

Epic-Hop Zombie, Mayhem, and Lupulingus.

Flying Dog-Bloodline Blood Orange Ale, Cold Press Coffee Porter, Counter Culture Ale, Doggie Style Pale Ale, Double Dog DIPA, Gonzo Imperial Porter, HBC-291 IIPA, Nugget IIPA, Raging Bitch Belgian IPA, Snake Dog IPA, and The Truth IIPA.

Omnipollo-Zodiac, Leon, and The Veil DIPA.

To-Ol-Black Ball Porter, Tripel Trouble, Yeastus Christus, Black Maria, and Reparationsbajer.

Tuatara-ITI Little Big Hop APA, Mot Eureka Pils, and Sauvinova Pale Ale.

Troegs-Hopback Amber Ale, Java Head, and Troegenator.

Forgot Lervig-3 Bean Stout and Sverd I Fjell Triple IPA