Vote For The Best Craft Beer Of 2009
It’s been a wonderful journey this year with tons of great craft beer from all over the country. We have listed 40 craft beers that were available in bottle starting 2009, and we’d like you to pick the best one. This should be a close one, with so many stellar brews to pick from.
YOU CAN WRITE IN A VOTE for a beer not listed. Voting ends January 22nd at 8PM Eastern Time. Please have fun and please no cheating.
[poll id=”14″]
January 21, 2010 @ 8:21 am
Kern River Just Outstanding IPA
January 20, 2010 @ 10:33 pm
Brooklyn Black Ops and Ballast point Sculpin
January 17, 2010 @ 10:29 pm
Pliny the Elder was a highlight of 2009.
January 17, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
January 17, 2010 @ 8:48 am
The best I had in ’09 was Pugsley’s Signature Series Smashed Pumpkin, from Shipyard Brewing Company. I waited a long time for it, and it was well worth the wait. I stocked up before it went away. But no doubt it will be back next year.
January 13, 2010 @ 8:00 am
One of the most interesting in 2009 was Bruery Berliner Weisse and Terrepin & Left Hand Coffee Milk Stout.. but a pretty comprehensive list though. Some though I think shouldn’t be on there, but every has their own ‘Best’ and everyone is right.
January 10, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
DOCK STREET RYE IPA!
January 8, 2010 @ 3:56 pm
Hair of the Dog Matt and Bourbon Fred from the Wood were beyond anything I’ve experienced last year. I’ll go with Matt since Bourbon Fred hasn’t been bottled yet. Concsecration is up there but not quite on the same level.
January 8, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
Bruery, Chocolate Rain, or Black Tuesday.
January 8, 2010 @ 12:15 pm
I vote for the Lost Abbey Avant-garde ale. This have to be one of the best beers that I have ever had!
January 5, 2010 @ 5:16 pm
Any beer that is contrect brewed should be deleteed from this list.
January 5, 2010 @ 9:22 am
Terrapin Depth Charge (w/ Left Hand)
January 5, 2010 @ 7:27 am
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
January 4, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
Sorry, didn’t see it on there originally…so I voted.
January 4, 2010 @ 5:16 pm
The comment from Don would be a good write in vote. I agree that Southern Tier’s Iniquity Black Ale is one of the best, or at least should be on the list. I second Iniquity.
January 4, 2010 @ 1:54 pm
Deschutes Red Chair IPA! It was delicious and although I am sad to see my favorite brew “Cinder Cone” leaving their seasonal rotation the induction of a NWPA (Northwest Pale Ale) modeled after the Red Chair has got my taste buds dancing already.
January 4, 2010 @ 11:08 am
Southern Tier Iniquity. Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Extra was a close second.
January 4, 2010 @ 9:48 am
You missed the Midwest’s best brewery completely. Schlafly AIPA for the win.
January 4, 2010 @ 7:25 am
No real upper midwest breweries on the list:
My favorite: New Glarus Cran-bic Ale
January 4, 2010 @ 6:23 am
Why has Weyerbacher been excluded from the list..Heresey …or Quad
OR Blasphemy..or Insanity…or Merry Monks….You gotta give the Easton Pa. Brewery its do..they make some really BIG BEERS and what is the Dogfish Head Beer..I never heard of it or tasted it..hint
January 2, 2010 @ 1:04 pm
Cigar City Brewing should be included in this vote, they have some of the most incredible beers I have ever tasted. I nominate the Jai Alai IPA aged on Cedar.
January 2, 2010 @ 3:12 pm
@Jeremy Pate If you look carefull, you will see Cigar City 110k +OT Batch 2 I.R.I.S. nominated.
December 31, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
I agree with Curtis…. Left Hand Milk STout Wins!!
December 31, 2009 @ 4:55 pm
I’ve had some of these, including DR9, and DR9 is not in the same ballpark as Consecration or Duck Duck Gooze. Saint Arnold has the link to the poll on their Facebook page and are encouraging people to vote, so they are getting a lot of votes for their brew. Most of their followers have never tasted anything on this voting list, other than DR9.
My choice was Duck Duck Gooze, btw.
December 31, 2009 @ 8:55 am
21st Amendment Monk’s Blood deserves this hands down. Trust me, vote for it.
That’s all I’ve got to say about that!
December 31, 2009 @ 5:24 am
Have you tried Victory Brewing’s Golden Monkey. It is great ! So smooth and refreshing.
December 30, 2009 @ 10:24 am
What? No Papago Brewing Elsies, Coconut Joe or Oude Zuipers, any of which could be included in this list.
December 30, 2009 @ 10:27 am
You saw the big red letters up in the post. You can write in a vote. Cool huh?
December 29, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
I think Odell Bourbon Barrel Stout also deserves some recognition. But of the list above I voted for The Lost Abbey Duck Duck Gooze – to die for! Had it at the 2009 GABF – loved it.
December 29, 2009 @ 5:03 pm
Weyerbacher’s Zotten is the best new beer of the year! Can’t believe it was missed. Does this count as my write in vote?
December 29, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
Shaun O Sullivan of 21A is trying to rally his twitter twits to flood in votes for his crummy Monks Blood.
http://twitter.com/21stAmendment
December 29, 2009 @ 12:04 pm
Like many, most of those beers I have never had, nor have any access too. But of all the ones I have had, and of many others not listed…
Russian Rivers Consecration takes the cake hands down.
December 29, 2009 @ 11:41 am
I vote for Session Black for best craft beer of 2009.
December 29, 2009 @ 10:18 am
My write in vote is –
Midnight Project ‘09: Depth Charge by Terrapin and Left Hand Brewing hands down the beer of the year!
December 29, 2009 @ 9:46 am
Saint Arnold DR 9 gets my vote from those I’ve tried, but sad to see no DR 8 on the list.
December 29, 2009 @ 9:42 am
I can’t find where to actually vote.
December 29, 2009 @ 8:33 am
After careful consideration, my vote goes to Terrapin Beer Co.’s Side Project #8 Pumpkinfest. While it’s not necessarily a beer I’ll enjoy year round, it was a perfectly-timed one-time release seasonal. Pumpkinfest, in my opinion, is a perfect blend of the pumpkin ale and Oktoberfest varieties. It packs more pumpkin than many other pumpkins, which only rely on pumpkin spice for flavor. At the same time, it’s not as heavy and thick in mouthfeel as a lot of other autumn seasonal thanks to the Oktoberfest half of its split personality, which provides a malty sweetness to complement the pumpkin. Not only did it debut in 2009, but it was only available in 2009, making it the perfect nominee for Best Craft Beer of 2009.
December 29, 2009 @ 7:56 am
New this year and gets my vote:
Fire Island Beer Co. Red Wagon IPA
December 28, 2009 @ 10:23 pm
Terminal Gravity ESG! A damn fine beer!
December 28, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
I’d like to know just how many potential voters in this poll can honestly claim to have sampled even one-third of these beers. I refuse to vote because of these beers, I’ve had perhaps ten or fifteen, and maybe only half of those have I had any more than a sip at best. And I live in a particularly beer-rich city. Most of these beers are unobtainable to huge swaths of the American public. So all we’re really looking at here is a popularity contest, high-school-election-for-homecoming-queen style. For gawd’s sake, almost NO ONE in either the States or the UK can claim to have tasted Tactical Nuclear Penguin!
December 28, 2009 @ 8:05 pm
Deschutes loaning out the name Twilight name Shows true comitment to the anti-hansen name protection band wagon all the small brewerers were on.
December 28, 2009 @ 8:05 pm
Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgium-IPA.
easily.
December 28, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
Midnight Project ’09: Depth Charge by Terrapin and Left Hand Brewing. Terrapin’s winter seasonal is Wake and Bake, an incredible coffee oatmeal imperial stout. Left Hand’s Milk Stout is absolutely fabulous. They conceptually blended the two to make an espresso milk stout. Perfect. Fantastic. Incredible. Etc. Perhaps the best beer I’ve ever had. I’ve got 7 bottles left, and there is no more to be found. 7 moments of joy, then loss and happy memories.
December 28, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
I’d vote for The Abyss from Deschutes if it was on the list – best beer I’ve had this year! – but their Black Butte XXI was darn good too, so that got my vote.
December 28, 2009 @ 4:19 pm
I’m with Brad on this one. My vote is for Life & Limb.
December 28, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
No Surly? WTF?!
December 28, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
@precogpunk Do you have a write in vote or just a complaint?
December 28, 2009 @ 2:22 pm
The best beer that I drank this year was “Babushka’s Secret” an Imperial Stout by Widmer Brewing, which is only served on tap at the company’s Gasthaus Pub in Portland, Oregon. Simply perfect in every possible way.
December 28, 2009 @ 1:21 pm
Had to go with Black Tuesday. What a frickin beer man.
December 28, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Honey Do Wit! Great on tap, better in a bottle!!
December 28, 2009 @ 11:37 am
Only 176 people have voted? We need to get the word out, whoever “we” are. I voted for Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA as it was the only beer on the list I’ve had and I really do like it. Wish it was sold at Costco by the case. However, the Ballast Point Brewery is within walking distance of my house and I could just walk there and try there beer.
December 28, 2009 @ 11:12 am
Red Brick 15th Anniversary Ale. Red Brick Brown Ale rested 13 months in a Pappy Van Winkle barrel. Took Gold at 2008 World Beer Cup.
December 28, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
@Chris Caban
So was it first bottle and distributed in 2009? Thanks – Dan
December 28, 2009 @ 11:08 am
Was surprised to see the Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head collaboration beer Life & Limb didn’t make the cut here.
December 28, 2009 @ 10:25 am
My vote is for Odell Woodcut #3. It’s rockin!
December 28, 2009 @ 9:21 am
what??? no Ballast Point Sculpin…??? guess I will vote for the
Karl Strauss Tower 10 IPA…..