Craft Beer Power Rankings – 10-5-13
It’s time once again to rank the 5 most buzz-worthy beers in this edition of Craft Beer Power Rankings. We track which beers are receiving the most hype (worthy or otherwise) on social media outlets and the two big ratings sites and rank them accordingly. Cheers
5. Stone EnjoyBy IPA 10.25.13 – EnjoyBy has turned one recently, and is still something SoCal natives wait for, and it’s still capturing the imaginations of hop heads nationwide who have just been able to try it for the first time. This latest batch was on a slightly smaller run (my perception) and has subsequently taking an amazing beer to heightened levels due to demand.
4. Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin – If you’ve been following along for a few years, you’ll know that Firestone has been tweaking and playing with this brand for years. Once a pub only exclusive turned to a component beer for FSW Anniversary beers, then blended down into a non-barrel aged Stout called Merlin for fear of offending someone, then back to a component beer and now, tweaked to perfection, Firestone Walker has released Velvet Merkin, the strong Barrel Aged stout it’s always supposed to have been. This is hitting shelves, making people smile and will be gone soon, so snag some up.
3. Tired Hands Westy 13 – Some have pegged Tired Hands as the Hill Farmstead of the Delaware Valley (that’s what we call the Philly, Deleware/South Jersey area). While Tired Hands makes many wonderful beers, there most famous amongst the beer geeks seems to be Westy 13, a dark caramelized farmhouse ale that seems to be paying homage to the coveted Westvleteren 12. The trade boards are lit up for this beer, and it’s ratings are spectacular.
2. Russian River – Framboise for a Cure 2013 – One of the best American made lambic-style ales you will find, Russian River makes this beer once a year for charity, raising awareness for Breast Cancer awareness and research. For whatever reason, the beer is harder to get this year. My guess is more people are into hunting the hype than last year.
1. Kern River Brewing Citra DIPA – Kern River makes amazing beer, regardless of style. With that said, people go apeshit over their Citra DIPA. They make it a few times a year, and not enough to even send it outside of their brewery. Usually, the SoCal locals go up and clear them out in an hours time. This time around Kern River is holding a lottery for right of purchase. From Kern’s perspective, this keeps it fair. From the Craft Beer Power Ranking’s perspective, they have just strapped a hype rocket to this beer and launched it to the moon.
