The “Beers To You” 2007 “Booty” Awards
In early December, I asked a select panel of beer-geeks to come up with
their nominees for the best beers available in West Virginia — and also the worst. Since I had a discriminating panel of judges, all that was left to do was to come up with a catchy name for our annual award. I thought about how prizes like the “TONY” awards came up with their name by using an acronym based on the organization giving the awards. “Beers to You” would obviously be “BTY”…. I give you the “Booty” awards!
The “select panel” is made up of 3 people:
Charles Bockway is somewhat of a wine-geek as well as a beer-geek; always with an open mind and a closed wallet, he has a keen ability to spot beverages that deliver the greatest bang for the buck.
Chris Workman is an all-round contrarian and “wrecking ball” of any online forum or thread in which he participates. He is also a beer-geek with an insatiable desire for Uber-hoppy ales.
Then there is me. An opinionated beer-geek and “annoying patron” to most barkeeps in the local area. I am a “take no prisoners” crusader in the fight to insure each and every craft beer realize its full potential as it leaves its cozy container to appear “center stage,” after having been properly poured into a room temperature, beer-clean glass. (Is that really too much to ask?)
Winner of a 2007 “Booty” for Best Beer in the State of West Virginia: (Remember, this is still a relatively small feat to achieve with the current “restrictive beer laws”. Many of the World’s best beers are unavailable here)
Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (Cleveland, OH) – I cannot say too many good things about this modern American classic. This is “Robust Porter”… I only wish the distributor in Charleston would sell it in kegs so we could drink it on tap! (I am told that the real reason is the distributor is incapable of properly supporting bars that would choose to sell it on tap, meaning they don’t have the knowledge or the will to properly set-up and maintain draft systems… Outrageous! Maybe they need to stick to wine…)
Winner of the 2007 “Booty” for Best New Beer in WV:
1st Place – St. Peter’s Cream Stout (Suffolk, UK) – Wow! That’s what I said the first time that I sipped one of these earlier in 2007. This beer has it all for a cream stout. It’s rich, full-bodied and is an explosion of roasted flavors with raisin, dates and hints of vanilla. Don’t tell me you don’t like dark beer until you have tried this one. I wonder how much more yummy this would be from a cask?
2nd Place – Mountaineer Stout (Martinsburg, WV) – I cannot say how pleased I am to see that all three of us agree that a West Virginia beer deserves a “Booty.” This stout is extra yummy on tap at Blues BBQ in Charleston. Manager Kay Dillon is serving this beer using a nitrogenated tap. “Mounty Stout” is an Irish dry stout that is not made with a sour-mash like Guinness; so it’s real easy drinking even after the one that was one too many. It’s a great session beer in the cooler weather, or if you just like dark beer.
Of course, we also have to address the issue of bad beer…
The panel’s choices for “Worst Beer” in WV (besides the obvious macro-swill):
Charles: Abita Fall Fest - “Unbalanced” “Off-Flavors”
Chris: Green’s Discovery Ale (Gluten Free) - Chris says “It has a sour green apple flavor, but not in a good way, as well a various other flavors none of which taste like beer”.
Rich: Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat - I despise this beer because it epitomizes the short sightedness of the macro brewing industry (Leinenkugel is owned by SAB-Miller). They think the beer drinking public is stupid, so they take a thin wheat beer and throw in some “Tutti-Fruity” syrup and try to make you think it is a well-crafted fruit beer. This is the kind of beer that gives great beers made with fruit, a bad name… (Add Miller-Chill as a runner-up… Beer with lime and salt! What the @!#?/ is that all about?)
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
In spite of it’s beer laws, WV does have some good beers available. And while I make no pretense of having sampled anywhere near the varieties and brands of which our panel of judges have partaken, my vote for WV’s best goes to Sierra Nevada’s Anniversary Ale.
While it’s a seasonal brew (but I still have a few in my beer fridge), I would have to say it’s likely the best beer I’ve tasted anywhere. Edmund Fitzgerald is my choice for a dark beer every time, though.
As for WV’s worst beer, I have to cast my vote for Stella Artois. I recently tried one for the first time, and was very disappointed. I’ve read some good things lately about it’s being one of Belgium’s best, etc., but it was less than
Stella(r) to my taste buds.
Perhaps this particular six pack had been exposed to light, but it was very “skunky” tasting and certainly not smooth. Definitely not what I was expecting. Given a cholce between Stella Artois and Bud Light, honestly, I would choose the latter. (And I don’t like Bud Light!)
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Mike, We all agreed that Sierra Anniverary was one of the best we tasted all year, but it was a seasonal and I did not want to tease people.
As for Stella… Well it’s certainly not Belgium’s finest beer, not even close. It is a well made euro-lager with great marketing and presentation behind it. In large markets like NYC, the beer is served “expertly”, each glass gets a spritz of fresh water, the beer is poured and the head is “cut”. They even put a doily on the neck of the glass to catch any moisture.
You must have gotten a bottle that was skunked, old or both…. I would always choose a Stella over a Bud-light. (If the Stella was not skunked, of course!)
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Stella is sort of like Heineken. Not good but not entirely terrible.
No one, and I mean no one, besides Rich Ireland cares about a “beer clean” glass.
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Rich: Thanks for the feedback. To be fair, I’ll try Stella again, soon. As for the Bud Light comparison, maybe I should have said Dr. Pepper. Now, that’s a truly nasty concoction!
Chris: I’d never heard of “beer clean” until I started reading Rich’s blog, but I have to admit tht my own beer glasses have nothing else poured in them, ever, and are always hand washed, rinsed, and left to air-dry. Anal? Maybe…
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I just moved back to Charleston after 14 months in Pittsburgh and am glad to see someone in this town is taking time to write about decent beer. Thanks for that. Three days back and I’m already pining for Fatheads and Sharp Edge. Sigh.
I’d agree that E.Fitz is probably the best beer available year-round in WV. Porter is a favorite style of mine and E.Fitz is a superb example. Rogue Mocha Porter and Sierra Nevada are also fine, fine choices and both can be found in the Mountain State.
As for the best new beer? Well, I’ve been away for a while so I’m probably not qualified to comment but I’ll do so anyway and second the Mountaineer Brewing Co’s stout. I made it to a couple of Power games and enjoyed several pints. I also picked up a six pack (in Cowan, of all places) to share with my Pittsburgh beer club pals. They agreed it was a solid beer. Not great, but solid.
Pick any BMC product introduced in 2007 for worst. Sunset Wheat is as good a choice as any - sweet, fizzy, flavorless, slice-of-orange and alcohol delivery device. Miller Chill is awful. And since AB is now pimping Bud as “the great American lager,” I’ll treat it as a new product and nominate it as well. (I’ve got a story about a Yinzer who’ll no longer drink Bud now that it’s a lager. Sheesh.)
One final thing: I was pleasantly surprised to see SN Anniversary in this state, since it comes in at 6.2% ABV. Or, it does in PA, anyway. It was a good, good beer too.
Viva la hops.
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Hey Rob… About the SN Anniversary… Shhhh! Let’s keep that on the down-low….
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:45 pm
For Chris W…
http://www.micromatic.com/keg-beer-edu/pouring-perfect-beer-cid-1863.html
January 7th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Sorry, I couldn’t be on the panel this round
I was having side effects on my latest surgery. Good picks. I would have gone with Hobgoblin or Appy Ale from the Cold Spot. They either put it on nitro or something. But, it is so different there that other places I’ve had it.
I had Sella on a plane coming back from Brussels. It’s not that bad. It is more like a Helles than an American lager.
Cris,….An apprentice curmudgeon. Yes, he can wreck a thread or forum. But, with a great dry wit!
Jamil Zainasheff may care more about beer clean glasses? But hey, he also wears a “clean suit” in his home yeast lab.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I’d like to give my personal nod of honorable mention for WV’s Best to Anchor’s Liberty Ale. I hadn’t had one for a while, so I dug one out of the back of the downstairs beer fridge earlier this evening–MIGHTY tasty!
January 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I’d like to cast my vote for Magic Hat #9 for the Peoples’ Choice Booty. The Magic Hat #9 is a very quaffable beer with an interesting complexity. It is also available on tap at several Charleston locations.
January 8th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I luv me some Anchor Liberty…
I like Magic HAt #9, it is a decent fruit beer.
Thanks for Chiming In!!!
January 11th, 2008 at 7:43 am
As a long time beer snob and homebrewer, I have been proclaiming the Eddy Fitz as one of the best beers in the country for many years. Glad to see that it is being appreciated here in WV. I am a tad biased, being a Cleveland transplant (7 years ago), but my first exposure to this fine porter was straight out of the taps at the Great Lakes Brewery and it is a shame that we can not (yet) get a fresh pint here in Charleston. My vote for 2nd best would probably be homebrew inspired Rogue HazelNut Brown Nectar. Thanks for the article.
January 12th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Just as a note, I was looking through the WV Legislature site, and as of 1/9/08, HB 2934 has been reintroduced.
HB 2934 defines craft beer as a beverage “not less than six percent and not more than fifteen percent alcohol by volume”, and unlike some of the other previous bills doesn’t require higher alcohol beers to be sold through state wholesale.
I know it’s died on the vine in previous years, but hey, maybe now it’s time?
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=2934&year=2008&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill
January 12th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Thanks for the comment…
I have been hearing positive rumblings on this issue. I think the wholesalers now want this…
I will do a blog entry highlighting this along with a call for folks to contact their delegates in support.
January 19th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Magic Hat #9 is good, they even have it at the tobacco spot across from the transit mall in charleston — wow!
Another good fruit beer that we’d been killing recently is UFO Rasp. Hefeweizen…
Also had Mountaineer Nut Brown Ale from Martinsburg recently…good stuff…
February 19th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Yeah don’t mess around with those 6.2% abv beers, some other disributor turned in Wine and Beverage Merchants in Weirton WV for selling Great Lakes Elliot Ness Vienna Style Lager for the same issue. By the way Rogue Dead Guy Ale is way over 6 like 6.7%, I think.
Good thing nobody pays atenttion to degrees Plato.
Salute
Anthony “Tony” Rasicci
By the way Hey Rob we miss you at Bocktown.