Although 2016 may have been a rough year for the world as a whole, for me personally it was pretty great. I changed from a high-pressure job where I was working 70+ hours a week to a more relaxing yet challenging job. I traveled to Seattle, Portland, Kauai and Boston and had an awesome time and drank lots of local beer! But enough about me, lets talk beer.

Here were my favorite beers of 2017 [I’m biased and these are my opinions]:

1.) Trillium – Vicinity. The HYPE is real! I had this in Boston at Row 34 (oyster place next to the Congress St. to-go only location) which I highly recommend if you like raw seafood. This was the juiciest IPA have had. Best representation of the NE style IPA I’ve had the chance of trying.

2.) Modern Times – Monsters’ Park aged in Nicaraguan rum barrels w/ cinnamon, cocoa nibs, chilis, & vanilla beans (i.e. Mexican Hot Chocolate Edition) /// Monsters’ Park Aged In Rye Barrels With NOLA-Style Coffee on Nitro. Okay I cheated on this one and added two Monsters’ Park variants. The Mexican Hot Chocolate beer craze may be overplayed but this one is arguably the best and most complex one I’ve had. NOLA MP was amazing, I had this at the 3 year anniversary party for Modern Times and it was one of the best MP variants I’ve had. The hickory and vanilla blended nicely with the base beer and rye barrel.

3.) Modern Times – Devil’s Teeth Bourbon Barrel Aged w/ Orange Zest, Hazelnuts And Cocoa Nibs. I LOVE those dark chocolate orange things you whack on the counter to open. This is that in beer form. Decadent with lots of orange and chocolate but was still integrated nicely with the base beer. Not overly sweet or one dimensional. The hazelnuts add a nice complexity.

4.) St. Archer – Tusk & Grain Brandy Barrel Aged Coffee Porter. This one came out of nowhere. Brandy barrel beers are my new obsession. There’s something about that grape-y sweetness that accentuates the chocolate and coffee. I also enjoyed the tequila/bourbon Mexican chocolate version as well.

5.) Monkish – Swap Meets. My first juicy/hazy IPA I got to try from Monkish. I had this at the Festival of Dankness put on by Modern Times in San Diego. I believe I went back about 5 times as this beer was so good! The best NE Style IPA I’ve had by a west coast brewery. I hope to try more of their IPAs in 2017 although I won’t be standing in line for 3 hours for a beer anytime soon…

No sours? I’m surprised too. I love sours and had some good ones this year but they took a backseat to stouts and IPAs. I think the sour craze of 15′ may have caused me to taper off sours this past year but I hope to right the wrong this year.

Honorable Mentions: Centaur Gardens and Goblin Rock (best so-far juicy IPAs from Modern Times), High West-ified Coffee Stout and Born Yesterday Fresh Hop from Lagunitas (12$ 6 pack of BA coffee stout thats straightforward and delicious?!), Great Notion’s Juice Jr., Freemont B-Bomb w/ coffee and cinnamon and everything we had at Holy Mtn in Seattle.

Bonus – Favorite Brewery of the year: Modern Times. Biased pick but I’m not ashamed. I (well technically it’s under my girlfriend’s name, smart girl) had the fortunate opportunity of joining the League of Partygoers & Elegant People and with it came access to some pretty amazing beers. From tart goses to juicy IPAs to huge BA stouts, MT is killing the game right now. I easily spent most of my beer money on Modern Times this year and don’t see that changing. I hope the keep up the great work!

Runner-up and non-biased pick would have to be Holy Mountain in Seattle. Their grisette and table sours/saisons were complex and incredibly drinkable. They also had fantastic hoppy and dark beers. I wish I had more access to this brewery. I hope to try more in the future!