The Beer Retard - Friday Five: 5 Most Memorable Locally-Brewed Beers of 2008

Some would say I don't have any local beer pride. I'm pretty sure I've said that San Diego, Philadelphia and Portland are better beer-drinking destinations than Seattle. That's blasphemy to local beer enthusiasts, so I figured I'd better make amends by showing some love to the place where I live. In no specific order, here are my 5 Most Memorable Locally-Brewed Beers of 2008 (technically 8 since I had some ties):

1. Big Time Old Sol & Old Wooly - Big Time's summer release of Old Sol Wheatwine and winter release of Old Wooly Barleywine are among the most anticipated beer events in Seattle each year and they never disappoint. I can't tell you how they compared to last year's batches, but I can say they were both very tasty.

2. Elysian Arboreal Chestnut Brown - I'm always bitching about how we need more flavorful, locally-brewed session beers and Elysian came through with this one. I think it was around 4.5% and it packed in the usual maltiness of a brown ale with a crazy dry finish (I'm guessing from the chestnut flour). I only had a couple glasses of this, but I would've been happy to have many more.

3. Pike Cerveza Rosanna/Big Time Serrano Puzzano - Pike and Big Time both brewed chili beers around Cinco de Mayo and both were interesting and well-executed. The Serrano Puzzano was a little more in your face with the heat and that made it a slight favorite over the Rosanna for me. Hope they do these again in 2009.

4. Elysian Hubris Imperial IPA & Schooner Exact Dry-Hopped Cask 3-Grid IPA - You knew there had to be an IPA in here somewhere and there was a tie for most memorable. Batches of Elysian's Hubris seemed inconsistent, but the first time I had it at the Capitol Hill pub (and one other time at Elysian Fields), it was right up there with Big Time's Double Decade as the best made-in-Seattle IPA I've had. Equally memorable was Schooner Exact's dry-hopped cask of 3-Grid at its One Year Anniversary party at Beveridge Place back in January. I couldn't stop drinking it and must've had 4 pints over the course of the evening. I hope Schooner does something similar for their Two Year Anniversary next month.

5. Pike Entire Wood-Aged Stout - Didn't expect to like the Entire since I figured it might be too bourbony or hot with alcohol (9.5%), but it surprised me. Smooth as hell and everything was balanced so you got all the flavors without any one thing smacking you in the face. I've heard the bottled version may not be as impressive (maybe it needs to be "laid down"), but the draft batch I had at the Dray was impressive.

Some honorable mentions: Laughing Buddha showed a lot of creativity with their Ginger Pale Ale, Mango Weizen & Purple Yam Porter. They aren't beers I'd reach for often, but they're worth trying. Also, Kevin Forhan over at RAM Northgate made a lot of good beers. I tried most of them at festivals and can't remember the names of them, but I know there was a Saison that was very tasty. It's too bad RAM is in a damn mall...a place I'm not likely to go even though I'm interested in what he's doing.