The Beer Sherpa's Best Beers of 2022
Grand Fir’s delicious house IPA.
This year I started sending out a weekend update with links to the week’s podcast and blog links, and I included some extra material as well—archival links to good stuff on the blog, occasional links to articles elsewhere, and a Beer Sherpa of any great beers I’d encountered that week. I didn’t always have a recommendation, and the newsletter didn’t start until the end of April. Nevertheless, it turned out to be quite a collection. Below I’ve collected the recommendations, putting my favorite three at the top of the post. For subscribers, I’ve added one more here that didn’t make it into the first batch. Can you tell which one?
(A couple of notes. Obviously, no one can try all new beers in a year. As all sample groups are, this is highly individual. And, since I do most of my drinking in Oregon, it’s got a lot of Oregon beer. It’s also not exhaustive. I recall a wonderful pFriem Canadian Lager I enjoyed at the brewery, a delicious gueuze from Tilquin I enjoyed at a beer festival in Oslo, a cracking good festbier at Heater Allen, and more. Furthermore, if you think I avoid hoppy ales, behold: this list is lousy with ‘em! I love all beer styles, and it seems like 2022 was a good one for hops.)
Machine House Cask London Lager
Amid all the bitters and milds, I found one unexpected beast at Machine House when I visited in the spring: London Lager. It’s served on cask like all the rest, is made exclusively from English ingredients, and is unmistakably a lager. It reminded me of something from Franconia, with lovely malts and earthy hops, but it had that lager nose, and it finished with a perfect, crisp snap. As breweries begin to experiment with cask ale in Portland, they shouldn’t overlook lagers. As Germans know—they’re damn good on cask (or anstitch, if you prefer).
ColdFire Hefe
Eugene’s ColdFire Brewing has developed a reputation for quality, winning awards for wild ales and establishing a rep for IPAs. The big winner on my Labor Day visit, however, was a perfectly-rendered Bavarian-style weissbier. The first thing I noticed was the full wheat flavor, which had a crisp quality, like the crunch of a good crust. The fermentation notes were present but not exaggerated, and leaned a little more toward the spice of phenols. We drank it on a hot day in the biergarten outside and it was the perfect beer for the moment.
Breakside IPA Industrielle
In this Living Haus collaboration, Breakside wanted to experiment with high-gravity brewing. They ended up with an incredibly toothsome, 6% West Coast IPA that balances dense aromatics and tropical fruit with a decent blade of bitterness. All the flavors and sensations are dialed right to the maximum level for what turns out to be a very sessionable beer. I happened to be drinking it with brewer Ben Edmunds, who pointed to the great ferment, which he believes is an unsung hero in IPAs. I’m a believer. Draft only.
Fort George Power Cycle
On my visit to Astoria, I tried a wonderful little 5% pale ale called Power Cycle. It featured Nectaron, the hot hot new hop from New Zealand. I loved the beer because it balanced hop intensity with sessionability perfectly. It also revealed that Nectaron is a fantastic evocation of early American C-hops. Which means breweries can save their money and buy some Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook.
Rosenstadt Vienna Lager
We have to go back to the podcast topic for this one. Rosenstadt really doesn’t have a weak beer in their lineup, but finding a favorite might be challenging. I’ll nominate the dry, zesty Vienna Lager they released for 2022. It’s got a lovely dry toast malt base to support a fair wallop of bitterness (for a Vienna) from those zingy hops.
Upright Billy the Mountain
Billy the Mountain was the first beer Upright ever brewed. More than a decade ago, it was a Brett-aged old ale. Despite being one of my favorite beers, it didn’t sell well and the brewery discontinued it. Well, Billy’s back, but this time without the Brett. I was worried—but I didn’t need to be. It picked up a hint of booziness from the rye barrels it spent some time in—though it doesn’t taste overtly “barrel-aged.” Rather, the malts are lush and warming, and I get a strong port-wine vibe off it. It is complex and tastes like a proper old ale, Brett or no.
SweetWater Hazy 710
Okay, sure, SweetWater has become a slightly weird corporate entity of late. But holy moly, this hazy pale ale was spectacular. A luminous yellow, it simultaneously featured a fluffy body with a crisp finish, and in between were perfectly calibrated lemon-candy hops. Just enough bitterness made it a perfectly sessionable beer. If you like pales, hazy IPAs, or West Coast IPAs, I think you’d welcome this on a sunny day. Should be available nationally or mostly so.
Reuben’s Cryocurrency
Amid Reuben’s kaleidoscope of beers, one really knocked me out on my visit to Seattle this year. It came from the Cryocurrency series, which showcases the exclusive use of cryo hops—a product from YCH where the bracts, or vegetable matter have been removed. That means that the six pounds per barrel they include is actually quite a bit more potent in the beer. Ah, but here we have the kicker. Instead of getting all that vegetative matter, you get just the juice. It’s an intense ride and worth seeking out. They don’t can this beer because it’s too expensive to make, so stop in when you’re in Seattle.
Threshold Green Prophecies
This is the year Threshold graduated to my “Portland’s Best Breweries” list, going from a scrappy “underrated” brewery to one of the headliners. Beers like Green Prophecies are the reason. It’s a fairly simple 7.6% hazy IPA made with Nelson Sauvin and El Dorado hops. Everything about beer is execution, however, and this beer illustrates brewer Jarek Szymanski’s growing skill. All the pieces come together and make for a damn pleasing beer. It’s very fruity, highlighted by a comforting, nostalgic 1970s canned fruit cocktail dimension. And I mean that in the very best way. Sally, who doesn’t usually like IPAs and never likes hazies, loved it.
Hammer and Stitch Porter
As the temperatures went scorching this summer, I went to Hammer and Stitch, coming away to recommend … a dark ale! Ben Dobler’s classic American approach is one of the more interesting developments in Portland, and I loved his updated old-school beers, but on that visit it was The Porter that really landed. What a lovely beer. Reddish-hued, brilliant, all chocolate roast in the nose. It’s smooth (oats!) and creamy, but finishes dryly enough that on an 80 degree evening, I could have sipped nothing else. Porters are dead in the US. Long live porters!
Living Haus Harris IPA
We had several high-profile brewery openings this year, and one of the most promising was the third occupant of that lovely space on 7th and SE Belmont. It’s a brewery supergroup, founded by Conrad Andrus, Mat Sandoval (both formerly brewed on the same system when it was owned by Modern Times) and Gavin Lord (pFriem). Lagers are going to be a feature, but after my first visit, I pointed readers to Conrad’s IPA. Can we call something “Juicy San Diego?” It’s very pale and clear, but very lightly bitter—instead you get an intense lemony-tropical juiciness both on the nose and palate. Delightful. As a slight epilogue, I’ll mention I’ve also been drinking a lot of their helles, Bethine.
Wayfinder Cold IPA
During one of Portland’s now-common heat waves this summer, I stopped in to have a pint at Wayfinder with celebrated NY-based author Josh Bernstein. I decided to cool down with a Cold IPA. This is the original, the one Kevin Davey perfected before unleashing the trend on the US. His version is is an awesome IPA, and brewers should try it before they make their own based on descriptions alone. Lean and mean but smooth and juicy, it represents Kevin’s attempt to create his own perfect IPA. It’s more SoCal than Northwest in the body and finish, but it’s wholly modern, with rounded fruit, with plenty of citrus, softening the lively bitterness. It really is a fantastic beer, and does actually manage to cool and soothe on a hot day.
Urban Roots EZ PZ Pilsner
I happened across an absolutely delicious pilsner this year from Urban Roots, in Sacramento. It’s a dry-hopped version, but that information may be slightly misleading. It’s a proper pilsner all the way down. The malt has a nice cracker dryness, and the lager yeast shines crisply through. The hopping would earn an appreciative nod from a Bavarian—it’s lush but delicate, a saturated but balanced herbal spiciness. I wasn’t familiar with the brewery, which as a bonus is Black-owned, but it’s on my radar now! Later this year, I had their Rock Me All Mosiac IPA, and it, too, was spectacular.
Logsdon Citra Urban Encore
As those interminable, insufferable blistering days continued to roll out, finding a properly cooling beer was key. Patrick found one at our indoor beer fest when he ordered a Citra-hopped saison from Logsdon Farmhouse Ale. It’s sunshine in a glass, all lemony and crisp and quenching. Probably a deep cut if you’re not in Portland, but it’s a treat if you can find it.
Fort George 3-Way (Hazy)
It is almost gospel that the fresher an IPA, the better it tastes. Brewers, however, know that beer sometimes goes through a favorable evolution after a few weeks. I found a case in point with Fort George’s annual three-brewery collab 3-Way IPA. My first taste was delivered in a glass at the brewery, and it was … all right. It was delicate and very melony, but not transcendent as some in past years have been. Later, I picked up a month-old four-pack at the grocery store, however, and it was a totally different experience. Much danker, more complex, and far more interesting. The fruit was much more ripe-tropical than melon, and overall a much more compelling beer.
Baerlic Better Together
I was settling down for a plate of pad kee mao at a Thai restaurant this year nd took a sip of Better Together. Zing! It is an IPA of all top notes—bright citrus, fruity sweetness, and a sharp thrust of old-fashioned kettle bitterness. It was an absolutely terrible pairing with the food, but man, what a lovely summery beer.
Tynt Meadow Trappist Ale
Importer Merchant du Vin sent me a bottle from one of the new Trappist breweries—Tynt Meadow, in England. Unlike many of the modern Trappists outside Belgium, Tynt Meadow didn’t make a Belgian ale. Theirs is a luscious, malty English strong ale (7.4%), made with all-English ingredients. The ringer here are those English malts, which are so wonderfully soft and creamy. The ale yeast is expressive, and goes to show that Belgium has no monopoly on characterful ale strains. It has quickly become one of my favorite monastic beers, and that’s saying something.
Van Henion IPA
You have probably given up trying to track Bend’s breweries. Fair enough. Put this one on your radar, though: Van Henion IPA. This new brewery has a focused, narrow approach (lagers and IPAs), and their IPA is an excellent calling card. It’s sort of what you’d expect a lager brewery to make if they knew how to make IPAs: lean, structured, stripped down, and delicious. It’s 7.2% but tastes a point lower, has light peach and melon aromatics, and a mid-dry, crisp, and slightly bitter (52 BUs) finish. One of those understated beers that really impresses.
Jørund Geving's Stjørdalsøl
At the annual Kornølfestival in Hornindal, the brewers all participate in a competition to see who makes the best farmhouse ales. The Stjørdal-based brewer Jørund Geving makes traditional home-smoked malts, and his beers have won multiple awards at the fest. I see why. The alderwood smoke creates a dry, quenching smokiness that harmonizes nicely with the sweeter yeast and underlying malt notes. It’s one of the best smoked beers I’ve had, and possibly my favorite Norwegian farmhouse ale. (Possibly.) Of course, you have to visit Norway to try it—but you could take worse trips!
Westmalle Extra
Last month, the Trappists at Westmalle announced they’d be shipping Extra outside the brewery walls—the only place you could get it for decades. (Last year the brewery made 130k barrels of beer, but just 440 hectos of Extra.) A table beer presumably more suited for a monastery, it’s nevertheless a little powerball of flavor. It has the unmistakable scent of Belgian yeast, and a crisp, snappy finish that is almost lager-like. Yet the mid-palate features a deliciously sweet note, like a droplet of wildflower honey. An exceptional beer.
Double Mountain Fa La La La La
The winter ales finally arrived after that scorching summer, and not a minute too soon. On a chill November day, I picked up a bottle of one of the first hoppy winter ales, a darker IPA hopped with old school coniferous hops, which make the beer taste just like a dense stand of Oregon fir, dripping in the mist of a November shower. A heartier body than most IPAs support that piney blast, and it tastes exactly like home. And winter.
Grand Fir IPA
In case you were unconscious this winter, celebrated brewer Whitney Burnside launched her new brewery, Grand Fir, with her husband chef Doug Adams. She’s going to make a lot of great beers, and she’ll certainly change and experiment with GFB IPA (starting with the name, I hope). But stop in when you have the chance and try this version, which shows her new school/old school approach to brewing. It’s a bit malty, a bit juicy, and a lot citrusy. It’s like a cozy, comforting hoodie on a chill morning. Since I wrote the review, I’ve been back twice and the beer continues to impress. It’s a brewer’s IPA, which is to say it shows the process through delicacy and balance. Great beer.
Gigantic Citra Project Pilsner
Amid all the openings happening this winter, Gigantic brewing launched their first brewpub. To honor the milestone, you might have a pint of bright, lemony, but still lager-y Project Pilsner, made with Citra hops. It’s part of their single-hop pilsner series, and it may be my favorite. Citra is an obviously American hop, but it’s clean and bright and true, suggestive of its noble parentage. I’ve long mused about what an “American pilsner” might become if brewers began to meld old-world techniques with new-world hops, all the while keeping the essence of the lager intact. This might be that beer.
In the window of opportunity Elon Musk offers to envision a post-Twitter world, I invite you to leave comments and reflections here as was the way in the old days before social media. What were your favorite beers of the past year?