BEST OF 2007 PART TWO

Don't worry, I'll be done before this year is over. I promise. Now back to the awards! There are 365 days in a year and I probably try 40 or 50 beers a day. That comes out to 12.7 million ounces of beer a year. (Figures supplied by The Jethro Bodine Institute of Science And Math.) So when it comes to picking out some of the best beers of the year, why hell it's a lot of work. So to make it easier, I have not counted a boatload of stuff that I have only sampled. Only full glasses of beer have made this list, so lets go! BEST BEERS OF 2007- Southern Tier-Choklat. Take a vat of chocolate, dump it in a fermentor and bring it up to 11%. Then put it in a Godiva barrel and instead of dry hopping you dry chocolate it. Then you run it through Randall The Chocolate Animal and presto, you got this beer. Southern Tier- Pumking. Picks up where Weyerbacher left off with their Imperial Pumpkin. Lip smacking good and not overwhelmed with pumpkin pie spice. Portsmouth Brewing-Barleywine. One of the best barleywines I have ever had, period. Weyerbacher-12th Anniversary. A rye style barleywine that was really different. I love the dryness that rye gives to beers. Union Barrel Works-Kolsch. Their first batch of this stuff was so, so, good, we got a keg for Session Fest. Allentown Brew Works.-Rude Elf. This years draft was as Tony The Tiger says "It's Great'. Less spices, more flavor. Southampton-Burton Ale Cask. I could drink this session beer all day till it runs out of my ears and you know how tall I am. Southampton-Foreign Extra Stout. Hello roasted malt and more malt and more malt. Goose Island-Matilda and Defiant Brewing-Farmhouse Ale. Put the funk into my face! Sly Fox-Nelson Sauvin. Remember all the talk about hops tasting like grapefruit? Here is the real deal. Captain Lawrence-Smoke From The Oak Bourbon Barrel. Just the right amount of smoke, bourbon and porter make this right smart. Dogfish-Johnny Rawton Pils. One of Mike's last beers before he left, it was a 5% slightly hopped version and was easy drinking. Some talk of making it in Milton. Troegs-Scratch Number Three. The brothers Troegs say they might make this triple again. Just what I need, another night I can't remember. Stoudts-Hoperator. A very hoppy bock, just like me. Founders-Breakfast Stout. Another great dessert beer. Victory-Braumeister Pils. This spring release was maybe one of the best ones they have ever done. I am sure there is a hundred or so more, but you get the idea. Now go out and get yourself some of this fine stuff.