Finding the best beer any given year is a pretty much impossible task. No one gets to it all. Hell, you’d be hard-pressed to even scratch the surface of the U.S. beer scene much less what’s going in, say, Germany or England or Australia. Still, there are some organizations out there that do their best to give you an idea of what’s good right now around the globe. The Tasting Alliance — the group that runs the famed “Oscars of spirits competitions,” the San Francisco World Spirits Competition — just released their 2023 Best in Show beers.
I was a judge this year and tasted a lot of beers over a two-day judging event. I was placed at a table with a master brewer of some pretty big fame and the person who brings in all the beers for Whole Foods. We were a good team of judges and shockingly close on many of the medals we gave. Alas, I’m getting ahead of myself.
The way medaling — and the eventual “best in show” designation — works is like this:
- Three or four judges gather around a table and taste about 60-70 beers over the day.
- For the first round, we evaluate each beer on an individual basis via a double-blind tasting.
- We then write our tasting notes and give the beer a medal anonymously without talking to each other.
- The medals are gold plus, gold, gold minus, silver plus, silver, silver minus, bronze plus, bronze, bronze minus, or “eliminated.”
If we all give a beer a gold medal, that beer is a Double Gold. If we all give a silver, that beer is silver. Two bronze and one silver, that beer is a bronze. Now, you’ll notice those “plus” and “minus” designations. If I were to input “silver minus” — that means that I could be convinced or talked down to a bronze pretty easily. A “silver plus” means that the judge could be talked up to a “gold” or would at least agree with a gold medal if the other two judges gave it a gold.
The next day, we judged the beers against each other in what’s called “sweeps.” In this case, the whole room of beer judges voted on each beer that made it to the top as double golds against each other. So we blindly tried all the top medaling lagers against each other, then the non-alcoholic beers, and so on until a “Best in Show” beer was awarded for each style in the competition.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: As with all awards competitions from the Oscars to the Grammys to the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the entries are based on brands/companies/marketing teams submitting their product. So this is never about judging every beer on earth. It’s about judging the beers we receive any given year. This year that was just over 600 beer entries.
Okay, those are the details. Let’s get into the good stuff and take a look at the best of the best from this year’s Tasting Alliance Beer Competition!
- The Best Craft Beers Of 2023 (So Far), Ranked
- The Most Underrated Breweries in America, According To Craft Beer Experts
- The 30 Best IPAs To Drink Right Now, Ranked
- The Best Oktoberfest Beers On The Market, According To Craft Beer Pros
- The Best Under-The-Radar Pilsners, According To Craft Beer Experts
Best Non-Alcoholic Stout Beer & Best In Show Non-Alcoholic Beer — Bravus Brewing Co. Gravitas IV Bourbon Stout
ABV: 0.4%
Average Price: $34.99
The Beer:
Bravus Brewing Co. has built its empire around NA beers. Their special release every year is the “Gravitas” bottle. Last year’s Gravitas was an NA stout that was left to age in used bourbon barrels to add extra layers of depth before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is so very clearly a bourbon-aged stout from the jump with deep cinnamon spice layered into mocha lattes with a vibrant maple syrup sweetness.
Palate: The palate followed the nose with tons of bourbon vanilla, creamy chocolate spiced with cinnamon, and more of that maple syrup with a twinge of sour stout and old oak.
Finish: The old oak and winter spices came through more on the finish as the beer faded (pretty quickly).
Bottom Line:
This is a nice NA beer. The bourbon barrel aging really adds a nice depth that you rarely see in non-alcoholic offerings. I do think that you might forget you’re drinking an NA beer with this one, hence its “best in show” status.
Best Lager/Classic Pilsner & Best In Show Lager — Little Brother Brewing Pleasing Gene German Pilsner
ABV: 4.4%
Average Price: $7
The Beer:
Little Brother Brewing out in Greensboro, North Carolina, leaned into tried and true German tactics with this one. The beer uses German yeast, malt, and hops to best replicate the iconic style in the U.S.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is soft and effervescent with a sense of honeyed malts, soft piney hops, and a touch of caramel crackers.
Palate: “Crisp” is the best word to describe the lush palate with more of those piney hops leading to a touch of sweetgrass, Graham Cracker, and honeysuckle.
Finish: The end leans into the sweetgrass and lush hops before fading toward a light and almost airy end.
Bottom Line:
This is just a refreshing AF lager. It’s easygoing and does its best to remind you of the huge and iconic German pilsners made in Bavaria.
Best Pale Beer (Belgium Style Strong) & Best In Show Pale Beer — Prodigy Brewing Hop Light District Hoppy Belgian Style Ale
ABV: 6.6%
Average Price: $3.95
The Beer:
This Belgian-style ale from Utah’s Prodigy Brewing is all about the hops. They layer in earthy, floral, and herbal hop varieties with fresh grapefruit peels to add more body to the finished brew.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Bright but almost dank citrus gives way to grassy hops with a caramel malt backbone on the nose with hints of clove and cardamom.
Palate: The palate leans into those soft spices with a dank hoppiness next to dried florals and honeyed oatiness.
Finish: The end is all about the oily hops with a soft piney vibe that’s just the right dank.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice everyday sipper with a good depth. The hops are balanced but still bold enough to hold onto your attention.
Best Dark Beer (Belgium Style Strong) & Best In Show Dark Beer — Boulevard Brewing Company The Sixth Glass Quadrupel Ale
ABV: 10.2%
Average Price: $15.99
The Beer:
This beer from Kansas City is all about deep and dark brewing. The beer combines Cara 100, malted wheat, Munich, and Pale malts with Hallertau Blanc and Styrian Golding hops. Then the brewers layer in brown sugar, dark candi syrup, dark sugar, and dextrose to add a whole galaxy of sweetness.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dark and dried fruits mix with dark caramel maltiness on the nose next to a hint of brandied cherry, cinnamon stick, and funky brewer’s yeast with a hint of sourness.
Palate: The palate lets the yeast drive the taste toward rum raisin, spiced holiday cake, and honey Graham Crackers with a dash of caramel apples that lean toward toffee.
Finish: The sweetness gets buttery and dark on the end with toffee, almond, and dark brandied cherries dipped in chocolate before the soft tartness sneaks back in.
Bottom Line:
This is a really deep and fun sipper. There are a lot of bold flavor notes that work toward a wintry boozy vibe that feels like it’d work wonders as an after-dinner pour with pie or cake.
Best IPA Specialty Beer & Best In Show IPA — MadTree Brewing Holly Days IPA With Spruce Tips
ABV: 6.8%
Average Price: $10.99
The Beer:
MadTree’s holiday IPA has become beloved over the years and for good reason — it’s really freaking tasty. The beer is made with Cascade, Chinook, Sultana, and Eureka! hops over a malty base made with 2-Row Brewers, Vienna, barley flake, Carapils, and Caramel Rye malts. Then spruce tips are added at the end to give the beer that wintry brightness.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Pine dank pops on the nose with a nice underbelly of creamy caramel maltiness with a hint of sourdough bread crusts and maybe even a flutter of fennel next to sweetgrass and soft tobacco.
Palate: The palate is all about the bright and fresh piney spruce tips and dank hops with a grassy vibe that gives way to a creamy malty base that’s just kissed with orange oils and maybe a hint of clove.
Finish: The end leans into the bright pine and sweet grassy hops with a pungent sense of herbal oils before the creamy caramel maltiness sneaks in with a hint of winter spice cakes.
Bottom Line:
This is a fun and refreshing winter sipper. Stock up now and enjoy this one until the trees start to show leaves again.
Best Flavored Stout & Best In Show Flavored Beer — Crowns & Hops Brewing Co. Slays Stout
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $17.99
The Beer:
This special holiday release from Inglewood, California’s Crowns & Hops is all about the rich winter sweet spice. The stout is amped up with vanilla, maple syrup, and pecans to give the stout a truly deep holiday theme.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with deeply roasted malts with a dark caramel edge before going deep on pecan waffles with butter and pancake syrup cut with a dose of vanilla oil.
Palate: The taste leans toward an almost sour espresso pour before it goes full mocha frappuccino with a pump off the vanilla bottle.
Finish: The end leans into the pecan nuttiness with an almost dry edge that’s just barely smoldering next to rich maple syrup cut with real butter and more of those deeply caramelized malts.
Bottom Line:
This is dessert (or a sweet breakfast) in a glass. If you’re looking for a thick AF nutty and sweet stout, this is going to be your jam.
Best Sour Ale & Best In Show Sour Ale (Tie) — Rodenbach Grand Cru
ABV: 6%
Average Price: $16.99
The Beer:
This Flanders red ale from Belgium is a blend of young and old. The mix is 1/3 young beer with 2/3 beer that’s spent two years mellowing a massive oak foeders in a cellar in a castle in Belgium.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Apple cider vinegar slowly turns into thick and sweet balsamic on the nose before dark caramel with a flake of salt leads to a medley of dried fruits — raisins, prunes, apricots, mangos.
Palate: Sour cherries and tart apples are cut with orange oils on the palate as that creamy caramel turns into rich toffee with moist vanilla-laced tobacco adding serious depth.
Finish: The vanilla marries the sour cherry to the tobacco on the finish as the orange oils create a bright finish with a creamy toffee underbelly.
Bottom Line:
This is a very tasty sipper that balances sourness with deep creamy buttery sweetness perfectly. This is a lot of fun to drink.
Best Sour Ale & Best In Show Sour Ale (Tie) — The Ale Apothecary The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache
ABV: 8%
Average Price: $11
The Beer:
Bend, Oregon’s The Ale Apothecary blends malted barley and wheat with locally sourced Cascade hops to make this throwback beer. That beer is cut with acid-heavy lactobacillus culture (made in-house) before the beer goes into the barrel for a year of rest and fermentation. Finally, the beer is dry-hopped for a month in oak before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with lemon meringue pie with a sense of old fruit baskets that have started fermenting in the sun next to piles of fall leaves and old cellar floor dirt.
Palate: Thick sour cream drives the taste toward those fermenting orchard fruits with a hint of spice bark, soft vanilla, and moments of sage, sweetgrass, and barnyard mud.
Finish: The end balances sour creaminess with funky old fruit before leaning to a wet grassiness.
Bottom Line:
This is like a walk through an old orchard well past picking season. It’s deep, funky, and balanced, making it a very good sip of beer.
Best Lambic & Best In Show Sour and Wild Beer — Timmermans’ Oude Gueuze
ABV: 6.7%
Average Price: $22
The Beer:
Timmermans’ Oude Geuze is a blend of old lambics from deep in a Beglian cellar. The lambics are at least two years old when blended and then that beer spends more time in old Portuguese oak before a final blend is made for this release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Funkiness draws you in the nose — think of a barnyard just after the rain — before tart apples stewed in vanilla cream with a cut of clove, cinnamon, and anise arrive with a sense of overripe peach and bruised pears.
Palate: Lemon curd with a sour creaminess drives the palate toward more of that bruised pear with a sense of quince, fig, and stewed apple fritter frosted with cream cheese frosting.
Finish: The finish has an airy fizziness that just works as the cream cheese frosting goes a little sour with the bruised pear, figs, and soft oaky spices before this fleeting sense of an old fallow straw field sneaks in.
Bottom Line:
This was my favorite pour of the whole damn competition. This is an excellent beer that balances funky depth with classic orchard notes perfectly.
