2025 - Year in Review

Hard to believe another year is behind us. I started 2025 with a set of "brew year's" resolutions, paramount of which was to really dial in one style for each season (https://www.seasonsofthebrew.com/post/brew-year-s-resolutions). So, how did I do?

As I expected, I feel like I've locked in to my spring and fall styles. I continue to be really happy with my Spring Sorachi Ace Saison (https://www.seasonsofthebrew.com/post/spring-saison-2025-edition) and my Fall Dunkel (https://www.seasonsofthebrew.com/post/fall-dunkel). The saison could easily substitute for a summer seasonal and the dunkel would also work well for winter. That said, I'll leave them where they are for now.

So, what about summer and winter? I was surprised with how much I really liked my first attempt at a Mexican style lager (https://www.seasonsofthebrew.com/post/summer-mexican-style-lager). I'd like to work on further dialing this one in next summer. I'd also like to lean in to hop extracts in 2026 and maybe end up with an IPL or west coast IPA as my summer style. Stay tuned later in the year to see how I do.

Winter is a tough one for me - I like the occasional holiday-spiced beer, wee-heavy, or belgian quad, but these are just a bit too heavy and high-octane for regular winter drinking for me. I brewed a very drinkable 5.8% abv chocolate stout with cocoa nibs this winter and was quite happy with it (https://www.seasonsofthebrew.com/post/chocolate-stout-with-cocoa-nibs). However, the style was not something that I wanted to drink more than a half-pint or so at a time. I'm thinking that in 2026 I will focus on a winter bock or one of the lighter styles of scottish ales. Interested to hear other's thoughts on winter styles.

Most memorable beers for 2025:

Listing the "best beers" of the year is tough since it is based on regional availability and a limited selection of what I happened upon over the course of the year. So, rather than focusing on the "best" beers of 2025, I will share some thoughts on my most memorable beers of the year.

1) North Park - Hop-Fu: My brother and I do an occasional beer exchange where I share east coast beers that are not available out west and he does the opposite. I could not be more thrilled than seeing a can of Hop-Fu in one of these "beer mystery box" arrivals. This beer absolutely embodies the latest generation of west coast IPAs (are we at 3.0 now?) and I was so happy to be able to sample a fresh can!

2) Burial / Green Cheek Collaboration - Stuff You Will Never Have: Burial did a bunch of collaborations with some of the best breweries in the US this year to celebrate the return of their Burnpile Festival after a one year hiatus in 2024 due to hurricane Helene. This west coast IPA collaboration with Green Cheek was outstanding! Very clean, citrus forward, and perfectly balanced. Hope they do more collabs in 2026!

3) The Alchemist - Heady Topper: I finally had an opportunity to try this one at the source at the Stowe, VT brewery. I had this beer a few years ago when a friend brought me a can from his trip up there. I recall that beer being excellent, but I have to say that it was no comparison to the ones I had at the brewery. I sampled both a draft version pulled from a cask (wow!), as well as a beer that was canned the day prior! These ultra-fresh versions made me really appreciate the New England/Hazy IPA style again. It tasted to me very much like a fresh hop IPA that came straight out of the hop field - truly amazing!

4) Rothaus - Marzen: I happened upon this one on draft at a fantastic Oktoberfest in Cary, NC. I had never seen this beer before either in bottles or on draft so I was really excited to try it. This beer blew me away! It was probably the best beer at the festival which had an incredible line-up of beers including classics from Paulaner, HB, Ayinger and many others. I will say that this beer would be more appropriately labeled as a Fest style rather than a marzen, but I won't hold this against them given how exceptional this beer was!

5) Beech Mountain Brewing - Vienna Lager: I regularly visit Beech Mountain, NC for some winter skiing and cool summer temperatures. Fun fact is that Beech Mountain is the highest elevation town east of the rockies at 5,506 feet. This tiny brewery at the resort is open only seasonally when the resort is open for winter skiing/snowboarding or summer mountain biking. They only serve their beer at the resort and do not can or distribute off the mountain. I've always enjoyed their simple, clean and crushable Vienna lager after a day on the slopes and was thrilled to see this beer win a bronze at the 2025 GABF (among 90 entries for the style!)

Looking forward to getting started on my most memorable list for 2026!