El Cielo Es Azul

Most Enjoyable Shelfie Thomas Hooker - #nofilter • Tonewood - Fuego • Eight & Sand - IPA No. 2 • Brotherton - IPA • Modern Times - Black House Okay, so shelfie is a relative term in regards to region, but as this whole list pretty much elaborates, #drinklocal. Tonewood is a few minutes from Philly, and so I have been lucky enough to get my hands on this a number of times. Always available, never disappoints. I do not think they even really foresaw this beer taking off as it did, but it now pretty much defines an otherwise unspecialized brewery. It helped allow them to focus a bit more on a surging style in which they executed to near-perfection with this one. (at Tonewood Brewing)

Most Enjoyable Sour Beer Hudson Valley - Subglitch • The Veil - Never Never Gonnagetit Gonnagetit • Hill Farmstead - Civil Disobedience (Batch 18) • Tired Hands & Sara - Mannequin Throne • The Veil - Never Never Forever Forever If you have drank with the kid before, you know I am not much for the sour stuff. But what are any of us without a little experimentation and exploration, huh? This list would not exist, both because I couldn’t get them, nor would I think to even want to try them without. THE. @maltydipa — dude was my PIC in 2017 (and beyond?) Beer is cool and all, the best part is being able to experience and elaborate on/over stuff with likeminded people. And the dude mentioned above has been the model ticking buddy, and I appreciate the endless hospitality even if we have to wait until after Mandy goes to work every few shares. (at Tired Hands Fermentaria)

Most Enjoyable IPA The Veil & Cloudwater - Chubbles (I) • Other Half - DDH Broccoli • Trillium - DDH Stillings Street • TreeHouse - Curiosity 34 Veggies, veggies, veggies. IPA was, again, the dominating, roll your eyes because what even is an IPA anymore style in 2017. It’s not pilsner time… yet. But anyway, Other Half struck gold with this one, and their (sometimes frustrating) persistence with double dry-hopping worked out swimmingly here. (at Other Half Brewing Company)

Most Impactful Glassware The Answer • Other Half • Monkish • Tired Hands • Bottle Logic Monkish set this year off in style with their beautiful iteration of their 5-year anniversary with a gold luttich. In a year (with the aforementioned) teku craze, people love GOOOOLD. And Monkish set it off with a timeless, elegant glass. (at Monkish Brewing Co.)

Most Enjoyable Collaboration The Veil & Cloudwater - Chubbles (I) • The Veil & Monkish - In Sink • Other Half & The Answer - Raining Three’s • Finback & Aslin - It • Tired Hands & Omnipollo - Extra Vanilla Double Milkshake One of the more exciting prospects within any industry is the potential of collaboration. 2017 was kind of the year of the collaboration if you think about it. Although it does not always land (I’m looking at you, Big Sean & Metro Boomin), you always try to picture the best possible outcomes if two people bring their methods, experience together. Chubbles best represented that for me this year. Not typically a big TIPA guy, but The Veil seeks to change that with every passing one they drop. I had this a couple of weeks late, and as a result was unsure what to make of it, but I instantly regretted only having one. Gotta protect that memory, though. (at The Veil Brewing Co.)

Most Enjoyable Taproom Other Half (Brooklyn, NY) • The Answer Brewpub (Richmond, VA) • Tired Hands (Ardmore, PA) • Trillium (Canton, MA) • The Veil (Richmond, VA) A big part of the allure (or detestment) in craft beer is attending limited product releases, and being able to sit back and enjoy a few hours with friends, grandmothers, mules, or strangers. A bit of an unfair advantage exists in PA where you are able to serve food (you suck NJ), and that is why Tired Hands takes this for me. They have two locations (three, technically) within a stones throw from another, and both have total knockout food to go along with their dream beer. Hit the Ferm and grab yourself a chicken sandwich, and a few pours. (at Tired Hands Fermentaria)

Most Impressive Artwork Tired Hands (@mikeillustrated + @tiredhandsbrewing) • Mikkeller (@keithashore) • Other Half (@smallstuffnyc) • Interboro (@theheadsofstate) • Omnipollo (@karlgrandin) So, with the growing necessity to separate yourself from the bevy of peers sprouting up and releasing product at the blink of every eye, the visual representation of the liquid is an integral part of communication between breweries and their consumers. No better translater exists between brewery ethos and consumer experience than @keithashore does for Mikkeller. Keith and Mikkeller have such a fantastic system going that allows for recognition, and appreciation between a myraid of communication be it their beer packaging, promotional items, special events, what have you. *PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SPECIFIC POST IS AN INTERPRETATION/DEDICATION/PERSONAL ADAPTATION OF ESTABLISHED CHARACTERS AND VISUAL STYLE AND NOT AN ATTEMPT TO PASS OFF AS MY OWN* (at Mikkeller HQ)

Most Valuable Brewery Omnipollo • Monkish • Other Half • Burley Oak • TreeHouse 2017 was another prolific year for craft beer, and @otherhalfnyc did it, as they do, were at the forefront of that. Between sending people haywire over multicolored tekus, to gigantically attended collaborations, Other Half held it down with consistency with retail management, experimentation and product. (at Other Half Brewing Company)

As the year comes to an end, and people begin to post the albums, movies, TV shows that stuck with them and allowed to consume their personal time and interests, I threw together some *personal* superlatives based on the year I had trying different beers from breweries near and far. It will inherently be a bit locally focused, as that is the general drive for the industry, but I will be posting quick visual representations of the liquid that best occupied my belly in 2017. (at Northern Liberties, Philadelphia)

(via Phases of the Moon by Michael Loupos)

So I will be trickling stuff out for my dear friends' wedding in the coming days/weeks and figured I would start small with this little guy I cooked up to serve in place of an ampersand between the names and also to serve as a stand alone image and/or monogram. I DON'T KNOW BUT THEY LIKED IT AND I LIKE IT. Do you like it?

Just a thought.

Babes babes babes