Heathen's Beer Awards Part 1

I thought it was a little late to be doing awards for last year's beers, but with the Academy Awards happening tonight, I thought, "what the hell." Here are the top 13 beer beers I tried for the first time in 2008.

• 13. Southern Tier Jahva- A really nice coffee imperial stout that tasted like coffee, but still had an imperial stout profile. I would have never guessed this was 12% ABV until the slight heat in my chest.
• 12. De Dolle Stille Nacht- It didn't really say "Christmas" to me, but it was a true Christmas gift. An incredible beer that I have to try to age.
• 11. Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye- I looked at it. I smelled it. And at that point it was perfect. I knew it wouldn't last. The flavor was a nice change of pace, but not perfect. I don't know exactly what the rye did for this beer, but it seemed to make it a better double IPA. It seemed to lesson the harshness of the bitterness of the hops without taking away the flavor of them.
• 10. Founders Breakfast Stout- Not the best imperial stout, but a great beer. A little one sided, but it was a great side. More coffee flavor than beer flavor, really. But that was fine with me.
• 9. Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout- A great beer. One of the darkest I've ever had. Not super complex, but who cares when simplicity is this good.
• 8. Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron- Hid alcohol incredibly well. There was chocolate malt, maybe some vanilla, some dark fruit, slight wood and some roasted coffee.
• 7. Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza Special Ale- It reminded me of Rodenbach, but with a touch of spice. The flavor and aroma changed so much as it warmed. It took me nearly two hours to drink a bottle, because I just kept wanting to see how much it would change. It was sweet, sour and acidic all rolled up together.
• 6. Great Divide Yeti Oak Aged Imperial Stout- A little more hops than I prefer in an imperial stout, but there was enough malt backbone to balance it. The oak aging didn't dominate flavor or aroma, but I think it just tamed the original version (which is also a great beer), helping to balance the hops and malt.
• 5. Mikkeller Black Hole- This was great and dangerous. It hid it's 13.1% ABV incredibly well. Not a hoppy imperial stout. It had some coffee flavor to give it bitterness, but not too much coffee. There was just enough to give it some flavor without the overall flavor straying too far from what an imperial stout should taste like. Brilliant.
• 4. Hoppin' Frog B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout- Very nice. The hops weren't overpowering, they just balanced the flavor so that it wasn't sickeningly sweet. It went great with Hershey's chocolate. If you like imperial stouts, find this and drink it.
• 3. Fantôme de Noël- An incredible beer. It was like a sour porter. It wasn't all that Christmasy, but for a saison I guess it was. Before this I didn't even know there could be dark saisons.
• 2. Weyerbacher Thirteen- A really nice beer that will probably be off the charts after a little aging. It was a little harsh, but I didn't mind. There was a nice burn in the belly and chest. I already have one put aside to try in a year or two. At 13.6% ABV the bomber is a little hard to finish by yourself. A perfect beer to share.
• 1. Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper 2007- This was just incredible. It had everything I love in a beer. It was sort of like an old ale, a dubbel, a foreign stout, a Belgian strong ale and a Baltic porter had a baby. It always seems like these beers that defy style are my favorites. It will be hard to find because it is retired, but if you find it buy it.

Part 2 of Heathen's Beer Awards should be coming soon.

An Introduction

I felt a little bit of an introduction to my blog was in order. I love beer, music, television, sports and like movies, books and magazines. I originally took the name Heathen as a username on a site that I belong to because at the time I was really enjoying Weyerbacher Old Heathen imperial stout and one of my favorite bands, Drive-by Truckers, used the word in a few of their songs. I didn't feel like I was an old heathen or a young heathen, so I just went with Heathen. But the more I started to think about the meaning of the word, the more I thought it fit my outlook on beer.

While there are many of us who love craft beer, the majority of beer drinkers in America only drink Bud, Miller or Coors. Some of the more adventurous might drink Blue Moon, which many of you know is a Coors product anyway. Still others might drink a local favorite, such as Yuengling, which is only slightly better than one of the three (or I guess it's really two now that Miller and Coors have joined forces) big breweries. So I adopted a Drive-by Truckers line, "we were heathens in their eyes," to fit my own needs. The "we" in my version represents the true beer lovers, myself included, who rarely drink a Macro-brewed beer unless it is to say we tried it, maybe rate it on a website, or see if these mega-brewers have finally given in and are making quality beer or are just cashing in on the craft beer market making watered-down versions of craft beer that will appease the many. The "their" in my version refers to the many who outnumber true beer lovers. They drink their watered down beers that lack any flavor or body, thus making them "drinkable."

So, while there are many true beer lovers, we are and will be some for some time the minority, or "heathens" as I prefer to say, among the beer drinkers of America. I almost called this site "The Beer Heathen," but decided against it. I thought it sounded a little too reminiscent of The Beer Hunter, and I in no way feel I should be mentioned in the same breath as the late, great Michael Jackson. Even if it would be just to say that I ripped off his name. I decided on "Heathen's Beer Den" because I wanted to focus on more than just beer. In a den, people don't only drink beer. They listen to music, watch television and sports, read books or just have discussions with friends about the world around them.

The name Heathen fit most of my views on the above topics as well. I don't download music. I still go to the store and buy CDs of whole albums on Tuesday's, the day that new music is released. I used to download from Napster in its first incarnation, but I wasn't stealing music; I was sampling a few songs from bands I thought I might like and then going to the store and buying several of that artists CDs. I did this because I wanted the liner notes. Sure I can print out lyrics from a band's web page, but I can't smell that web page to see if the artistic director for the album decided to us a varnish coating on top of certain images in the printed version. I also don't listen to the radio. A lot of what I listen too isn't played on the radio. I get most of my information on bands from magazines and then go to the bands' website to hear samples of the songs, to see if the album is worth buying. Hell, sometimes a review in a magazine, a name of a band or album, or the art used on the cover of the album might be enough to get me to buy it. Once again, I am the minority or heathen here.

I also watch many TV shows religiously, but my favorite ones are usually the ones being cancelled or losing all of their early season viewers. I adored shows like Arrested Development, Kidnapped, Pushing Daisies, and The Powers That Be. I never gave up on shows like Heroes, Life and Lost. Once again, heathen.

My favorite sport even cries, heathen. I love hockey, a sport that every time it starts to gain a little traction, shoots itself in the foot letting things that I will never understand the popularity of, such as NASCAR, move up the ladder of sports enthusiasm in the US. I hate baseball, but love the Phillies. I like football more than baseball, but will never love the Eagles more than the Phillies. I'd rather see a good game from two football teams I don't follow, than see the Eagles win a sloppy game just because someone made a mistake. I also like other less popular sports like MotoX and snowmobile racing, but they have their place near the bottom of the ladder, where they belong.

There are many industry insiders who have blogs on the subjects I hope to cover here, but I want to give you an outsider's (or heathen's) view on these topics.

Most of my posts will not be this long. I really had not intended to go on like this. It has been a while since I have really written anything. I went to school for journalism and was a reporter for a couple years, but have been working as a graphic designer for over six years now, so there will undoubtedly be some rust on my writing. While I was always good at expressing myself, I really had to work at punctuation. Forgive me if I start my blogging endeavor with a few misplaced punctuation marks. I will work on getting my messages across in a clear, uncluttered way if you just give me a little patience. I hope you'll drink it in and enjoy.