TOP 3 Brews of 2018!

GFHomebrew

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Gday Fellow brewers. What's your top 3 Brews of 2018!
1st 2nd 3rd brews of the year.
It doesn't have to be your very own concoction I don't think, maybe one from a fellow brewer here or from a website elsewhere. A recipies link would be nice too.
Here's mine...

#1 NZ Gladfield Lager.
This brew Was back early in the year not long after I'd moved into my new abode. I just love a great malty but refreshing lager and this is as close as ive come to getting near the "IT" flavour. As per the notes on tasting crisp refreshing brilliant golden light lager with a nice malty background.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/528470/nz-gladfield-lager

#2 Mango- Lasi- Saison.
From crisp Lager to spicey Clove saison! This beer really ticked all the boxes summer drinkability at 5% fruity sorta hoppy but full in flavour and morishness.
This one was fermented with whitelab vault yeast to add that complexity, i fell for it anyway. I've brewed a tweek recently but I'm sad to taste too much phenolic spicey almost burnt plastic going on from old yeast I think.
Here's the recipie.
Https://www.brewersfriend.com.com/homebrew/recipe/view/557525/mango-lasi-saison

#3 Lil'ale.
For a nice easy drinker with a nice compliment from my beloved Mosaic hops this beer drank nicely and quickly. OmIT the lime in recipie I thought about adding but didn't.
A good week day beer at just 4.4% notes: nice berry/lemony aroma, delicate flavour really expressed itself on this grist.
Https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/669154/lil-ale

Well there's my top three. Three different styles all I'm proud to have brewed and personally thought worth brewing again and sharing with youse. It's not too early for a thread like this in hope?
Heck your best brew may just be your next:p.

Look forward to seeing all of your top 3 beers from the year.
It's been a pleasure brewing with youse.
Look forward to a great Christmas and brewing new year;)!
 
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One of my favorites was an attempt to clone Cigar City's Jai Alai. I didn't have the correct hops, so I subbed with what I had. I had several experimental hops, and some of the usual ones.

11 gallons, OG 1.064 FG 1.010
SRM 6.5 IBUs 60 ABV 7.1% mash pH 5.25

Ingredients:
15 gallons RO water
15.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)
5.00 g Calcium Chloride

25 lbs 8.0 oz Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess)
1 lbs 4.0 oz Munich Dark 30L (Gambrinus)
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)

1.00 oz Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min
1.00 oz Centennial [9.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min
1.00 oz Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ) [15.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min
2.00 oz Amarillo [8.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Experimental 09326 [10.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min
1.00 oz Lemondrop [5.20 %] - Boil 1.0 min
2.00 oz Amarillo [8.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
1.00 oz Experimental x07270 [5.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
1.00 oz Lemondrop [5.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
3.00 oz Simcoe-cryo [12.90 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days

1.0 pkg Barbarian (Imperial #A04) in one 5.5 gallon fermenter (with starter)
1.0 pkg House (Imperial #A01) in one 5.5 gallon fermenter (with starter)

It's really good! Surprisingly good in my estimation. I don't think it's an exact clone, but the color and malt bill seem right and the hops really pop.
 
Prairie Fire - Jalapeno pale ale
Benderbrau - Vienna Lager
My Tonka Bourbon Porter
 
The Janet's Brown Ale I brewed was excellent.
My Berliner weiss cause it's so damn versatile and easy to brew.
The Cream of Three Crops recipe is also at the top of the list for favorites. Dirt cheap to brew, simple and easy to drink, and everyone loves it. It's also very versatile. A batch with roasted jalapenos is primo.
 
Meet the Bockers (doppelbock) - almost a SMaSH if it weren't for 0.5 lb of Carafa II. So clean with just enough complexity to keep it interesting.

My house kolsch-style beer - My go-to warm weather brew. I use Mandarina Bavaria and hop it up a little late in the boil. Not a traditional kolsch, but crushable. On occasion I'll add some lavender tea and bump up the honey malt to make a beer that I'm not certain fits into any categories except the experimental ones.

Sweetwater 424 (sweetwater 420 clone) - When fresh, it's just really tasty. I use this as an excuse to finish kegs of this in <2 weeks.
 
Meet the Bockers (doppelbock) - almost a SMaSH if it weren't for 0.5 lb of Carafa II. So clean with just enough complexity to keep it interesting.

My house kolsch-style beer - My go-to warm weather brew. I use Mandarina Bavaria and hop it up a little late in the boil. Not a traditional kolsch, but crushable. On occasion I'll add some lavender tea and bump up the honey malt to make a beer that I'm not certain fits into any categories except the experimental ones.

Sweetwater 424 (sweetwater 420 clone) - When fresh, it's just really tasty. I use this as an excuse to finish kegs of this in <2 weeks.
Kegs kicked in less than two weeks mate that is crazy good beer and drinking!
 
Haven't posted on this yet cause just can't decide on 3 stand outs. Our J&D Robust Porter is so far our #1 beer. But after that we like them all mostly. Did a rye IPA that was very good and can't do without a couple of lawnmower beers to quench the thirst in the spring. And this years Fest Beer was perfect. I had to use a litre mug. Still exbeerimenting with those tangerine hops too. Lots of promise there. Once we got the whole process down and understood how to balance beers all have been tasty. Friends and neighbors all like what we brew too.
SO HERE'S A TOAST TO THE 2018 BREW SEASON! CHEERS @Trialben !
 
I just started brewing this past February, so mu top three for 2018, are actually my TOP 3 BREWS OF ALL TIME!!!
#1 - Lagunitas IPA Clone - I doubled up the hops, in a side by side taste test the consensus was that mine was a better beer
#2 - Thirteen Bitter Years (NEIPA attempt) - didn't end up being much like a NEIPA, but it was really effen good
#3 - Coffee's For Closers (Robust Porter), was delicious in spite of being under carbed, actually suited it
Cheers!
 
Cooper's Barleywine 2018 turned out pretty good, although it's only been in the bottle for a few months so far.

Sour Orange Creamsicle Ale turned out really well, despite having so many leftover oranges.

And a simple Brown Ale. It was my first attempt at really tweaking water and ph and I'm quite happy with it.

I do have a bier de garde and an amber to bottle, and I hope to sample before end of year. I may need to revise my list!
 
Tough one...

Red Rye - malty, hoppy, spicy, delicious
Maibock - dangerously drinkable and unexpectedly complex considering the simple recipe
Dry Hopped Pils - mandarina and huell melon versions were both great. Hallertau blanc up next
 
In no particular order:

Brown Ale: Has quickly become one of my favorites. Brewed 3 times this year alone.

Raspberry Blonde Ale: found a recipe for an Apricot Blonde and brewed it, but the Apricot didn’t come through for me. So since we both love Raspberry, I brewed the Apricot Blonde recipe and replaced the Apricot with Raspberry. It actually tasted more like a slightly dry beer cooler. Since it was summer, it was delicious and it was short lived.

Dry Irish Stout: It is a Guinness Stout clone, and I had my doubts about matching the original, but it actually tastes better. The Guinness I bought to compare it to seemed water down compared to ours.

Ps. I actually liked all of our brews this past year, but these three stood out of all 14 brews this year.
 
Love the name.
I try to give all my recipes funny or punny names. It's half the fun of building a new recipe!

Edit: I now realize the other two I posted don't have fun ones. When I brew the kolsch with the lavender I call it "Purple and Kolsch", which is a play on my undergrad alma mater colors. The sweetwater clone was renamed for my wife's birthday.
 

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