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USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
6 best imperial stouts of Great Taste of the Midwest 2025
Imperial stouts haven't quite reached the ubiquitous heights of big, bitter pale ales in the craft brewing explosion of the 2000s and early 2010s. Still, it seems like freeing a bold, boozy, thick-pouring stout from its oak stave prison is a badge of honor for rising and established breweries alike. Despite sharing common threads, there's a lovely amount of room to branch out across the realm of these dark beers. Goose Island frequently stretches its Bourbon County Stout lineup six deep each Black Friday. 3 Floyds has no fewer than 15 different variations of its Dark Lord in Beer Advocate's review database. Unsurprisingly, that meant there was plenty of room for dense, dark stouts clocking in around 15 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) at the 2025 Great Taste of the Midwest. The Great Taste is a beer nerd's wonderland, and brewers contributed to this boozy nirvana with plenty of imperial stouts to serve as the bold break between pale ales and pils. On Thursday, I broke down 2025's best non-stout beers here. Now let's talk about the imperial stouts that made the biggest impact on me at one of the world's best beer festivals. 3 Floyd's Dark Lord Marshmallow Handjee '24 imperial stout The first sip is an explosion of flavor. Of course it is; it's what 3 Floyds does best. You get those big soft s'mores notes, but most importantly you get a little bit of crispness to finish each gulp. This really ups the replay value of a heavy beer in a way that matters, allowing you an experience that betrays the 15.6 percent ABV underneath. The only giveaway this is a beer you should probably stop at two with is the dense, dark body and unmistakable smell of bourbon barrel aging floating off the top. 3 Sheeps' The Wolf 2025 imperial stout The Wolf was my first imperial stout of the day -- a foreboding task when it's 88 degrees out and sunny. It poured big and boozy, with a lovely copper head atop a dark coffee pour. The smell is split between bourbon and chocolate, with just a little sweet fruit (maybe cherry?) floating skyward. The first sip? Absolutely lovely. Despite the lack of carbonation in a thicker style of beer, if comes across your lips gently. Some barrel-aged stouts feel like a chore to drink. Not The Wolf. It's sweet but not overpoweringly so. It's boozy but not to the point where you'd stop yourself after one or even two. This beer is a problem in the best way. I am a fan. Pilot Project Brewing's Stave + Maple imperial stout This was a late pick-up -- probably a point where a boozy 12.5 percent ABV barrel-aged stout wasn't a great idea. But it sounded great and Pilot Project offered an opportunity to check in with a new brewery. The beer poured as dense as you'd expect. The smell leaned heavily into the whiskey-ringed oak where it reached maturity, but underneath was juuuuuust enough waffle vibes to let you know where this was going. Despite the thickness, this was very drinkable. The heaviness of the pour doesn't translate to your tongue. You get that maple sweetness with just enough Christmas vibes -- some cinnamon, a little chocolate and some spices. That all sounds like a lot, and it sounds exhausting. Pilot Project found a way to make it feel fresh with each sip. Revolution Brewing's Ryeway to Heaven imperial stout and X-Hero imperial IPA Allow me to cheat here. The Ryeway is a barleywine. The X-Hero is an imperial IPA. Both are big and boozy and, at the very least, Ryeway felt like it belonged. Let's roll with it. Barleywines typically aren't my jam, but Revolution delivered a flavor profile I love. The Ryeway gives you a dense, flavorful and sweet package of those cereal grains that can be a bit overwhelming at times. That would be an issue if this didn't clock in at 15 percent ABV, but it's clear you're dealing with a sipper that's not meant to be drank more than one or two at a time. You end up with a beer that's heavy in texture but lighter on your tongue. Heavy chocolate and malt flavors dance around to give you the impression you're drinking a special occasion beer. The X-Hero was exactly the kind of hit you'd expect from Revolution's "Hero" series. My first sip ended with an audible "whoa" as heavy tropical fruit flavors carried me away before a tight wave of hops snapped things off with some balancing bitterness. It never felt like a 10 percent ABV beer, but making big and boozy feel light and flavorful is Revolution's whole jam. Toppling Goliath's 2025 Koselig imperial stout The smell off the top of this was rich raisins, a little bit of rum and a lot of bourbon barrel influence. It's rich, sweet and decadent. As has become a theme with the cream of the crop imperial stouts, everything here is lighter than you'd expect. You get a little bit of that 14.7 percent ABV up front, but it does little to flatten the flavors that come after it. The opening is boozy raisin and bread pudding. The finish is sweet, warm whiskey. That's a teeter-totter that shows off Toppling Goliath's range and reminds me, yet again, why the Decorah, Iowa brewer has established its place in my circle of trust. Une Annee/Hubbard's Cave Brewery's El Zacaton imperial stout Spicy. That was the first impression of this beer. Une Annee set itself apart from the field of big, boozy stouts with peppers -- guajillo, ancho and, importantly, habanero. With that and some chocolate and vanilla notes, you wind up with a mole-inspired beer. Neat. Despite that tang, the taste here makes it very easy to come back to. Each sip reminds you it's a high ABV beer -- it doesn't hide its booze nearly as well as its peers. At the same time, those rich flavors reward you with something unique for branching out and trying something new. You're left to deal with sweet chocolate notes, earthy spices and just a little bit of heat you'd expect from a habanero stout. That's an underserved category, in large part because there's a huge capacity for things to go wrong. Une Annee/Hubbard's Cafe took a big swing and it paid off. It's weird. It works.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Orange Wheat Beer Brings Gold To Nashville, Tennessee Brewery
Employees of TailGate Brewery gather after their votes led to the brewery being named a Top Workplace. TailGate Brewery Craft breweries rarely call a fruit-flavored wheat beer their flagship beer. Nashville-based TailGate Brewery has placed that distinction on its TailGate Orange wheat beer, and last month it won a gold medal at the U.S. Open Beer Championship. The brewery describes the 5% ABV beer as 'light-bodied, creamy and zesty from start to finish.' A July 13 consumer review at the influential Beer Advocate website, which rated the beer as 'very good' with a score of 87 of 100, is more descriptive. 'Bought a solo can of this at Trader Joe's to take home and wish I had bought a case. This is a very smooth, drinkable wheat with low carbonation and just the right amount of orange sweetness without being overpowering. Smells great, like a freshly peeled essence is perfect, and everything is balanced, my new favorite summer beer. I could suck these down like soda and get in trouble quick..' Wesley Keegan, TailGate Brewery's founder and sole owner, says no special brewing process or preparation was done before entering TailGate Orange in the U.S. Open Beer Championship, which calls itself the third-largest brewing competition in the United States 'We literally just grabbed the cans from our cooler in the taproom,' he says. 'No special anything to it, besides what we do for every brew.' TailGate Orange wheat beer captured a gold medal last month. TailGate Brewery TailGate Brewery has nine taprooms in Tennessee, including one at Nashville International Airport. The brewery's Nashville headquarters was a former Moose Lodge, and its large taproom, outdoor bar and pizza shop sit on seven acres. The brewery opened in 2014, but Keegan says a lot of prior beermaking work was expended. 'There were about eight years of hard knocks prior to the opening,' he says. 'I started like most brewery owners do—from a homebrew background. Homebrewing was huge when I was in college in San Diego, and Ballast Point's Home Brew Mart (now under different ownership) was the mecca. I have family in Nashville, so it was a natural landing place for me.' Many of TailGate's beers are rated highly at the BeerAdvocate website, but Keegan prefers talking about employee workplace awards. TailGate employs about 300 workers. In 2023 and 2024, the brewery was named a Top Workplace. That's a national designation given to companies with more than 150 employees who rate their employer highly in a survey. 'There's a lot of virtue signaling done on platforms like Linked in by people preaching from their local public workspace that 'people are your best asset' or some similar biz-speak garbage,' Keegan says. 'But we really walk it here. We pay great. We offer 100% paid healthcare to 100% of our team members. We have paid time off and a 401k with a 4% match. And we invest in our spaces—resources, equipment, comfort, safety. It matters.' Tennessee isn't renowned for its craft beers, but the state has some great breweries, Keegan says. 'The Embrace the Funk program of the original Nashville Yazoo Brewing is some of the best wild beer in the country,' he says. 'I really like Oddstory of Chattanooga. Xul in Knoxville is doing crazy hype-beer, and Wiseacre of Memphis does great business in a huge city with very little competition. I like to think we help make Nashville a great beer city, too.' Besides Tennessee beers, Keegan has many favorites that are known to beer drinkers worldwide. 'I grew up near Chico (Caifornia) where Sierra Nevada was everywhere,' he says about the ground-breaking Chico brewery. 'I still love their stuff to this day.' Saison Dupont of Belgium's Brasserie Dupont is the gold standard of the saison style, Keegan says. 'Saisons don't sell in our market, no matter how good they are,' he adds. 'But I love them. Give me a Saison Dupont and a stemmed beer glass, and I'm happy.' Any beers brewed by California's Russian River Brewing meet Keegan's approval. 'But I really enjoy Blind Pig,' he notes. 'I can drink more than one. It's a textbook example of a great IPA.' Four other beers are favorites: Guinness, Slow Pour Pils brewed by Denver-based Bierstadt, Kirkland Lager of Oregon's Deschutes and Hefe Weissbier of Germany's Weihenstephan. 'Weihenstephan Hefe Weissbier is such an incredible beer,' Keegan raves. 'I have not made it to Germany but really need to. I think beers like our TailGate Orange have so much thanks to give to beers like this. It's timeless.'
USA Today
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Pabst Blue Ribbon cheddar cheese is weirder than you think
Pabst came out with its new light beer and a new beer-infused cheddar cheese in the same three month span. This, naturally, led to a less-than-fancy pairing and tasting. Thus one Sunday afternoon, with a Milwaukee Brewers game on in the background, I dug in. On the surface, the idea of a Pabst Blue Ribbon cheese makes perfect sense. Beer cheese is already a thing, and it's awesome. But PBR Light also made sense, and it earned a robust D+ grade from the drinkers over at Beer Advocate. That's not a product of beer snobbery (well, maybe some of it is) -- PBR Light tasted like someone filtered the original beer through a slice of white bread and into a glass of water. Now it's been replaced with an ostensible upgrade. Gone is PBR Light, in its place arrives the more elegantly branded Pabst Light. There's a wide range of outcomes for both ribbon-stamped products. Let's see where this beer-and-cheese pairing lands. Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer-Infused Cheddar Cheese: C+ It gives way with Silly Putty consistency when you take a knife to it, which tracks with the "pasteurized process" on the label. While the headline is beer-infused, if smells more herbal than brewed. I'm getting some pizza spices off the top. There is, whooooo, a lot going on here. It's clearly not beer cheese, even if it is, technically, beer cheese. There's a bit of a citrus taste up front, which seems out of place. Then the beer clocks in, with a little bit of malt and some... basil? All the while, that basic white cheddar current floats everything along from underneath. It's more complex than I expected. There's a creamy richness from the cheese that eventually ties everything together, making everything finish much better than it started. On its own, it's a lot to chew through. On top of a cracker, that depth shines a bit more cleanly. Adding a little salt to the mix helps, and spacing out the texture of the cheese really helps for me, a guy who dislikes the texture of cheese. Still, I'm getting more citrus and sweetness than beer from this infused cheese. It's not a bad thing. It's just not what I expected. Pabst Light: B- PBR Light was... well, better than its reputation, but bad in the way most $8 per case beers are. That's a standard deviation beneath your typical PBR, which is a perfectly fine beer but not the best in its price range (Hamm's, you know I love you). I'm drinking this straight from the can because that's the way it was meant to be consumed. The smell wafting off the top is light barley and not much else. The first sip has a little more depth. Not a ton, but you're still some minor malt and a lot of carbonation to create a crisp, poundable beer. It's weird to say "this beer is less complex than its cheese," yet here we are. Like the cheese there is a bit of citrus in here, but mostly you're getting barley, water and bubbles. That's fine! That's all I wanted from a Pabst! It's light, easy to drink and generally pleasant. That's a step above the old PBR Light and a nice addition to the "cheap, but not problematically cheap" beer tier. Would I drink it instead of a Hamm's? This a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I'm drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That's the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm's. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I drink Pabst Light over a cold can of Hamm's? Maybe for the lighter calorie count and lower ABV. But Hamm's tastes better and is cheaper, so it's gonna win that battle eight times out of 10. This is part of FTW's Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This Is Officially The WORST-Rated Beer In The World
Beers can be as nuanced as a bottle of wine—each crafted with its own unique blend of hops, grains, water, and yeast. Those who prefer hoppier beers might reach for an IPA, while those looking for a more decadent brew might choose an imperial stout. And while people might have different taste buds and preferences when it comes to beer, one thing drinkers can align on is what beers they don't want to drink. The popular review site Beer Advocate keeps an up-to-date list of the all-time worst-rated beers from around the world—and it might shock some to learn that one of the United State's most popular brands tops the list. Budweiser Select 55, clocking in at a low 2.4% ABV, takes the crown no one wants to win as the worst-rated beer. This ranking is determined by averaging user ratings, excluding beers with too few reviews, and continuously updating the list as new data comes in. There appears to be a trend among the list of worst-ranking beers, in that the majority of them are light beers. Following Budweiser Select 55 (which I've never even heard of, btw), comes Natural Light, Miller Extra Light, Keystone Light, and Natural Ice. Budweiser Select 55 has an average rating of 1.65 stars out of 5, while the beers that rank second through fifth worst score 1.77, 1.81, 1.85, and 1.86, respectively. One of the reviews for Budweiser Select 55 stated, "This really is the worst beer ever made." Ouch. But it's not all bad news for Budweiser. The brand's classic Budweiser did rank #63 in terms of popularity. We'll take that! You Might Also Like Insanely Easy Weeknight Dinners To Try This Week 29 Insanely Delicious Vodka Cocktails
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Rise And Decline Of The Craft Beer Trend
Search "craft beer" and "decline" together and you'll encounter page after page of doom-and-gloom articles declaring the industry dead and buried. The average American consumer, it would seem, has made like known craft beer naysayer Anthony Bourdain and moved on from artisanal stouts and independent IPAs. But the truth isn't quite so dramatic: Craft beer is a maturing industry like any other, experiencing some contraction after years of explosive growth. The numbers don't look great, but it's important to remember this isn't a dying industry, but a changing one. Unfortunately, for the time being, those changes are coming with some falling sales and closing breweries. Data from the Brewers Association, the main promotion and lobbying organization for the craft beer industry, shows craft beer sales dropped by 2% in the first half of 2023. Circana, a market research firm tracking grocery, retail, and convenience stores, found craft beer sales fell 3.3%, or about $158 million, in 2024 in a study of its own. That year, according to the Brewers Association (BA), was the first in almost two decades that more breweries closed than opened -- at 399 out of around 9,700, it's a small percentage, but the comparison to the 335 openings is notable. In order to understand how we got here, it's important to look back at the history of American craft beer, which includes a relatively recent fever pitch that would have been virtually impossible to maintain. Read more: 13 Popular Kirkland Liquors At Costco, Ranked By Online Reviews The story of craft beer starts with homebrewing. The lingering effects of the Prohibition meant there were only around 100 breweries in the United States by the 1970s. Most people got their beer from a few behemoth producers like Anheuser-Busch and Coors. Those mass-produced lagers left many thirsty for variety, especially if they'd traveled to places like England, Germany, or Belgium and tried some of their nuanced ales and lagers. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter legalized homebrewing for the first time since before the Prohibition, and enthusiasts got to work. Many of these homebrewers began going pro, opening seminal breweries like Anchor Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada, and Samuel Adams, and introducing American drinkers to some of the best-known and best-loved beer styles. By 1990, there were nearly 200 breweries operating taprooms and brewpubs. Over the decades, craft beer grew and evolved with different trends, like the soaring popularity of bitter West Coast IPAs during the early 2000s, followed by sweeter hazy IPAs in the 2010s. For many fans, craft beer became a lifestyle, with annual events like the Great American Beer Festival; beer-rating, -discussing, and -trading forums like BeerAdvocate, Untappd, and the now-defunct RateBeer; and, especially during the hazy boom, people waiting in hours-long lines to snag limited releases. By 2020, craft beer was everywhere: Nearly 8,300 breweries meant nearly every city had a few local taproom options, and supermarket shelves were lined with fruited sours and pastry stouts. Perhaps the best reminder that the current struggles of the craft beer industry are par for the course when it comes to an industry of small, independent businesses is the fact that we previously saw a dip in the 1990s. Some of the best breweries in the United States opened their doors in this decade, like Allagash Brewing Company and Dogfish Head, both in 1995. But there was such a boom, in fact, that the industry became overly saturated. Consumers had gone from having no craft beer options and not much knowledge about beer styles, to -- depending on where they were in the country -- lots of choices to figure out. And in the rush to join this movement on the rise, many breweries launched and produced beer without much experience or know-how, or quality control measures in place. That meant mediocre and even bad beer entering the marketplace, which turned some imbibers off this whole "craft beer" thing. Nearly 200 breweries closed during the late 1990s, which sounds like nothing in our current state of having thousands nationwide. But in 1990, as confirmed by data from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau (TTB), there were about 250 breweries, and in 1999, there were 1,991. That means two things: One, that 200 breweries was a pretty significant percentage of the entire industry at the time, and two, that the number still managed to keep growing, with closures not deterring hopeful owners and brewers. Thanks to them, American craft beer was revving into high gear. If craft beer set out for a relatively smooth ride to success throughout the first couple of decades of the 21st century, what threw a wrench in the works? It was really a perfect storm of factors. First, breweries have been hammered by rising costs at every turn. What started as supply chain chokeholds during the early pandemic never really let up. Ingredients for everything from the beer itself to food a brewery might serve in the taproom are pricier, as are things like the tall aluminum cans craft breweries prefer. If tariffs go into effect this year, that aluminum could become even more cost-prohibitive. Plus, breweries' would-be customers are feeling the squeeze, too, cutting back on discretionary spending like pints out or four-packs in the face of inflation and the rising prices of necessities like groceries and gas. Added to that is changing consumer behavior and preferences. People got used to staying home more during the pandemic, and an increasing emphasis on wellness ever since has motivated many to drink less alcohol. And when they do drink, they've got so many more options than they did even five years ago. Ready-to-drink cocktails and hard seltzers, teas, and juices now compete for the same shelf space as beer, and rather than geeking out over beer-style nuances, shoppers are driven by things like flavor, calories, sugar, alcohol, and prices, boosting cross-category imbibing and erasing category loyalty. In 2025, craft breweries are facing a ton of obstacles, and having to compete with not only more fellow breweries than ever, but those aforementioned categories. While wine and spirits are struggling as well -- also due to factors including costs and people imbibing less -- many demographics are shifting and drinking less beer and more spirits, or instead seeking out things like cannabis beverages. Breweries, however, are showing resilience, flexibility, and that signature creativity that put craft beer on the map. Some are reapproaching the lineups of what they brew, focusing on a thoughtfully curated lineup of flagship beers that people know, love, and can continue to rely on. Others are expanding into other categories they're passionate about or that are popular now, joining instead of trying to beat spirits, wine, cider, and more. Breweries are making some of the best canned cocktails out there, and meeting consumers where they're at with non-alcoholic beers, sparkling hop waters, and even hemp beverages. Breweries are also leaning toward being local gathering hubs rather than chasing lofty distribution goals, and are motivating people to go out with exciting events and experiences from book clubs to drag shows to bonsai-growing classes. While craft beer might look different today than it did five, 10, or 20 years ago, an industry built on innovation and determination can't be considered down for the count. Read the original article on Tasting Table.
