By the Pint's Top Ten Beers

Hofbräu, for many people, isn't just THE Munich beer but the quintessential German beer. This isn't without reason, they make a stellar product. Hofbräu isn't exactly a paragon of German purity, at least not since a Hard Rock Cafe and Seattle's Best coffee shop opened right next door to the Hofbräuhaus (..not to say anything about the Hofbräuhaus in Las Vegas). Remember though, the Hofbräuhaus became a tourist trap for a reason. Tourists didn't start flocking there for the lederhosen alone. Without a solid line-up of world class beers there simply wouldn't be a Hofbräuhaus and, one could agrue, no Oktoberfest. But I'm going off on a bit of tangent... back to the beer. Simple put, the Hofbräu Hefeweizen is the beer which all other Hefeweizens look up to. That isn't to say other beers can't be better, but this one has been top dog in Münich for the better part of 400 years. When you think about what comes to mind for most people when think about the quintessential American beer... usually it isn't something you'd equate with quality...

There aren't a whole lot of Wheat Wine style beers on the market, so when Boulevard first announced it would be releasing a harvest-time Wheat Wine I was really excited. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the Harvest Dance other than the vague similarities to Barley Wine. The Harvest Dance is, in many ways, the opposite of a Barley Wine. Technically, there are many similarities between the two styles, but the Harvest Dance is much lighter and sweeter than most Barley Wines. The Harvest Dance is to Barley Wine, what white wine is to red wine. What I mean by that is even though both are stylistically the same in the many ways, the flavor profiles are quite different.

I first had Boulevard's Imperial Pilsner at the beer's release party in Lawrence, Kansas. In case you hadn't heard, this Imperial Pilsner is a collaboration between Boulevard Brewing Company and Orval's master brewer Jean-Marie Rock. Steven Pauwels, Boulevard's brew master, and Rock met at a conference in Tucson last year. It was there that these two Belgians hit it off and agreed to collaborate and resurrect a beer Rock had brewed some 30 years before. The style that beer most closely resembled is what we now call an American Double or Imperial Pilsner.

Black IPAs are a trend I've noticed picking up steam lately, and I couldn't be happier. I say that now after having drank my way through this Black in Black from 21st Amendment in San Francisco. Had I been asked for my opinion of Black IPAs even an hour ago, it would have been a bit different. If I'm known for one thing it'd have to be my "hatred" of IPAs and all things hoppy. Breweries who already make two or three different kinds of IPAs and are releasing Black IPAs on top of their regular line up? That seems like overkill... especially considering I tend to enjoy one out of every ten or so IPAs I drink anyways... I kept an open mind and poured myself a glass of Back in Black. I'm glad I did.