Fun: what was the worst beer you had in 2011?
Beer drinkers are sounding off on what their worst beers of the year were on Beer Advocate. Over 500 comments. Fun stuff. Stone Belgo Anise IRS seems to be coming up the most with Stone 11-11-11 and Rogue Voodoo not far behind.
What was your worst beer of the year?
via Beer Advocate.
Anything made by The Anheuser Busch Corp!??
Anchor Brewing Celebration Ale 2011
Shipyard Pumpkinhead.
Pumking
I liked the Stone Belgo Anise IRS when I had it on draft. Haven’t had the 11-11-11 but have a hard time believing it was one of the worst beers of the year.
-T
I think I managed two sips of Hermitage Hoptopia before pouring it out.
Ode To A Russian Shipwright was awful. Stone’s Vertical wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t impressive at all.
I’d like to say that once again BeerAdvocate was the worst beer site for a ton of reasons in 2011. Can we stop going there please?
Moosehead Light Lime was pretty bad.
Stone 10/10/10 was an epic fail 11/11/11 is along the same lines they haven’t been able to design a good new beer since their brew master left! I would have to say Sam Adams Tans-crappy red was the wost I have had in years!
Stone has not made a good beer since 2007? Really? While I think the Vertical Epic series was, in a way epically flawed, I am not going to pin that on Mitch Steele since it began before he arrived. Stone like any brewery has critical hits and misses.
Hell hath No Furry from Bells was a big disappointment. Drank about 4 oz and dumped the rest. Ruined my drinking night by completely turning my stomache fir the rest of the evening. 10/10/10 and 11/11/11 from stone are no good either (IMO) but I was able to finish them.
I agree with Patrick. I think Stone has consistently made interesting beers, even when they fail tastewise. Same for Dogfish Head for that matter. I don’t think pinning all of fails on the brewmaster is a fair assessment. Their collaboration beers have been very well received in my opinion.
Worst beer i’ve had from 2011 was indeed Vertical Epic 11-11-11. The taste of burned Anaheim chilies is not something i consider a tasty beverage. I tried it on two occasions as with previous years going back to 07 and they did get progressively worse. Still, i respect that they tried something different. Still it pales in comparison to two beers i brewed myself this year (a juniper ale and an ESB that was beyond undrinkable).
Sounds like a lot of people equate disappointment with worst. Stone’s Belgo Anise and 11-11-11 are far better beers than, say, Colorado Native from MillerCoors. I’ve tried over 500 brews this year, and there are much stronger fails than the stone releases. These responses reek of beer-snobbiness….
I have to disagree about the whole beer snobbiness.. When you really get into craft beer and the beer making industry products such as AC Golding, InBev, and CoorsMiller aren’t anything you drink any more. It’s not even counted in the ‘bad beer selection’ since it’s already bad beer. You can call that snobbiness but I think the craft beer drinker looks at craft beer and nothing else; when considering the worst beers of 2011 why would you throw up macro brewed crap?
Side bar: AC Golden made a killer sour this year. Had to say it.
Stone has a problem with the designing of new beers that are flavorful and complex and it has been lacking in recent years. You can throw the collaborations out because most were a base recipe from another brewery and after all it was a collaboration. I can think of only one new beer that they have made in the last few years has been worth the hype and Stone 13 was it, but that is it. Sublimely Self-Righteous is great but that was the 11th anniversary. They need a shake up at the brewmaster position to change this, Mitch is not an R&D man he is a great tank manager! Stone is not exploring they are freewheeling! I love their core lineup I have been a stone guy for many years, but they do have a design problem! Stone 14&15th average, Vepic 10&11 very bad! Those are brewery defining beers if you can’t come through on those you have a big problem!
Uh, Harlan, but simply because Self-Righteous was their 11th anniversary does not mean it was not well designed, nor does it mean it was not designed by Mitch, because it was.
This all goes to show that palates will greatly disagree, to me 14 and 15 were two of the best anniversary beers they have made and certainly the best since 10. As well, I think the Vertical Epic beers have always been lack luster and also fail at the very core concept of what they are intended to do, be enjoyed in this vertical epic in which, none of the beers is really a vertical as they are different, nor are they epic as none of them really with two exceptions age really well.
But we can agree on the notion that if Veritcal Epic defines Stone, indeed they have a problem. However to me, Stone is defined by making Arrogant Bastard great, a nice Barleywine every February and a nice imperial stout each Spring. Along the way for my palate they have had some hits and misses, and some may have had to do with growth, some with so-so recipes, but certainly not because or Mitch Steele.
What’s all the beef with stone man? Their a great brewery, and so is bell’s, southern tier, anchor- and shipyard is pretty good too. But i will say this, anything from dunedin is garbage- And i found it funny that michigan brewing company is making kid rocks “american bad ass” Ugggggg……. How the not so mighty have fallen!
It appears that when all one drinks is Stone, that’s all they have to complain about!
I’ve had probably close to 100 different beers this year (not counting 2-ounce pours at fests), and in all honesty, my two least favorite ones were Harpoon’s Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale and Monk’s Cafe Flemish Ale.
Grateful Harvest was a cool concept which helped out a worthy cause (local food pantries), but the brew just tasted like cough syrup. I’m a big Harpoon fan otherwise though, so disappointment of this caliber was truly unexpected.
Monk’s Cafe was recommended to me by a store owner, but the flavor was too sweet and funky for my palate- not any significant trace of the “sour” written on the label. Meh.
Nothing by Anheuser Busch, eh? You do realize they own Goose Island now, right?
I love how emeline equates personal experience as “reek(ing) of beer snobbiness”. The question posed was what was the worst you’ve had in 2011. I think everyone answered for themselves just fine. As for the Colorado Native remark, until right now i’ve never heard of it (speaking for myself). The only Bud/Miller/Coors i had in 2011 was a plain Budweiser that was part of a tasting flight with my brew club. Hell, i’ll try anything if it’s offered, but equating experience with snobbiness is just not justified. Sorry, but that’s just hearsay. Hell, i personally tried beers i thought i’d hate this year and most times was pleasantly surprised. Me a beer snob? Nah. I just have preferences at this point. Bah, what do i care? She might not have even meant my post for all i know.
Good points by several people, IMO.
Other bad beers i’ve tried in 2011 or ones i deemed bad? Yeah, i didn’t like the Belgo Anise, but i’m not keen on heavy anise flavor anyhow. Anchor Small Beer was pretty disappointing as i thought it lacked character. Long Trail Centennial Red was extremely disappointing (thought not sure if it’s a 2011 offering or just when i tried it).
What about best beers?? The most interesting and complex beer i’ve tried in all of 2011 was Russian River’s Publication. It was everything great about a farmhouse ale and a whole lot more plus the sour/funk that RR is making their name with (aside from Pliny).
Late to the party, but in terms of really awful beers I can only think of Duclaw’s Venom and Naked Fish. I picked them up on a whim, both were so terrible. Venom was so carbonated that it was impossible to pour a glass. Naked fish was a chocolate raspberry ‘stout’, but was way to heavy on the raspberry. I also hated Bell’s Oarsman and DFH’s Chicory Stout.
Best beers: about 9 months in the 2010 Backwood’s Bastard, Dark Lord (first year I’ve gotten my hands on it), Dark Horse’s Double Crooked Tree
The biggest surprise beer I’ve had was New Glarus’ Black Top (a black IPA). I’ve had so many lackluster beers from them, that I had expected more of the same, but they balanced the beer very well.
Someone said it earlier, Bell’s, Southern Tier, and Stone are all good breweries, but they do some great things and some ‘eh’ things. I think Stone has been more miss than hit the past few years, but they pulled out of my area recently so whatever.
Dragon’s Milk. Poured it out. And I never waste a beer. It tasted like grain alcohol.
DFH Black and Red was terrible. Also had to dump out Hoppin Frog Frosted Frog Christmas. Favorite beers that I had in 2011 were DFH Hellhound, Firestone Walker Double Jack and Green Flash Le Freak. Most overhyped beers of 2011 were anything by RR and DFH Faithful.
While I don’t think it’s a new beer to 2011, Rio Grande Pancho Verde Chili Cerveza was the only beer I truly did not care for that I had in 2011. After two attempts to drink it (on two different days) I took the remaining 4 bottles to work and left them in the fridge in the break room.
Rogue Voodoo Maple Bacon Beer is the worst beer ever.