2008 Beers: Hard Statistics

Thats just it ... the facts and nothing else. Whether it was Denver, Portland or San Francisco,
this is a summary of what (and sometimes of where) I consumed in regards to beer last year. A beer per day was the goal ... and I think that goal was met, by maybe 114 or so.

2008: Beer Stats

Total Different Beers: 545

New Beers for the Year: 480

Different Styles: 85

Different Countries: 12

Different States: 29

Different Breweries: 226

Most frequent 5 Beers:
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Anchor Steam Beer
Saison DuPont

Most frequent 10 Styles in Order:
American IPA (46)
Porter (27)
Pale Ale (24)
Stout (21)
Belgium Dark Strong (21)
Wit (21)
Specialty Sour (19)
Trippel (19)
Saison (18)
American Amber (18)

Most frequent 5 Countries in Order:
USA
Belgium
Germany
England
Canada

Most frequent 5 States in Order:
California
Oregon
Colorado
Missouri
Indiana

Most frequent 10 Breweries in Order (ok, well 14 since there was a tie):
Russian River, Santa Rosa, Ca (12)
Port Brewing/Lost Abbey, San Marcos, Ca (11)
Deschutes, Bend, Or (9)
21st Amendment, San Francisco, Ca (8)
Bridgeport, Portland, Or (8)
Anchor Brewing, San Francisco, Ca (7)
Bear Republic, Healdsburg, Ca (6),
Mash Tun, Portland, Or (6)
McMenamins, Portland, Or (6)
Unibroue, Quebec, Canada (6)
Firestone Walker, Paso Robles, Ca(6),
Trailhead, St. Charles, Mo (6),
Magnolia, San Francisco, Ca (6)
Luck Lab, Porland, Or (6)

Most Beers in a Day: 64 Day 1, GABF

% of New Beers at GABF: 23%

% of New Beers Drank in Bay Area: 64%

Conversely, % of New Beer out of Town: 36%

% of Beers Homebrewed: 12%


I hope this gives you a sense of from where the notes and "Top___ Beer" lists to follow are coming . I plan on posting a list or two per week, with tasting notes and backgrounds, on all of the top beers, with the entire list (an excel spreadsheet, to be exact) at the end, a month or two down the road. Note that the homebrewed beers will be excluded for the most part, since these are not commercially available ... I will however feature a few, including some of the KnockShock examples, near the end since some of the best beers I've had this year have been while judging homebrew competitions, and I'll try to give the actual brewers a shoutout as realistically as possible.

Yes, I know, the 64 beers in one day sounds TREMENDOUS. Unfathomable. Note the samples at GABF (the Great American Beer Festival, held every Autumn in lovely Denver Colorado) are only 1 oz. Well, sometimes you'll get a 1.5 oz pour ... but still, thats still an average of about 1-1/2 12 oz beers per hour of the 5 hour night.

Much thanks to the Great American Beer Fest crew who was there with me through the night. Especially to Greg (center photo below), who came up with the idea and was my partner in crime and homebrewing companion through the whole thing... and certainly drank more beers than I ... and kept me to using the tasting note log as much as possible and filling in some blanks ... oh, and he also did 50 bars in 50 weeks last year, see the blog link below. Also thanks to Brian (center right) , who has an excellent new book, Red White and Brew (read on the way to the festival, wonderful and exciting) and an accomplished beer blog, although our tastes may differ from time to time (his barrel beer preference vs. my sour ale preference, to be exact). Please check out his links below!

left to right, the GABF crew: mary, josh, greg, brian and kim


http://www.beerodyssey.com/RWB/Welcome.html
http://beerodyssey.blogspot.com/

http://layshock.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

One may question whether or not I would have made the 366 without GABF? Well, that would have placed me just at 369 Beers. I would not have made it overall, though. Not without my trips outside the Bay Area, venturing into new beer havens. I wouldn't have found the variety necessary to complete my list. And I certainly wouldn't have made it without the patience of my girlfriend Julia ,who dealt with me imbibing and transcribing all of this over the year past.