Top Shelf Thursday, June 2014: Staff Picks

Remember when video stores existed?  My loyalty was to Heads Together in Squirrel Hill before the near-death of the video rental store.  It was a cool place, run independently, stocking what they wanted.  The staff really knew their stuff & was super passionate about film.  The kind of business I can relate to.  They’d always have the most interesting movies on their “Staff Picks” shelves: this person was into horror movies, this one into documentaries, this one into foreign & indie stuff, etc.  Offering those up said “You may not have thought of checking this out, but I think you’ll like it”, gave it a cool personal touch, showing the trust the staff put in the customer, & vice versa.

So when our GM, John (himself a former video store manager), threw me the idea of doing a “Staff Picks” Top Shelf Thursday, it just seemed right.  Folks ask us for suggestions all the time, right?  The staff assembled a fairly diverse line-up, & we all have our different tastes & preferences, but can usually agree that good beer is good beer.

The first few submissions were pretty strong, intense brews, so I was a little relieved when Lisa added Timmermans Strawberry Lambicus, a delicate beer at 4% ABV.  The strawberry really shone here, with a very authentic note that balanced the sweet/tart interplay.  Nate’s course was also on the mild, subtle side, with Coniston Brewery’s Bluebird Bitter.  It’s rare to see an actual English bitter in these parts, & the simple grain & hop bill (just Maris Otter, crystal, & Challenger) packed a solid flavor into just 4.2%ABV.  Wheat beers may seem like a dime a dozen, but Dave’s choice of Ayinger Bräu Weisse showed us what a good, traditional Hefeweizen can be.  The smooth, creamy mouthfeel, assertive but balanced banana, lemon, & clove notes, & excellent drinkability make it apparent why this one of Dave’s faves.

Not inexplicably, things took a turn for the sour at this point.  TJ’s selection – Uinta’s 21^st Birthday Suit – delivered strong flavors of lemon curd balanced by a bracing lactic acidity.  Uinta did a great job with this sour farmhouse ale, the third in their now-annual sour anniversary beers.  And trust Jason to grab a sour, as well.  Goose Island’s Madame Rose, a Flanders-style brown aged in wine barrels with sour cherries, was as complex & acidic as they come.

The one aggressively hop-forward beer of the night came to us via Sadie’s pick: Green Flash Road Warrior.  Green Flash created a bitter & sweaty double IPA, through the inclusion of rye in the grain bill & dry-hopping with Amarillo & Mosaic.

We hit double digit alcohol with Amanda’s choice: Cocoa Psycho from Scotland’s BrewDog.  This imperial stout’s ingredients read like a laundry list of stout additives, with cocoa nibs, vanilla pods, coffee, & toasted oak chips.  Sounds like a super-team, right?  Chris’s pick of AleSmith’s Speedway Stout was a no-brainer.  This classic American big boy was a great follow-up to the Cocoa Psycho, raising the booze to 12% & showing off intense roast notes from the addition of coffee.

We took to the wood for the final two (though, surprisingly, there were no bourbon barrel beers among the picks).  In one case, the wood hailed from Paraguay, with John’s selection of Dogfish Head’s Palo Santo Marron.  The imperial brown ale assumed an interestingly fruity twist from its time spent in a huge vat made of Paraguayan Palo Santo wood harvested by the Dogfish Head team themselves.  The other wood came in the form of tequila barrels.  Agave Maria, from The Lost Abbey, struck its own unique chord from the addition of agave nectar in the beer, given depth by the ten months spent in anejo & reposado tequila barrels.

Following the tasting, guests voted on their favorite, before we revealed who chose what.  The crowd had a tongue for sours, apparently, as both TJ’s & Jason’s picks tied for second.  But the winner was our “ringer” beer, Agave Maria, submitted not by one person, but a consensus of multiple staff members.  Just another example of democracy in action!  As always, thanks to all who came out, enjoyed, & played along.  See you next month!