We Asked 20 Brewers: What’s the Best New Beer of 2024?
December brings about reflection and deep consideration about what the past year was all about. Am I a better person now than I was in January? Where have I grown and where do I still need to go? Did I accomplish my resolutions and which ones should I set for next year? What was the name of that amazing beer I had that one time?
We can’t help with the first few questions, but we are all over the last one. If you had a year filled with beer your head may be swimming trying to remember which was your favorite. So we went to the experts to find out which beers are still on their minds as we said goodbye to 2024. They waxed poetic about saisons brewed with heaps of beets, Belgian classics that were new to them, a famous stout being brewed with an African grain, and lots and lots of lager (of course).
In a year filled with beer, these were the ones that stuck with the people who know their brews best.
The Best New Beers According to Brewers Are:
Wayfinder Beer Secret Secret Czech Dark Lager
Sacred Profane Brewery Smoked Dark Lager
Fox Farm Brewery Dwell Pale Ale
Gigantic Brewing Company Fresh Hop Pilsner
Guinness Fonio Stout
Single Hill Brewing Skyfinder Fresh Hop Hazy IPA
Künstler Brewing Cold School Pils West Coast Pilsner
Rooster Street Brewing Candy Cap Cantrip Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
Tributary Brewing x Moniker Brewery Würzigen Rye Lager
Wayward Lane Brewing Supernature Saison
Odd Alewives Farm Brewery Odd Night Black Ale
Cohesion Brewing Co. x Resident Culture Brewing Co. Richie 10° Lager
Brouwerij St. Bernardus Abt 12 Quadruple Ale
Blue Jay Brewing Co. New Roots American Lager
Otherlands Beer American Water American Lager
Foam Brewers Magnetic Fields: Chinook Fresh Hop Double IPA
Mount Holly Beer Co. Can Service Pilsner
Yeast of Eden SMOL Saison
Two Locals Brewing Co. Clean Sweep Pilsner
Bizarre Brewing Crow of Desperation English-Style Rye Stout
“Wayfinder is no stranger to making exceptional lagers, but the beer that took the cake for me this year is Secret Secret. It’s a dark Czech lager that really elevates the style. The beer has slight dark fruity notes (think dates, figs, and tamarind) and then rounds it out with the lovely chocolate on the palate. The roastiness is present but delicately restrained, which connects all the dots and makes this a complex beverage while being super crushable.” —Lara Hargrave, lead production brewer, Great Notion Brewing, Portland, Ore.
“Like most other brewers and industry folk, I love lagerbier. I also don’t like change when it comes to my local go-to offerings. But when I saw Sacred Profane out of Biddeford, Maine, altered their ‘Dark Lager,’ I had to give it a shot. It’s hard to improve or experiment with a well-designed beer recipe that doesn’t detract or blemish what made the original recipe great. I’m not talking about adding grapefruit puree to an IPA or imperializing a milk stout; I’m talking about enhancing a beer in a way that creates a new experience that is just as special as the original recipe. Sacred added small-batch alder wood-smoked pilsner malt (from our friends at Blue Ox Malthouse) to their Czech Tmavy to create ‘Smoked Dark Lager.’ The alder-wood smoked malt adds a layer of upfront smoke that blends with the complex roast and toffee notes and accentuates more of a burnt sugar and maple syrup bouquet. It’s in this complexity that your palate can find Smoked Dark’s elevated lusciousness; sandalwood, fig, walnut, molasses — you’ll find crazy depth. With all smoked beer, the highlight of the recipe is usually the smoked malt, while here we get a sense of how Brienne [Allan] and the folks at Sacred took great care to introduce this contentious ingredient in a way that doesn’t feel out of place, mask other components of the beer, or detract from the original recipe. This offering revitalized smoked beer for me and is a reminder that taking risks can create something unique and worthwhile. (I hope they make more!)” —Jake Wiater, brewer, Maine Beer Co., Freeport, Maine
“The best beer I drank this year was Dwell Pale Ale from Fox Farm Brewery. It has a balance of Mosaic and Motueka hops, served up in a drinkable ale. At just under 6 percent, it was a perfect beer for a warm summer day in the Rockies.” —Michael Bracco, brewer, FlyteCo Brewing, Denver
“During our trip to Oregon for the 2024 hop harvest, I had Gigantic Brewing’s Fresh Hop Pilsner at Top Wire located at Crosby Hops. The delicate herbaceousness and bright lemon character of the Willamette Valley-grown Tettnang fresh hop paired beautifully with the stunning early fall Oregon afternoon. A memorable beer from this year for sure from our longtime friends at Gigantic.” —Jeffrey Stuffings, co-founder, Jester King Brewery, Austin, Texas
“For me it’s the new Guinness Fonio Stout. I’m a huge Guinness fan already. Coincidentally, I had listened to the ‘Craft Beer & Brewing’ podcast with guest speakers Garrett Oliver and Vinnie Cilurzo chatting about all things fonio — this super-cool African grain that Garrett was hoping more brewers would use in their arsenal. I immediately reached out to Garrett on a whim, and was super excited to hear that Guinness was going to incorporate fonio in an upcoming release this year. I highly recommend it as it adds a subtle white-wine-like complexity to the mineral profile with a rich nuttiness that pairs really well with the dark roasted character. Just hope there’s some left before the holidays!” —Jonny Ifergan, co-founder/lead brewer, Niteglow Beer Company, Brooklyn
“One of the best parts of going to Yakima for selection is getting to try all the amazing fresh hop beers during that short window of September and October. One brewery that has always stood out for me there is Single Hill. Zach is doing some amazing things in Yakima and one of my favorite beers of the year was an IPA they made called Skyfinder. It’s an amazing expression of Strata from one of my favorite hop farms, Roy Farms, along with Simcoe from Loftus and Black Star Ranches. It really matters who is growing the ingredients (especially the hops) and Single Hill understands that and always knocks it out of the stratosphere.” —Josh Penney, head brewer, Threes Brewing, Brooklyn
“I love this question because it puts into practice something that I always believed was true, but few people agree with me: The best beer you have are the ones you remember from the top of your head. Sure, the archive from Untappd is a fun thing to feed. But I think the beers you really love are the ones that you remember first. With that being said, one of my favorite new beers this year was the West Coast pilsner ‘Cold School Pils’ from Künstler Brewing. I was skeptical at first, mainly because the style is trendy this year and I tried a lot of different takes on it that I didn’t love. But Künstler’s version was sharp, refreshing, flavorful, and super crushable. I highly recommend visiting them if you are around San Antonio.” —Maria Shirts, head brewer, Istrouma Brewing, St. Gabriel, La.
“My favorite beer this year is called Candy Cap Cantrip, made by Josh Kauffman of Rooster Street Butcher. He describes it as a lightly applewood smoked wee heavy made with candy cap mushrooms. It quite literally tastes like maple syrup and flapjacks cooked over a fire. In a world of palate fatigue and market saturation, this beer really inspired me to get creative again.” —David D’Angelo, chief operations officer, Sidereal Farm Brewery, Vassalboro, Maine
“It’s Würzigen, a rye ale that we collaborated with Moniker out of Providence. Nobody makes rye lagers anymore. We did 40 percent rye malt from a farm in New York and malted it in Lisbon, Maine. It’s a delicious beer made with good local ingredients.” —Tod Mott, co-founder and brewer, Tributary Brewing Company, Kittery, Maine
“The best new beer I had this year is ‘Supernature’ by Wayward Lane, a beet saison with 120 pounds of locally farmed, roasted beets. It is very beet-forward but with the wheat and rye base, it’s incredibly balanced. Every sip is truly mind blowing. It’s by far the most interesting beer I’ve had all year and even if you don’t like beets, I implore you to give it a shot.” —Andreina Uribe, cellar person, Grimm Artisanal Ales, Brooklyn
“Odd Alewives is one of my favorite places to visit in mid-coast Maine. Set in an old post-and-beam farmhouse surrounded by the farm and gardens in which ingredients are pulled to make beer and wood-fire pizza. The Odd Night stands on its own, brewed with herbs including horehound, if memory serves. Clean with a bit of a toasty licorice finish, it’s a great beer huddled around a summer campfire.” —James Frydrych, cellarman, Banded Brewing, Biddeford, Maine
“This beer bridges two incredible beer scenes and two distinct brewing styles. Cohesion in Colorado is renowned for its traditional Czech lager craftsmanship, while Resident Culture in North Carolina excels at modern, hop-forward creations. The 10° pale lager base is light and clean, providing a perfect canvas for the Kazbek and Lórien hops to shine. The result is a crisp 3.7 percent beer bursting with notes of melon and citrus fruit. Having lived and brewed in both states, it’s amazing to see these two vibrant brewing cultures come together. Richie 10° is a masterclass in collaboration and balance.” —Connor Dougherty, staff brewer, WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, Colo.
“I know I may be in the minority with a beer such as this, but the best beer I have had in the past year was St. Bernardus Abt 12, Belgian Quadruple. This beer is regarded as one of the best in the world and if you have never tried it yourself, you should seek it out. Full-bodied, stone fruit, silky, and smooth are understatements for this classic brew.” —Alex McDonald, owner/head brewer, Earth Eagle Brewings, Portsmouth, N.H.
“One of the best new beers I’ve tried this year is from Blue Jay Brewing in Midtown, St. Louis, Mo. Their Kernza lager is called New Roots, brewed with Blue Jay, Millpond, Side Project, Switchgrass Spirits, and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to explore the usage of a more sustainable, perennial grain. It’s earthy and nutty, and is the future of sustainable brewing.” —Drew Durish, head brewer, Side Project Brewing, Maplewood, Mo.
“’I had a lot of excellent beers this year, especially from breweries that are turning the PNW into a strong lager-producing region. But only one’s repeatedly been on my mind since drinking it: Otherlands’ ‘American Water,’ a cereal-mashed light lager. The nuance and depth of flavor in such a light beer with such tight stylistic parameters really caught me off guard. In hindsight, I should have known it would be as delicate, thoughtful, and well executed as everything Otherlands does. I don’t need all my light lagers to taste like that, but coming across one that did was a real joy.” —Benji Rockwell, brewer, Holy Mountain Brewing Co., Seattle
“The best new beer I tried this year was a fresh hopped Hazy IPA called Magnetic Fields: Chinook from Foam Brewers. I’ve never had Vermont fresh hops so I was intrigued, but was then also blown away by the intense ripe melon aroma and sweet stone fruit flavor. It was so fluffy and smooth, they knocked it out of the park.” —Troya Butts, brewer, Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle
“Can Service Pilsner from Mount Holly Beer in Vermont! It uses Hana malt which is the original Pilsner malt used to brew the first-ever light lager in the Czech Republic in 1842. It’s 3.8 percent, single decocted plus a three-hour step mash, and absolutely amazing. Extremely soft, delicate, and well executed, and almost the perfect beer.” —Theo Castillo, founder and brewer, No Seasons, Miami
“Not new but back after two years — SMOL by Yeast of Eden. Yeast of Eden is heavenly and run by my sweet angel Andrew. Andrew’s love for mixed fermentation beers is just as big as his beautiful heart. SMOL is a beer that should be on everyone’s must-have list.” —Matt Denham, head of brewing operations, American Solera, Tulsa, Okla.
“The best new beer I had this year was ‘Clean Sweep’ by Two Locals. I’m a huge fan of unfiltered pilsners and this one was perfectly balanced and clean.” —Richie Tevlin, owner and brewmaster, Space Cadet Brewing Co., Philadelphia
“The first three beers that come to mind are all dark ales brewed by Bizarre, but a hand-pulled pint of ‘Crow of Desperation’ is the one I’d most like to ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ in front of me right now. This English-style rye stout used richly layered ingredients (pale English malt, flaked rye, crystal rye malt, caramelized oat malt, chocolate malt, EKG, house pub ale strain) and process (open-fermentation and spunding) to make something uniquely complex but super easy to drink. What a happy pint! Working for a hop farm, I spend much of my time thinking about and drinking hoppy beers. The well-executed range of beers coming out of Bizarre has made me a more well-rounded, curious, and contented drinker.” —Mallorie King, co-founder, Human People Beer, Seattle
*Image retrieved from @foxfarmbeer on Instagram
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