Here are my favorite beers of 2024, part two

It was a fun year, one filled with delicious beers (and beverages) that were enjoyed in memorable spaces.

If you haven’t yet consumed part one of my look at my most memorable beers from 2024, click back to my website homepage and read that one first.

If you’ve already read part one, thank you.

2024 was a wild and memorable year (mainly for a bunch of sad reasons — except Eliza, she rules and we’re so thankful she’s here). Here’s a continuation of my favorite beers from the past year.

Like always, I am humbled by your support and can’t thank you enough for continuing to read this newsletter month after month. Without my readers, none of this would be possible.

Wild East Contour Interval

Still can’t believe this Brooklyn brewery is gonna open a taproom in Canandaigua in 2025. (A reminder to myself: I need to follow up with the Wild East crew and see what kind of progress has been made since I broke this news last year.) I drank a few Wild East beers this year and quite enjoyed them all. This one, a tart canned farmhouse ale, was quite delightful.

Sager Smugtown Stout

Beyond having a cheeky, history-influenced name, I really enjoy Sager’s recent export stout. I just love that Sager continues to pump out classic-leaning beers and now has a partnership with Stoneyard Brewing and DoughboyzRoc (to run the kitchen).

Cinderlands Lil’ Cinder Watermelon

It’s a refreshing light lager with watermelon. No need to overthink it.

Bright Path Keller Pils

Bright Path was another one of the Expo newcomers that I knew nothing about before the event itself. The Pennsylvania brewery came highly recommended by another trusted brewery. And when I tried Bright Path’s Keller Pils, I knew I made the right choice in extending an Expo invite. The brewery really excels with low-alcohol styles.

True History Whole Menu, Twice

Before a recommendation from my friends at Godspeed Brewery in Toronto, this other Toronto brewery, True History, wasn’t even on my radar. Thankfully, the True History fellas responded to a blind email and then came to town to pour at the Expo last June. Like Godspeed, True History excels with traditional styles. It’s Northern German-style Pilsner (hey Genny, you should bring back your exceptional Northern German Pilsner) is my favorite from the multitude I enjoyed this year. But really, you could name any True History beer, put it in front of me, and I would enjoy the heck out of it. If you haven’t, make sure you give this Toronto spot a visit next time you venture into Canada.

Third Moon Quadruple Lines of Light

Sometimes you just want a beer to kick your ass. And no one does that better than Ontario’s Third Moon Brewing. Third Moon excels at hazy beers particularly. And weirdly, it does quadruple IPAs exceedingly well. The beers feature an intense hop expression and almost zero hint of alcohol (which is quite miraculous when the beer is 11.9 percent alcohol).

Stumblin’ Monkey Southside Pilsner

I like the Stumblin’ Monkey crew quite a bit. I like pretty much everything about them, except their New York Yankees fandom. I also like the beers. For one of his first beers at his new gig, brewer Mike Beebe cooked up this New Zealand Pilsner. It was super zippy and crisp. Great combo.

Badlands ELMO

My favorite hazy beers are coming from Ontario right now. Third Moon, Badlands, Counterpart, Bellwoods, Blood Brothers, and a few others are making incredibly vibrant and juicy hazy IPAs. Badlands sits at the top of that list (really, you could call it a three-way tie between Badlands, Third Moon, and Counterpart). The brewery is in the middle of nowhere (in actuality it’s 45 minutes outside of Toronto). It’s located on a multi-generational family farm. I finally got to visit late last year and was struck by how peaceful the property was. Troy from Badlands was nice enough to come hang out with us at last year’s Expo. He makes wonderful hazy IPAs. I am especially fond of his single IPAs. I like how they are so full-bodied and drink bigger than they are. I love Badlands’ ELMO single IPA, which combines Mosaic and El Dorado hops.

Swiftwater Small Batch: Pear Farmhouse Ale

I’ll have more in the coming week about Swiftwater’s 10th anniversary. It’s wild to me that it has actually been that long. 2024 was pretty cool for a number of reasons. I got to spend a whole weekend with John Holl and Augie Carton from the iconic Steal This Beer podcast. I recorded an interview with them and then sat in on subsequent Rochester-based episodes. During my episode, we enjoyed Justin Becker’s wonderful Small Batch: Pear Farmhouse Ale. (And I am happy to report that both Augie and John loved this one.)

Rising Storm Direct Entry IPA

I singled out Rising Storm, specifically it’s new-ish spot at the Daisy Flour Mill in Penfield, as one of the best new breweries in the country for a recent VinePair article. The new space is beautiful and spacious. It’s also wildly awesome that the expansion has allowed Rising Storm to push into local Wegmans and other stores. The brewery’s combo of hazy IPAs and fruited sours stands out on the crowded local shelves. Direct Entry was my favorite Rising Storm hazy from the past year. It became a new local favorite and I hope we see it brewed again in 2025. (I am also advocating for the return of Rising Storm’s The Swarm, a hazy DIPA with honey. It hasn’t seen the light of day in quite a long time and I am hopeful that curse might be snapped in 2025.)

Swiftwater/Mortalis Luau

This annual summer shindig is probably the most batshit nuts regional beer event of the year, every year. Swiftwater and Mortalis throw a beach-themed beer bash at Ontario Beach Park and invite some of the most hyped breweries in the country to come hang with us. It would be dumb to just pick one beer here, because pretty much every beer (or seltzer) I sampled during this party was memorable and unique.

Okay Midnight Black

It’s no secret how much I love this Honeoye Falls brewery (and how much my three-year-old son Audie loves bowling there). So combine the bowling, the great food, and the varied beer menu and you have a family favorite. I especially love the low-alcohol beers and West Coast-style IPA from here. But brewer Seth Wile’s black Kolsch (yes, you read that correctly) is my favorite. It’s sessionable and distinctive, especially at 4.7 percent alcohol. It’s not something you’re gonna find often, because it combines the lighter Kolsch base with the addition of some black malts to add a layer of chocolate and roast to a crisp beer.

Beelzebubbles Blood Orange Punch seltzer

I enjoy seltzers. I enjoy hard seltzers. And I’m particularly fond of the goofy stuff we’re seeing from Beelzebubbles, an offshoot of Stoneyard Brewing. The flavors are incredibly vibrant. I recently enjoyed an apple pie seltzer from Beelzebubbles. It ruled super hard. The Blood Orange Punch is my favorite, however.

Knucklehead Maple Vanilla Porter

I still can’t believe Webster’s only craft brewery turned 10 in 2024. During that decade, the Dummer family has created and fostered a really nice community spot. The beers have always been good here. Knucklehead probably doesn’t get enough local credit for good it is. The recent Maple Vanilla Porter was a perfect winter sipper and featured a perfect blend and balance of adjuncts.

Frequentem Foeder Aged 13° Czech Dark Lager

I wanna start a GoFundMe to help Frequentem purchase a big foeder, because every time this Canandaigua brewery ages a lager in oak, it rules incredibly hard.

EVENT: 42 North Barrel Jam upcoming

One of the coolest (pun intended) events is slated for Saturday, Jan. 25 in East Aurora, Erie County. 42 North Brewing, surely one of the most inventive breweries in this region, is hosting its fifth annual Barrel Jam, a celebration of barrel-aged beer and winter.

It also includes live music and winter sports demonstrations, as well as a really impressive collection of barrel-aged offerings from places like Brewery Ardenne, Prison City, The Drowned Lands, Brewery Ommegang, Jack’s Abby, Eli Fish, Ellicottville, Big Ditch, and Wild East.

In total, 15 breweries and cideries will be present. The event kicks off at 2 p.m. (VIP starts an hour earlier.) Ticket information is available at both 42 North Taprooms and online here.

A final note: It’s pretty wild to think I’ve been working on this independent publication for nearly three years now. In that time, I’ve published 250 newsletters, highlighted some of my favorite people in the industry, curated two beers festivals (that featured 150 participants and 4,600 attendees), and continued to break all the biggest news in the region (closures, consolidations, openings, etc.).

The Cleveland Prost remains the preeminent source for regional beer news. If you own a brewery, bar, or beer-adjacent business, this is the best place to reach the nerds you wanna be in front of. So I remain open to sponsorships, advertisements, and sponsored content. Feel free to reach out to me at clevelandprost@gmail.com for more. And more than anything, thanks for all the support. None of this would be possible without the devoted (and thirsty) audience.