Culture’s Top Beers of 2021
It can’t be the beginning of a new year without a top 10 list right!? We worked hard in 2021 to bring beers, ciders and meads to independent bottle shops, liquor stores, restaurants, and bars across Colorado. Needless to say we had a beverage or two after some long days moving cases, cleaning up shipping messes and driving all across the state to get our customers and beverage nerds the best from across the world. Here are the top beverages we enjoyed this year. These are in no particular order, and are our personal favorites of the year.
Culture’s Top 10 in 2021
Ubahdank, New Glory Craft Brewery
West Coast IPAs are not dead. In fact if you listen closely, you can hear a quiet rebellion brewing among IPA drinkers looking for a ‘return’ of the classic style. Ubahdank takes a modern approach to the West Coast IPA with a massive upfront bitterness followed up by juicy apricot, pineapple and grapefruit. It might even have a permanent home in our fridge in 2022.
Augur Porter, Dutchess Ales
Dutchess has long been one of our most underrated breweries and they simply knocked it out of the park with this classic English porter. Dry with notes of coffee, cacao and roasted grain, this beer is a world class example of the style.
Farnum Hill Farmhouse Cider
When we try to convert ‘I don’t drink cider’ people to the wonderful world of true dry traditional cider, Farnum Hill’s Farmhouse is our weapon of choice. Made exclusively with estate grown apples on their New Hampshire orchard, this dry cider is a shining example of what an ingredient focused cidery can deliver.
Colfax Cream Ale, WestFax Brewing Co.
Colfax Cream Ale proves that every other brewpub since 1999 has simply just been doing it wrong. Light, refreshing, and with a mouthfeel that takes the best of what an ale can be, this beer is a world class example in a style that is often ignored. This beer with a hamburger and fries makes you wish for a resurgence of cream ale.
BUTCHER, Black Project Artisan Beer Project
Black Project’s BUTCHER, a Cherry and Raspberry spontaneously fermented sour, is one of the prime examples of why spontaneous beers will always have a place in a modern beer world. Bone dry with tons of acidity and barnyard characteristics are balanced by large fruit notes of cherry and raspberry. Sheila said ‘Why isn’t this everywhere??’
Ectogasm, Drekker Brewing Co.
Drekker joined the Culture family late in the year but has quickly become one of our most popular breweries. While people go nuts for their Fruit Smoothie Sours and A La Mode beers, we absolutely love their flagship Hazy Ectogasm. A soft mouthfeel with big tropical fruit notes and juice for days, this is a hard Hazy to pass up.
10 Degree, Urban Roots
10 Degree is the perfect example of why lagering times matter. Urban Roots lagers this beer for two months, cutting no corners and using high quality European grains to create the perfect example of why Czech lager is the king of the lager world. Crisp bread like notes combined with floral Czech hops create a beer that we go back for often and would be a close contender for the ideal desert island beer.
Popfuji, Brouwerij West
Can you tell we like delicate dry beers? Popfuji is a beer that has slowly been creeping up on us for over a year. While the first few batches sent to Colorado were good, the last three we have received have nailed the Kellerbier style and taken it from good to world class. A heavy hand is used with bittering hops in this beer giving it a refreshing finish that is complimented by leaving this pilsner unfiltered. Just one more reason to keep exploring the wonderful world of Lager.
Smile More? Anchorage Brewing Co.
Yes we all know Anchorage makes sours and barleywines, but they have been coming out with some insanely strong Hazy IPAs in 2021. Their ability to translate their brewing success into a whole new world of Hazy IPA is best shown off by this year’s Smile More? Double dry-hopped with the impossible to find Phantasm and Sabro, this beer is exactly what we were looking for in a Hazy IPA; large tropical fruit notes and a creamy mouthfeel that is simply hard to resist.
Long Snacks Peanut Butter Cup, Peculier Ales
Like many of our industry friends we believe pastry stouts are typically best served 4oz at a time, but we make an exception for Long Snacks Peanut Butter Cup. As Zac said, “I wanted to dislike this beer on principle, but it is sooooo good.” Peanut butter and chocolate dominate with a silky texture that hides its 11% ABV.
Culture Beverage’s Best Sellers of 2021
We often get asked what our ‘best sellers’ are and this is definitely a loaded question for a small distributor with less than three years under their belt and a constantly revolving portfolio. That being said we still wanted to show off our best selling offerings in 2021. We expect locally made beers like Urban Lumberjack from WestFax and Peculier Ale’s Hopportunity Knocks to move up the list quite significantly in 2022. To point out our product diversity at Culture Beverage, not ONE of these beers made up over 3% of our total sales, (take that Budweiser!) and the whole list is less than 15% of our sales. Hurray for supporting a wide range of products Colorado. We can’t wait to see what 2022 brings!
Top Selling Culture Beers of 2021
Trial By Wombat, Thin Man
Minkey Boodle, Thin Man
Like Riding A Bike, Urban Roots
Dig My Earth, Brouwerij West
Picnic Lightening, Brouwerij West
Braaaaaaains Series, Drekker Brewing Co.
Bliss, Thin Man
Things for Your Head Mango, Brouwerij West
Ubahdank, New Glory Craft Brewery
Sci-Fi Hamster Wheel, Thin Man
Blueberry Spaceship Box, Superstition Meadery
10 Degree, Urban Roots
Pills Mafia, Thin Man
305 Alive Series, Peculier Ales
Urban Lumberjack, WestFax
Thanks again to all of our accounts and suppliers for their support in 2021. We couldn’t do this without all of you.
Cheers,
Xandy, Sheila, & Zac
