AllTech has been & gone, & the taste of good beers & ciders lingers in the mind. For many brewers, it’s a chance to showcase what they can produce on small batch special, & for others to drive home the point just how bloody good their beers & ciders are with some even more over the top creations to compliment their existing barnstormers. I got to try alot of beers & ciders. And I mean ALOT of beers & ciders. And alot of high horsepower beers into the bargain, as well as alot of gin. But, in the interest of brevity, these are my top five beers/ciders from the event held over the past weekend.

#1 McGargles Little Bangin’ IPA

Yes, I’ve reviewed this beer already. There were plenty of kudos for it over the course of the event too. Best thing about this beer? It’s going to be continued. And on draught, its better than in the bottle. Although, according to Alan & Bill (he of the Crafty Brewing Co Pale Wheat Ale) from Rye River, the simcoe in it is coming out & the bottled version will match the keg. It will be a definite keeper in my fridge along with its big brother Francis, which is always in occupancy.

#2 Rascals Brewing/IdleWild Strawberry, Vanilla Shake IPA

What a beer! I could happily drink this regularily. Alas, it won’t be a regular & is a one off. Not surprising as good quality strawberries are expensive as is the obvious metric-shit ton of vanilla in it. But wow!!! WHAT. A. BEER.

#3 Pinot-Noir barrel-aged World’s End Imperial Stout

Barrel aged stouts usually find their way into whiskey or bourbon barrels. And that’s all fine, well & good. But, it’s been done to fucking death. Ever a malcontent with ‘norms’, Sam Black decided to stick his epic ‘World’s End‘ imperial stout with vanilla & cacao into a pinot noir wine barrel. And fuck me sideways with Lucille, it was a noggin cracker!!!! This completely changed up the notes on what was already a fantastic beer to be an uber beer.

#4 Dan Kelly’s Whiskey Barrel Aged Cider

Cider is something I still know sweet F.A. about, & I’m still an utter noob. But, I know what I like at this point. With Dan Kelly’s being one of my regular ciders of choice, I have been dying to try out the whiskey barrel aged version of the cider. There should be way more barrel aged ciders available, & this most definitely should be available more. Damnit, it was good. Really, really good. I just want a few bottles of this now. /sadface

#5 White Hag/Kinnegar The Hag & the Hare Irish Coffee Nitro Stout

There are coffee stouts. There is Farami (no I won’t let it go, it’s my beer spirit anaimal!!!!). There is pretenders, & then there’s this. THIS one-off collab beer was insane. The smoothness from the nitro. The aroma. The taste. OMFG, the taste. Jesus it was like being dropped right into a coffee chocolate dream with a fanfare, marching band – the full monte of festival bravadao with floats. Even with me having a half pint of my beloved Stone Brewing w00tstout, I enjoyed this & savored my glass of this hugely. It was one of the few beers I had quite a few glasses of at the event. Incredible stuff from Kinnegar & WhiteHag.