BeerAdvocate’s Extreme Beer Fest is a celebration of beers that push the limits of what a beer can be. Breweries from all over the US and some other parts of the world come and showcase brews that are off-beat, creative, or just a tad high in alcohol (“a tad” might be an understatement). I sampled my way through this year’s fest and tasted over 45 different beers out of the hundreds we wanted to try. Despite a slight buzz (“slight” is also an understatement) I have attempted to rank everything I drank from my least favorite to the most mind-blowing. It should be noted, however, that none of the beers listed below were bad at all.
| # | Brewer | Beer |
| 46 | Short’s | Black Chai |
| 45 | Clown Shoes | Muffin Top |
| 44 | Against the Grain | Kentucky Ryed Chiquen |
| 43 | Carton | Something Like Sandy |
| 42 | Relic | Cherry Wood Aged Hiver |
| 41 | Firestone Walker | Agrestic Ale |
| 40 | Kane | Bourbon Barrel-Aged Quad |
| 39 | Dogfish Head | Stalactite |
| 38 | Dark Horse | This Little Piggy Went to Dark Horse |
| 37 | Funky Buddha | Randy’s Old Fashioned Whiskey Barrel Ale |
| 36 | Crooked Stave | Vieille Artisanal Saison (Cranberry and Spice) |
| 35 | Carton | Boat Beer |
| 34 | Dogfish Head | Raw Creation |
| 33 | Brasserie Dunham | The Second Coming of Broderus |
| 32 | Nøgne Ø | Dark Horizon 4th Edition |
| 31 | Night Shift | Funk’s Citra |
| 30 | Half Acre | Big Hugs |
| 29 | Against The Grain | Citra Ass Down! |
| 28 | Carton | Swisher |
| 27 | Cigar City | Margarita Gose |
| 26 | Kane | Wine Barrel-Aged Quad |
| 25 | Short’s | Juicy Tree |
| 24 | Hardywood | Bourbon GBS (Gingerbread Stout) |
| 23 | Jack’s Abby | Baby Maker |
| 22 | Clown Shoes | Space Cake |
| 21 | Funky Buddha | No Crusts |
| 20 | Half Acre | Double Daisy Cutter |
| 19 | Funky Buddha | Veruca Snozzberry Gose |
| 18 | Cascade | Vlad The Imp Aler |
| 17 | Against The Grain | 70K |
| 16 | Cape Ann | Fisherman’s Dead Eye Double IPA |
| 15 | Evil Twin | Even More Jesus |
| 14 | Tree House | Double Shot |
| 13 | Jack’s Abby | Framinghammer Baltic Porter |
| 12 | Crooked Stave | WWB Batch 60 |
| 11 | Cascade | Sang Noir |
| 10 | Against The Grain | Bo + Luke – Cognac |
| 9 | Cigar City | Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout – Rum Barrel-Aged |
| 8 | Night Shift | Art #18 |
| 7 | Troegs | Troegenator Double Bock (Bourbon Barrel-Aged) |
| 6 | Avery | Tweak |
| 5 | Funky Buddha | French Toast Double Brown Ale |
| 4 | Founders | KBS |
| 3 | Carton | Regular Coffee |
| 2 | The Bruery | Chocolate Rain |
| 1 | Funky Buddha | Last Snow |
Drinking Last Snow from Funky Buddha is like sipping on a few Samoas (or Caramel deLites depending on your location). The Coffee Porter is brewed with coconut, white chocolate and caramel and smells and tastes like the greatest dessert you ever had. The flavors are so well-balanced and it doesn’t come off like a cloying mess. The trip to Florida to visit Funky Buddha is worth it for a sip alone.
