This week, we’ve been tasting some mighty fine brews throughout the Northstate and beyond. It’s been great to get outside of the dependable staple beers and actually get to try a few of the more premium or exotic flavors that wouldn’t normally fill our pints. When proffered the questions “What would you fill your Hydroflask Insulated Growler with”; we came up with the following answers for each day of the event. So far, here are the Golden Growler favorites for the week:

Monday

Billy: Fall River Brewery ‘Berliner Weiss’ - This beer was light and crisp, and at 3.8% ABV, it was a much-needed session beer to round out the 8%+ staples of the day.

David: Sierra Nevada’s ‘Ovila Abbey Quad’ - was a nice caramel brew that rounded my evening well. It stood out from the rest thanks to the rich creamy mouthfeel and muted fruity flavoring.  Paired with a meat and pasta dish, the plethora of complex flavoring was a great treat.

Tuesday

Billy: Hop Valley ‘Vanilla Infused Porter (VIP)’ -  The sweet vanilla and chocolate porter notes were a nice break from the hop-heavy fare that we’ve been tasting all week.

David: Deschutes ‘Not the Stoic’ - This was an enjoyable brew with a sweet flavor but still enough hoppy freshness to avoid coming off syrupy. This was the third opportunity this week to take a taste, and I was glad to get it once again. a few bombers of this one will definitely find their way into my collection soon.

Wednesday

Billy: Fall River ‘Lip Ripa Triple IPA’ - One of Fall River’s most assertive new brews, the Lip Ripa is a triple IPA with a 13% ABV attitude. With all those hops the 180 IBU is no surprise, and with a great backyard brewery like Fall River neither is the exceptional flavor.

David: Fall River Brewery ‘Farmhouse Braggott’ - Although I only got a taste of this dangerously smooth honey mead hybrid, it was a worthwhile taste. The Braggott is a 10% ABV blend of beer and mead that comes out as a smooth, super sweet brew with plenty of flavoring that feels light on the tongue and warm in the belly.

So there you have it, given the choice, we’d have our growlers topped off with those brews so far. Check back each day for a summary of the rest of our picks, and find us for an elusive selfie to enter to win the Hydroflask Growler or six pack holder from Mountainsmith!