While your finest achievement at work might have been making a killer formula in an Excel spreadsheet that saved your company thousands of dollars , no one is concerned in reading about that . No offense . We speak to brewmasters from across the body politic abouttheirfinest skill at work : the best beer they ever brew . You ’ll plausibly recognize a beer or two in this article , and you ’ll probably also want to maneuver to your near beer store after read this .

Dogfish Head Namaste

Witbier , 4.8%Milton , DE"A beer we ’re really majestic of that ’s gaining a lot of care and excitement is Namaste . It ’s found on traditional Belgian white / wheat beer – traditionally these beer are brewed with orange peel and coriander . Our variant has orange physical body , and the yeast eat the fruit sugars , which weave the flavor of the orange tree into the perceptiveness of the beer rather of just having the orange in the scent , which is what come about when you just focalize on the Sir Robert Peel . The beer also has lemongrass in it , which we freeze out and thaw and suspend and warming to go bad down the cubicle wall of the lemongrass . It releases its aromatics so the lemongrass conduce to the citrusy aromas of the beer . “– Sam Calagione , founder

Deschutes Brewery Cultivateur

rancid , 7.5%Portland , OR"One of our other Pub Reserve offerings was a saison with brettanomyces named Cultivateur . That was a proud second for me because our team set an challenging end with that beer and really nail it . “– Ben Kehs , brewmaster

Firehouse Brewing Co. Chukkar Ale

American pale ale , 5.6%Rapid City , SD"The honest beer I ’ve ever made change almost day by day according to my taste , but our biggest seller is a very unsubdivided American laager . " –Mike Kilroy , father / brewmaster

Ale Asylum Hopalicious

American pale ale , 5.7%Madison , WI"It took 10 long years of beating my headspring against a brick wall to balance the formula of Hopalicious American pale ale , which I now brew commercially as the flagship beer of my brewery . I love that beer ! It ’s burst with hops tang , full of scent , and is what I consider the perfect beer after a long day of brewing . “– Dean Coffey , Centennial State - father / brewmaster

Lost Highway Brewing Co. hopKat

Lager , 6%Denver , CO"hopKat is a nerveless , crisp , refreshing lager generously hop with Equinox and Fantasia to impart a playfulness , tropic , and citrusy finish . It ’s a favourite not only in the taproom but everywhere else it ’s poured as well . " –T.J. Compton , brewmaster

Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Dire Wolf Canis Mexicanus

royal stout , 10.3%Columbus , OH"I’ve descend to really empathise chili peppers and chocolate in beer . When I created our Mexican red-hot chocolate - inspire stout , we strike gold . The factor lean for Dire Wolf Canis Mexicanus includes four different chilies , topically roasted coffee , vanilla dome , cinnamon , and cacao beak . These ingredients all commingle together along with the lifelike roast , chocolate , and espresso Federal Reserve note already in our imperial stout . The beer has a lot of heat , but it ’s all in the back of the throat so it does n’t instantly burn the way some habanero beers can . It ’s bold , opulent , and a stack of fun , too . " –Chris Davison , brewmaster

The Post Brewing Co. Howdy Beer

Pilsner , 4.5%Lafayette , CO"Howdy Beer – the all - American Pilsner fulfills my need for crisp , flavorous lager . It ’s a unclouded , luscious quotidian beer which showcases the exquisite ravisher of American ingredients , all the while winning laurel wreath at competitions and pull together splendid ratings and inspection from well-thought-of beer publications . Not too shabby for a quiet little beer like Howdy . " –Bryan Selders , brewmaster / spouse

Avery Brewing Co. Tweak

Stout , 17.5%Boulder , CO"I have quite a few favourite , but Tweak stand out for me . We tend to make a lot of 15 - 18 % ABV   beer , and on most of them I give notice dissever the bottleful between two or three people . Tweak is the one exception – I never consider I ’d be interested in drink an entire bottle of an 18 % ABV   coffee berry - infused , Bourbon dynasty barrel - get on imperial stout , but this beer examine me wrong . It can also be used for a sea wolf beer swim bladder . Or as a replacement for your morning burnt umber as long as you do n’t require to drive anywhere . " –Andy Parker , chief barrel Johann Gottfried von Herder

Baja Brewing Co. Peliroja

Amber , 6%San Jose del Cabo , B.C.S. Mexico"One of the best beer we ’ve created is an amber ale called Peliroja ( aka Baja Red ) which translate to ' Red Head . ' My goal was to create an amber ale for the hot weather that could be extremely potable but with great amber flavor . It was a very challenging beer to make because you demand to have the correct rest between the malt and hops , which can be tricky . –Jordan Gardenhire , brewmaster

Shmaltz Brewing Co. Wishbone

Double IPA , 8%Clifton Park , NY"There are quite a few beer that I ’ve been really surprised by – every brewer wants each recipe to be one of those ' bump it outta the park ' brews , but this simply ca n’t pass off every sentence . At Shmaltz , we were extend some really sweet hop by a supporter that we had never used before ( the hop are known as Calypso and now have a enceinte reputation ) .

" Our foray with Calypso was set to be a double IPA , but we involve it to be really drinkable , not one of those big , chewy beer that people were used to recognise as an imperial IPA .   We had some interior jape about the beer being a seance beer as well as a double ; with a niggling bit of pathetic , natural language - in - cheek marketing inspire right at the fourth dimension of the release of the beer , one of my pet projects was comprehend by beer drinkers everywhere , and at the same time shunned by a few bloggers who had seen our military press release / marketing before being able to take a sip of the light - golden good of what had become Wishbone , the first - ever academic session double IPA proudly brewed by Shmaltz .

" We could n’t have been happier ! At an 8 % ABV , we were sitting on a substantial beer , which just so happened to drink as if it were a 6 % IPA . It was ripe with delicious yield musical note that were chalk up to those delicious Calypso hop as well as other theater favorites like Simcoe , Citra , and Crystal .

Avery Tweak

Drew Swantak/Thrillist

" We have an unofficial motto in theatre : ' test batches are for sissies . ' We do the ' go enceinte or go home ' pot quite often , and while it might scare away some ethnic music , we have a great radical of people with ton of experience and input , and we actually take a lot of pride in the fact that our squad can actually crack a family streak pretty consistently . "   –Richie Saunders , brewmaster

Breakside Brewery Bellwether

Witbier , 8.4%Portland , OR"I’m very proud of Bellwether . It ’s a blended beer : one component is a double wit aged for six months in Old Tom gin barrels from Ransom Spirits here in Oregon ; the second half is a off-key wheat beer fermented with Lacto and aged on Thai lime leaves . The blend terminate up receive this really judicious mix of cotton gin botanical , citrus , lactic sharpness , and classic mental capacity spice . " –Ben Edmunds , brewmaster

ThirstyBear Brewing Co. The Black Bear

Schwarzbier , 6%San Francisco , CA"The dear beer is tough to pick due to emotional attachment , but from an documentary posture , The Black Bear earned a bronze medal in the 2004 World Beer Cup for German - mode schwarzbier , so from a brewing - industry perspective , that would be probably be the one . " –Brenden Dobel , head beer maker

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Amber lager , 4.9%Boston , MA"Hands down , Samuel Adams Boston Lager is the best beer I ’ve ever brewed . I first homebrewed it in my kitchen in 1984 , and as soon as I taste that first batch I fell in love with the beer . I knew that if I could drink it every day of my living , I ’d be a happy serviceman . You have to think of that at the time , the American beer scene was a barren ; it was full of light , vapid , fizzing beer , and beer drinker had never tasted anything like Boston Lager . To me , Boston Lager exemplify the first harmonic of a great beer : rich and full - flavor , balanced and complex , and brew with the highest - caliber ingredients including noble hops . Now , more than 30 years later , I make love it when I see people enjoying a Boston Lager the way I do . I ’m more lofty of this beer than of anything else I ’ve ever brewed . " –Jim Koch , founder

Dogfish Head Namaste

Dogfish Head Beer

Ale Asylum Hopalicious

Ale Asylum

Avery Tweak

Avery Brewing Co.

Breakside Brewery

Andy Kryza/Thrillist