Photo courtesy of 42 North

Living in Buffalo and being a craft beer fan is an embarrassment of riches. Each week, seeming each day, I’m blessed with an overabundance of great options each time I open my fridge and reach for a beer. Through the Buffalo Beer League, I am always looking for new ways to promote all of the delicious liquid being created right here in Western New York, so consider this column, The Best Thing I Drank This Week, just another vehicle to help spread the word of great local craft beer.

In this column, each week I will highlight the best beer I had the pleasure of imbibing the previous week, and will ask my BBL cohorts to submit their selections as well. So, not only will you get the best thing I drank this week, you will also be presented with further options and opinions from the rest of the guys as well. That way, if you’re looking for some new stuff to stock your beer fridge with (and you always should be), then you’ll have more than one item to add to your shopping list.

The Best Thing I Drank This Week: 42 North Brewing Forager Barrel Aged Sour Ale

While I have yet to get my grubby mitts on one of 42 North’s mix packs of 42 Below barrel aged blonde sours, I did have the privilege of sharing a bottle of Forager during a recent visit to the brewery. This beer is truly wild – it was aged 18 months on wild foraged blackberries, gooseberries, black currants, and Staghorn Sumac. Forager is phenomenal – floral and delicate, yet complex, champagne-like notes of berry-forward fruit. It was soft and approachable with light acidity. This is an early contender for my favorite beer of the year.

  • Mark – Big Ditch Brewing Feeder IPA / Bellwoods Barn Owl #18 American Wild Ale
  • Scott – OSB Ciderworks Catch Me If You Can / Flying Bison Blackbird Oatmeal Stout (Cask)
  • Jesse – 12 Gates Brewing Lovers Blood Chocolate Milk Stout

For more information, visit https://www.42northbrewing.com.

To catch up on all of our past The Best Thing I Drank This Week beers, click here.

Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).