A companion guide to the 2014 Paste Untapped Festival in Fort Worth

Image credit:  Paste Untapped

Happening on Saturday, Paste Untapped returns this week to the Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth. If you haven't seen the complete list of all the beers that will be available, by all means check it out on the festival website.

As for a quick analysis, we can talk about obligatory stats like the over 250 beers from 62 breweries, or we can simply ask the one question that brings it all home: When is the last time you had a ticket to a festival in North Texas where you could sample over fifty beers rated 98 or above by your peers?

To help quell the certain madness of choosing which beers to drink, I've pared the list down a bit into what I call a beer geek breakdown. If you want the best of the best, or just a taste of something new, this is where to start. Really, you don't need recommendations with all the list has to offer. You'd do just as well if you drew random names out of a hat, or instituted a game of craft beer blind man's bluff.

Come to think of it, maybe "list" isn't even the right word anymore.  Really, it's more like a blinding neon beacon of beer light.

Buy a ticket, bask in its glow.

White whale watching: Brews from the Beer Advocate top 100

#19. Founders Breakfast Stout (VIP only)
#25. Firestone Walker Sucaba
#60. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
#88. Founders Imperial Stout


Perfect pours: Top rated beers (100/100) on Ratebeer

Avery:  The Maharaja Imperial IPA, Tweak
Dogfish Head:  90 Minute IPA
Firestone Walker:  Double Jack, XVII Anniversary Ale
Founders:  Backwoods Bastard (VIP only), Porter
Great Divide:  Oak Aged Yeti
North Coast:  Old Rasputin
Uinta:  Labyrinth Black Ale
Unibroue:  Trois Pistoles
Victory:  Old Horizontal


Best of the rest: Close enough to perfect (Ratebeer scores out of 100))

Alaskan:  Barley Wine Ale (99), Smoked Porter (99)
Ballast Point:  Dorado Double IPA (99), Tongue Buckler (98)
Boulevard:  Double Wide IPA (99), Rye on Rye (99)
Brooklyn:  Sorachi Ace (98)
Deschutes:  Fresh Squeezed IPA (98), Hop Henge IPA (99)
Dogfish Head:  Burton Baton (99), Olde School Barleywine (98)
Duvel Moortgat:  Duvel (99)
Firestone Walker:  Union Jack IPA (99), Velvet Merlin (98)
Founders:  Centennial IPA (99)
Goose Island:  Lolita (99), Sofie (98)
Green Flash:  Hop Head Red (98), Palate Wrecker (99), Serrano Stout (98)
Harpoon:  Leviathan IPA (98)
Lagunitas:  A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' (99)
Odell:  IPA (98), Myrcenary Double IPA (99, VIP only)
Ommegang:  Three Philosophers (99)
Oskar Blues:  Deviant Dale's (99)
Sierra Nevada:  Bigfoot (99, VIP only), Narwhal (99, VIP only), Northern Hemisphere Harvest (99), Torpedo (98)
Southern Tier:  Crème Brulee Stout (98), Iniquity (98), Unearthly (99)
Uinta:  Dubhe (99)
Unibroue:  La Fin du Monde (99)
Victory:  HopDevil (99)


Rare breeds: Market debuts and limited editions

903:  I So Pale
Brooklyn:  Hammarby Syndrome
Deep Ellum:  Tongue Punch Cask
Grapevine Craft Brewery:  Raspberry Brown Ale, 10 Gauge Belgian IPA
Hops & Grain:  Funk Del Roble
Jester King:  Cerveza de Tempranillo, La Vie en Rose
Lagunitas:  Fusion XIX
Lakewood:  Antigoon, Bourbon Barrel Temptress
Martin House:  Kafkaesque
New Belgium:  Gruit
Rahr & Sons:  Midnight Cab, Snowmacocoageddon, Hatch Chile Blonde, Dry Hopped Stormcloud
Real Ale:  Double IPA Cask (VIP only), Codex Triplex (VIP only)
Saint Arnold:  Bishop's Barrel #6
Widmer:  Upheaval IPA


Oldies but goodies: Vintage brews

2012 Alaskan Smoked Porter (VIP only)
2011 North Coast Barrel Aged Old Stock
Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 10