CDAs and People's Choices

Last week, I polled you about your favorite CDAs. There was a method to my madness: as we come toward the year's end, I start eyeballing the Satori Award (which honors the best debut of a beer to an Oregon brewery's regular or seasonal line-up). The really big trend this year was Cascadian Dark Ales, which I have to consider for the Satori, even though it's a style I don't really love. So to help winnow things down, I polled you. Below are the results with a weighted average (1-4, poor to excellent):

• 3.1 - Deschutes Hop in the Dark
• 2.9 - Widmer W '10
• 2.6 - Oakshire O'Dark 30
• 2.6 - Boneyard Armored Fist
• 2.4 - Alameda Cascadian Coal
• 2.4 - Terminal Gravity CDA
• 2.2 - Full Sail Bump in the Night

So there you have it: Hop in the Dark the clear winner. (It also polled the best in a multiple choice, but that was biased toward the beers more people had tried.) Widmer placed a close second, and I kept hearing complaints that Hopworks' Secession wasn't on the list. Technically, it was an '09 release because it appeared at the Organic Beer Fest that year. I'm persuaded by those who think it's properly a '10 beer, though: it couldn't have qualified in '09 because I didn't expect to ever see it again. I'll therefore add all three to the final Satori long list, which currently includes these beers, annotated where necessary:

• Beetje Small Saison
• Block 15 Figgy Pudding (based on its expected return)
  
• Boneyard (?) - not sure which, if any, beers this new brewery might place in the long list.
  
• Breakside Dry Stout - I could be persuaded this wasn't Breakside's best beer
  
• Cascade Noyeau (also thinking we may see this beer again in the future)
  
• Coalition King Kitty Red/Loving Cup Maple Porter - either one of these should be in there--the red's the best of their hoppy beers (ie, most of them), but the porter's the really inspired beer.
  
• Columbia River Brewing [Paddlers Porter?] I should check this brewery out before final Satori balloting.
  
• Deschutes Hop in the Dark
• Hopworks Secession
• Mt Tabor Little Bull Stout - This was so well-loved at the Microhopic I'm thinking it's this new brewery's best. Yes?
  
• Ninkasi Maiden the Shade (appeared at the '09 Oregon Country Fair, but counts even less than Secession's '09 appearance)
  
• Prodigal Son Bruce/Lee Porter - I could be persuaded this wasn't the best Prodigal Son beer, maybe. Damn fine beer.
• Rogue Single Malt - easily the best of their debut beers made with homegrown ingredients
  
• Widmer Sunburn
• Widmer W '10 CDA (I'll check to see if this will be back in the future)
  

Obviously, not every beer that meets the criteria is on this list, but you might see something that I clearly missed. Please holler. I'd hate to miss an obvious choice. Although the Satori isn't exactly the most important award on the planet, I'm pretty happy with how the previous choices look in the rear-view mirror. I like to get it right.

In case you're scoring at home, only two of these are straightforward hop bombs (you could boost the number to five by including CDAs), while five are porters or stouts. Only a couple Belgian-styles, which may mean the streak in that genre (of two) may be over.

Weigh in and I'll post a follow-up poll with all the finalists and get a people's choice. (Oh, and the interns are madly collating your suggestions on the DMS Awards, which will be announced by week's end.)