The host vanishes into another room, or reaches into a back shelf, and out comes a bottle that is especially rare. Perhaps the beer is made only in small quantities or during a short season, or its distribution is very restricted. Perhaps its special ingredients are hard to come by. Or it may be that the beer is utterly common in its home market, but nearly unobtainable where the host and guest are sitting.

We asked a pool of beer writers and brewery experts which bottled beers they would consider lugging back home from their travels, and which beers they might save for a special occasion at home because a replacement bottle might not be easy to come by. Forty responded with lists short and long, comments on special brews and their personal takes on procuring, sharing and enjoying remarkable beer. Here are 99 beers any of us would be thrilled to have on our wall.

Brewer’s Reserve Speedway Stout, AleSmith Brewing Co. (San Diego, CA): Contains an impressive quantity of robust coffee for added complexity, and the bourbon barrel-aged edition exhibits elegant, added notes of honey and vanilla. (OO)

Curieux, Allagash Brewing Co. (Portland, ME)

Old Deuteronomy Barley Wine, Alley Cat Brewing (Edmonton, AB, Canada): May be the best barley wine ever brewed in Canada. (SB)

Kentucky Ale, Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co. (Lexington, KY):
A mixture of Irish red ale and English pale ale, aged in a bourbon barrel where it acquires a whiskey flavor and an alcoholic punch that’s hidden by its smoothness. (PR, MN)

Exponential Hoppiness, Alpine Beer Co. (Alpine, CA)

O.B.A. (Our Barrel Ale), Anchor Brewery (San Francisco, CA)
Also suggested: Our Special Ale

Edelstoff, Augustiner Bräu (Munich, Germany)

Alt-Bayerisch Dunkel, Brauerei Aying (Aying, Germany)

Xyauyù, Birrificio Le Baladin (Piozzo, Italy): Part of Teo Musso’s repertoire of oxidized beers. He subjects his beer to a closed method with a convection of pure oxygen for a year, then follows with additional aging for a total of two years before bottling. The resulting beer is so stable that it can remain open for a year without changing the flavor profile. Fruity on the tongue, plumlike and bready, with hints of sherry. (CS2)
Also suggested: Open, XFume 2006 Reserva (infused with Lapsand Suochong tea)

Victory at Sea, Ballast Point (San Diego, CA): I’ve only seen this for sale at the brewery, I’m not sure if it gets distributed. A coffee-vanilla imperial porter―if you’ve ever had an affogato at a chi chi cafe, this is the spectacular beer equivalent. (BY)

Racer 5 American IPA, Bear Republic Brewing Co. (Healdsburg, CA)

Expedition Stout, Bell’s Brewery (Kalamazoo, MI): So far, the best beer we’ve found somehow didn’t end up in 1,001 Beers.(SH2)

Singha, Boon Rawd Brewery (Bangkok, Thailand)

Millennium, Boston Beer Co. (Boston, MA)
Also suggested: Utopias

Saison-Brett, Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas City, MO): It’s a seasonal and not available anywhere. And it ages (not forever). (SH2)

Brakspear Triple, Brakspear Brewing Co. (Witney, Oxfordshire, England): Triple fermented English ale, bottle conditioned, perfumy hops, rich butterscotch and biscuity malt. Heaven! (RP)

Juxtaposition Black Pilsner, BrewDog/Cambridge/Stone brewing companies (Fraserburgh/Cambridge/Escondido, Scotland/MA/CA): I find BrewDog beer to be peculiar. I find Cambridge beer to be good. And I find Stone beer to be great. Black pilsner, or schwarzbier, is one of my favorite beer styles. I’d sure love to try how these great brewers interpreted the style. (DT)
Also suggested: Sink the Bismarck! and Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog, and Stone’s Oak-Aged Double Bastard

Local 1, Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, NY)
Also suggested: Black Chocolate Stout

Autumn Maple, The Bruery (Placentia, CA): Plenty of seasonals taste like pumpkin pie now, but this aims for candied yams and nails it, thanks to actual yams and maple syrup. And at less than $10 for 750ml, it’s a deal. (BY)
Also suggested: Black Tuesday

Oude Geuze, De Cam Brewery (Goolk, Belgium)
Also suggested: Oude Kriek

St. Lamvinus, Cantillon Brewery (Brussels, Belgium): Cabernet grape lambic, made from time to time on no set schedule. I first tasted the original edition years ago at the brewery and have been captivated by it ever since. (SB)

First Harvest Ale, Cascade Brewery (St. Hobarts, Tasmania, Australia): Cascade maintains their own maltings and each year use three experimental hops, previously unused in a commercially produced beer. Brewed on the day of harvesting, it is a generally well-balanced ale that teases with fresh hop aromas. (MK)

The Vine, Cascade Brewing (Portland, OR): A Northwest sour ale made with wine grapes. (LM)
Also suggested: Cuvée du Jongleur Belgian Blend

Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout, Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL): According to Mayan legend, the god Hunahpu created cocoa for the Mayan people. According to almost every maniacal lover of gourmet beer in the Southeast, the brilliant guys at Cigar City concocted one of the most complex and luscious specialty imperial stouts in the world, aged on pasilla and ancho peppers with additions of vanilla, fresh cocoa nibs and cinnamon. (OO)
Also suggested: Marshall Zhukov’s Imperial Stout

Russian Imperial Stout, Courage Brewery (Bedford, England)

The Abyss, Deschutes Brewing Co. (Bend, OR): One of the few beers I collect for vertical tastings. The richness of this imperial stout is rarely equaled and never surpassed. (BY)
Also suggested: Jubelale, Black Butte Anniversary Ale

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, Desnoes and Geddes, Ltd. (Kingston, Jamaica): When I go to the Caribbean, I still drink (and bring back) Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. A very nice beer we can’t get here (that I know of). Not necessarily an outstanding beer, but always welcomed byh those I share it with. (JH)

120 Minute IPA, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (Milton, DE)

Cervesia, Brasserie Dupont (Tourpes, Belgium): Cervesia purports to harken back to primitive beer. It has a great number of herbs and flowers in it, but also includes hops. It is available solely at the Archéosite d’Aubechies, an Iron Age museum a few kilometers from the brewery. (MS)
Also suggested: Bière de Beloeil, Avec les Bons Voeux

Duvel, Duvel Moortgat Brewery (Breendonk-Puurs, Belgium): Famous golden ale, triple fermented, famous for its Poire William aroma and palate. (RP)

Jenlain Ambrée Farmhouse Ale, Brasserie Duyck (Jenlain, France): Contains three types of French malt and hops, and three varieties of hops grown in Alsace. Unpasteurized so it has an amazing complexity of flavor and aroma, which includes a bit of horse stable and a warm earthiness―the first beer to be bottled in 75 cl bottles with a cork and a wire cage. (LV)

Gratitude Barleywine, East End Brewing Co. (Pittsburgh, PA): I do like brewery-only stuff because it’s a nice reward for making the effort of coming out. (LB)

Jasmine IPA, Elysian Brewing Co. (Seattle, WA): This is a fantastic aromatic ale, made with jasmine flowers, to pair with grilled seafood. (LS)

Faust Pils, Brauhaus Faust (Miltenberg, Germany)

Ferdinand Czech Pilsner, Pivovar Ferdinand (Beneš, Czech Republic)

Firestone Walker 10, 11, Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, CA)

1999 Poseidon’s Imperial Stout, Fish Brewing Co. (Olympia, WA): Barrel aged and still wonderfully complex, but also very rare. (AM)
Also suggested: Leviathan Barleywine, Poseidon Imperial Stout

Sexual Chocolate, Foothills Brewing Co. (Winston-Salem, NC): This massive, cocoa-infused imperial stout sees an annual release in early February. Huge and complex with layers of dark malts, black coffee, caramel, molasses and over-ripe cherries, this jet-black, viscous brew pairs really well with raspberry cheesecake. (OO)

5 vor 12, Forstner Biere (Kalsdorf bei Graz, Austria): Maybe the most daring brewery in Austria. While all their specialties earn high praises in many publications, Gerhard Forstner’s brewery is far too small to do any significant shipping of their beers. There are only 400 bottles of each brew of 5 vor 12, and Gerhard only brews one batch per year. (CS1)
Also suggested: Brewsecco

Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids, MI): A stout with both chocolate and vanilla flavors that spends a year inside a bourbon barrel. To get your hands on bottles of KBS, you’ll have to show up at the release party in mid-March. (PR/MN)

Old Boardhead (1998, 2001), Full Sail Brewing Co. (Hood River, OR)

Gale’s Prize Old Ale 2007, Fuller, Smith & Turner (London, England): This 2007 vintage differs markedly from all previous vintages (that were brewed and bottled at Gale’s before the brewery closed) and also from the 2008 vintage. Fuller’s allowed the natural acidity of the beer full rein in the 2007, but have been forced by market conditions to blend it mostly out in the 2008 (and future) brews. The U.K. equivalent of Rodenbach Grand Cru, it’s really not to be missed, but likely to be a one off. (JE)

Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse, Georg Schneider & Sohn (Kelheim, Germany): The German version, well handled (even though it is strong, I’ve had bottles that tasted like they were stored warm for too long). Love those German hops, so even though it’s a hefty beer, I’d suggest drinking it as fresh as possible. (SH2)

Girardin Kriek, Brouwerij Girardin (Sint Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium)

Bourbon County Stout, Goose Island Beer Co. (Chicago, IL): I loved this beer so much that I decided to go to Chicago to celebrate my 50th birthday at Goose Island. (CS1)

Yeti Series, Great Divide Brewing Co. (Denver, CO): Any time I am in Colorado, the ones we can’t get all the time, like the Chocolate Oak-Aged Yeti and the Barrel-Aged Yeti, go into my suitcase. (LM)

Edmund Fitzgerald Porter, Great Lakes Brewing Co. (Cleveland, OH): Limited distribution of this wonderful porter: I buy some every time I get to Ohio. (SW)

Old 5X, Greene King Brewery (Bury St Edmunds, England): Not a commercial brew, but occasionally released as samples in tiny bottles. This is an aged beer that is blended with young beer to produce Strong Suffolk―oak, sherry, tannin dryness. (JE)

Dave, Hair of the Dog Brewing Co. (Portland, OR): Named for Dave Keene, made eisbock-style, bourbon barrel aged, 29 percent ABV―probably too rare now. (AM)
Also suggested: Doggie Claws

Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose, Brauhaus Hartmannsdorf (Hartmannsdorf, Germany): I’m not sure anybody can say, “This is what a gose should taste like.” But at times the style, which is pretty much unique to Leipzig, was described as more sour than Berliner weisse. So the more lactic of the two versions available today in Leipzig seems like a good reference point. (SH2)

Scott Smith, sales director of Foothills Brewing, holding a bottle of their Baltic Porter

Lots going on in the beer community today in North Carolina. It’s the five year anniversary of Pop The Cap, which lifted the ban on beer over 6 percent in the state. Foothills Brewing is marking this date in history with the limited bottle release of their Baltic Porter, one of the brewery’s high acclaimed beers. The beer is available at the brewery in Winston-Salem and well as Sam’s Quik Shop in Durham. Later today, Fullsteam will celebrate their grand opening of their tasting room. A private party starts at 4pm followed by the public opening at 6:14 – the average time for beer o-clock in England and the name of their mild beer from their Workers’ Compensation Series of beers which also includes Rocket Science IPA and El Toro Cream Ale.

Tonight they’ll sleep in tents, or just sleeping bags on the cold, hard cement, but tomorrow they’ll be listening to bands and drinking even more beer from when the proceedings kick off at 11 a.m., until late into the following night. The prelude to a multi-band, multi-stage rock festival?

Nope.

This is Dark Lord Day. The one day a year, late in April (this year the 25th), when the Three Floyds Brewery hosts quite possibly the biggest craft beer release party in the U.S.—a gathering of 5,000-plus people—to unleash its monstrous, and fiendishly sought-after strong stout, Dark Lord. The economy may be in dire straights, unemployment is continuing to rise, but there seems to be no shortage of people clamoring to pay $15 for a 22-ounce bottle (or six) of the latest vintage of Dark Lord, with its wax-dipped cap and cartoonish label.

Welcome to the insane world of limited-edition beers.

Power to the People

Three Floyds’ Dark Lord Day—a 12-hour marathon of beer and bands—is just the most extreme, over-the-top case of fanaticism engendered by a single beer. There are plenty of other limited-edition releases produced by equally small, regional craft brewers throughout the year.

Seasonals, by definition, are “limited”—be it a summer hefeweizen or a high-alcohol winter warmer—and most brewers have tapped into the growing popularity of that segment. But only a handful of breweries and specific beers—Lost Abbey’s Angels’ Share, Portsmouth’s Kate the Great, Foothills’ Sexual Chocolate, Deschutes’ The Abyss, and of course Dark Lord, to name a few—seem to stir up the kind of frenzy that compels people to travel from as far away as Japan and Denmark for an event such as Dark Lord Day.

It wasn’t always this way, though. And we can thank the Internet, with two sites—Ratebeer.com and Beeradvocate.com—specifically fueling the current madness. This was all surely an unintended consequence of the public ratings that members of these sites are allowed to post on specific beers they’ve tried—from pints they had at a pub to bottles they bought at a store to samples they tried at a beer festival. These, along with detailed tasting notes, then get compiled into rankings based on the points that Joe Public “reviewer” assigns the beers.

While it’s a sort of populist way to determine the “best in the world”—and isn’t that what the Internet’s becoming, giving a voice to the masses via blogs, forums and other new media?—it has also helped foster a certain hysteria. As of this writing, prior to Dark Lord Day 2009, nearly 500 BeerAdvocate users, going back to 2002 when Dark Lord was first made, have posted reviews of the various vintages of the beer released over the years, using florid language—”big malty chocolate cake with hints of toffee, coffee, clove and dark fruits”—to describe its every nuance.

One rather incredulous beneficiary of this kind of rating/reviewing hysteria is Tod Mott, the head brewer at Portsmouth Brewing in Portsmouth, NH, whose Kate the Great Imperial stout has been regularly ranked in the Beer Advocate’s Top 10. His annual Kate the Great release party in February has drawn people from up and down the East Coast and as far away as Illinois for the chance to pay $10 each for a couple of the scant 900 22-ounce bottles (there’s a two-per-person limit) that are produced. Last year’s offering sold out in a mere four hours, probably about as long as a flight from Illinois to New Hampshire. “It’s really funny because [the ratings are] so subjective,” he says. “There are so many incredible beers on the West Coast that I’m totally blown away that we’re ranked number four. This tiny little brewpub in the middle of Portsmouth. We produce 1,200 barrels of beer a year.”

But those rankings and the buzz surrounding them do have a lot of power. After all, what serious beer lover/enthusiast/geek wouldn’t want to try—cue symphonic flourish from heaven above—The Greatest Beers In The World? And since most of the beers topping these lists are, no surprise, damn hard to get a hold of because of the small production runs and, therefore, nonexistent national distribution, it just feeds that irrational desire many consumers seem to have for things that are hard to get.

A number of brewers mention these sites specifically when trying to explain the rise of the limited-edition cult beers. “[It’s] all thanks to the Beer Advocate, the goddamn Beer Advocate,” Portsmouth’s Mott grouses jokingly. “It’s ridiculous. I mean, [Kate the Great] is a good beer, but, Christ, there are so many good beers out there.”