It’s
been a crazy, busy, strange kind of year. I’ve drunk more beer in more places
than I thought would ever happen this time last year, which means I’ve got a
lot of beers to run through in my head before coming up with any winners. But
here they are, my Golden Pints for 2012... And, nicely, it’s coming as my 600th
blog post.
Best UK Draught
Beer
Camden Town USA Hells. Ignore the bias, this is a seriously good beer. If I owned a
brewery then I would make this beer as my main brand. It’s exactly the sort of thing
I love: clean and dry, unfiltered which gives a smooth body, then juicy and
fruity with American hops.
Others
worth high-fiving: Tiny Rebel’s Billabong was the definition of why some beers
are best on cask as the hops were remarkably fresh and fantastic; The Foundry
Belgian IPA at Planet Thanet was a burst of hops and spicy yeast; Lovibonds Sour Grapes and the Berliner Weisse-esque version are seriously good beers that
I wish I could drink more of.
Best UK Bottled
or Canned Beer
The Kernel’s Table Beer. What a marvellous little thing. Briskly carbonated,
brightly hoppy, fresh and something I never want to stop drinking.
Big
up: Fuller’s Past Master’s Old Burton Ale which is gorgeously complex; I drank my BrewDog Zephyr this year and it’ll be hard to drink something better, ever; Moor Revival is another beer that seems to be made to fit exactly my tastebuds.
Best Overseas
Draught Beer
I
don’t get Belgian Reds or Browns. Or I didn’t get them until I had Odell’s The Meddler. What an incredible beer. Teasing acetic sharpness is hidden in the
background, there’s lots of oak and body, a smooth fullness and a winning
sweet-sour balance.
Back-slaps
go to: Santorini Brewing White Donkey, a sensational Wit that I drank from tank
at the brewery; Birrificio Italiano Bibock that was bright, light and fresh;
Avery 3point5 after GABF when I was thirsty for something light, hoppy and
delicious – USA nailing pale and hoppy.
Best Overseas
Bottled or Canned Beer
Pretty
Things Lovely Saint Winefride and St Botolph’s Town – I’m not sure I’ve had any
beers which have ever struck me as more completely and utterly breathtaking.
The texture, the depth of flavour, the way that every gulp is magical and
different. Beers which are beyond brilliant.
Fist-bumps
for: Duvel Triple Hop which pimps the classic beer with Citra; Camba Bavaria Pale Ale – a German US-style IPA that was superb; Crooked Stave WWBI is a masterpiece
of brett, barrel and fruit.
Best Overall
Beer
Aargh,
so hard to choose just one of those... But I’m going for the two Pretty Things
beers purely because no beer has ever made me react like these did (back flips,
hollering, bowing down in reverence, speechlessness...) and Pretty Things made
two of them.
Best Pumpclip or
Label
Anything
by Half Acre. I also love Brasserie Saint Helene (images from their designers).
Best UK Brewery
I'm going local: Gadds. They might be based nearby but I rarely see their beer; when I do, I get excited and I order it. Not many breweries make me feel that. This year the Green Hop ale was excellent, No. 3 is a proper classic Kentish Ale, while the dark duo of Dogbolter and Black Pearl are always good. Camden Town also need a shout: USA Hells, Rude Boy, Gentleman's Wit, Pale Ale, Hells Lager... I've spent all year drinking them and love the quality and clean depth in the beers.
Best Overseas
Brewery
I’ve
visited and drunk beer in around 30 breweries this year and a few stand out in
my memory: I always knew Odell Brewing was good but going to the brewery blew
my mind; Haymarket and Half Acre in Chicago were both fun and the beers were
exceptional; Septem and Sanorini in Greece put great beer in different places.
But the best... this year I’m going for Brasserie de la Senne. Taras Boulba and
Jambe de Bois kick ass and they remind me of a fun weekend drinking in Brussels.
Pub/Bar of the
Year
I
really like the Earl of Essex. The
best bar I drank in outside of the UK was Sugar Maple in Milwaukee – we drank
36 beers and spent $80 there in a few crazy hours at the end of a weird and
wonderful day. I also loved Pizza Port Ocean Beach – a walk by the Pacific and
then a flight of great beer with a delicious pizza. Moeder Lambic also rocks (see photo above).
Beer Festival of
the Year
I
went to GABF this year so that gets my vote. Indy Man Beer Con is favourite to
win this category next year.
Supermarket of
the Year
Torpedo
IPA, Thornbridge Kipling and Fuller’s Vintage in Waitrose? Winner.
Independent
Retailer of the Year
The Bottle Shop in Canterbury. I love that place.
Online Retailer
of the Year
Ales By Mail and BeerMerchants share it because they are the ones I use most of the
time.
Best Beer Book
or Magazine
The World Atlas of Beer is excellent; I really like Beer Craft by William Bostwick and
Jessi Rymill; Andrew Jefford’s Peat Smoke and Spirit isn’t about beer and wasn’t
released this year, but it is a great book.
Best Beer Blog
or Website
I’ve
struggled to keep up with all the blog reading this year, almost as much as
I’ve struggled to write anything... Beervana is consistently excellent and well informed and I return to it more than any others.
And
two completely opposing websites need mentioning. For services to great graphic
design, Oh Beautiful Beer is the best. For services to utter shite and pointing
out the horrors of British beer branding, Pumpclip Parade is fighting a
campaign which we should all get behind.
Best Beer
Twitterer
@WinBassett
always has a stream of relevant and interesting things. If I’m bored on the
train or in the pub, I find Win’s feed and there’s always a link nearby
(whether about beer or something else) that’s worth reading.
I
always look out for @Broadfordbrewer’s tweets for their mix of beer and one-liners, @ThornbridgeDom mixes technical
detail and silliness in a great way and there’s always something interesting to
see from @alessioxleone
Best Online
Brewery Presence
I
genuinely don’t know... I guess that means no one is standing out for the right
reasons.
Food and Beer Match
of the Year
Fried
chicken tenders, fries and a Pliny the Elder sitting in the sun at Falling Rock
in Denver. It was my idea of perfection, even if I did nearly miss my flight
because of it.
In 2013 I’d most
like to...
Do
better; sell a million copies of my book (dream big); write another book; go to
Germany; learn a new language (learn my own language a little better); win the
Paris marathon (I’ll settle for finishing it); get published writing about
something that’s not beer-related; catch up on life; spend more time with
Lauren. That last one is the most important.
