PDA

View Full Version : Are You Tasting the Pith? - Golden Pints 2015



Blog Tracker
09-12-2015, 22:20
Visit the Are You Tasting The Pith? site (http://thebeerboy.blogspot.com/2015/12/golden-pints-2015.html)

Prologue: before posting this, I had a look at what I said last year (http://thebeerboy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/golden-pints-2014.html). It's surprisingly similar to what I say this year. I can't decide it that means I'm a boring old turd who has buried his head in the sand, or if it's indicative of the craft movement having reached "peak beer". I'd guess it's perhaps two thirds of the first, and one third of the second. And so, without further ado, I give you my Golden Pints 2015!

Best UK Cask Beer: I'm always delighted to see Roosters cask beers on a bar, and would still wade through a river of freezing water to get to a pint of Magic Rock High Wire

Best UK Bottled Beer: What have I drunk most of this year in bottles? Probably various Kernel IPAs and Siren Caribbean Chocolate Cake

Best UK Canned Beer: What have I drunk most of this year in cans? Brewdog Dead Pony Club, Roosters Yankee and Wild Beer Bibble, with various Magic Rock appearing too late to win on volume grounds, but Cannonball. Because, Cannonball.

Best Overseas Bottled Beer: Loving that Tilquin. Really enjoyed Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter, for a slightly weird innovation in processing (field-distilled hop oil), although I couldn't quite shake the idea that I was drinking something slightly artificial. Mind you, that Pliny is all dextrose and isomerised hop extract, and people still seem to like it.

Best Overseas Canned Beer: I canned some Tilquin Geuze at IndyMan. That was pretty great, for a whole host of reasons. I resisted skulling it on the train home, for reasons that are still unclear. Although now I think about it, it was probably because I was drunk already, and I'd paid ten of your earth pounds for it.

Best Collaboration Brew: the Centennial Amarillo IPA I brewed at The Kernel in October was pretty enjoyable.

Best Overall Beer: out of those listed above, the beer that I've found most satisfying, and have laid in stocks of, is Siren Caribbean Chocolate Cake.

Best Branding: the Magic Rock cans are pretty epic, aren't they? And although the Vocation cans are all labelled, their branding is particularly arresting, to my eye at least.

Best Pump Clip: To Ol have given up making pump clips. The Kernel send out self-adhesive bottle labels. I like both those approaches.

Best UK Brewery: it's got to be one of those mentioned above. Or maybe Arbor Ales, who seem to have really hit their stride this year. Man, these questions are hard!

Best New Brewery Opening 2015: Vocation

Pub/Bar of the Year: can't chose between Friends of Ham or Bundobust. I think this year I've eaten more in Bundo, but drank more in Fram.

Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2015: Magic Rock Tap, obviously. Game changer.

Beer Festival of the Year: I only managed to get to IndyMan

Supermarket of the Year: the Morrisons round the corner. They've got Duvel for two quid a pop.

Independent Retailer of the Year: It's BeerRitzLeeds, of course

Online Retailer of the Year: It's BeerRitzByMail, of course

Best Beer Book or Magazine: I still haven't read the Steven Beaumont book I got sent, and I'd like to read Jeff Alworth's book. In summary: no idea.

Best Beer Blog or Website: Stonch's cage-rattling is always fun. I read everything on my blog roll over there >>>>

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer: TheBeerNut or BroadfordBrewer

More... (http://thebeerboy.blogspot.com/2015/12/golden-pints-2015.html)