– Beer Review of the Year
To round off our first year we thought we’d do a little bit of a survey of staff, suppliers, friends and regulars to find out what floated their beer boats in 2011. We present the results. We asked for people’s top 10 or top 5 beers and their best beer based experience, please feel free to join the discussion with your favourites in the comments section. Many thanks to all of you who took the time to contribute, it’s much appreciated:
Jonny (Port Street Beer House)
Coalition – Darkstar/Thornbridge
Deconstruction – Odell
Vuur and Vlam – De Molen
Saison du Buff – Stone/Victory/Dogfish.
Imperial IPA Centennial – Flying Dog
London Fields – Brodies
Kernel – Export Stout
Illusion – Moor Beer
Summer wine – Diablo
High Wire – Magic Rock
Best Beer Experience
Checking out Dusseldorf’s Altbier and the Veltins brewery.
Visiting Lovibonds brewery and tasting all Jeff’s crazy sour beer experiments.
Various brewdays at Quantum, Magic Rock, Thornbridge and Summerwine.
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John Paul (Port Street Beer House)
Sorachi Ace – Brooklyn
Evenlode – Thornbridge
APA Harvest Hop – Darkstar
Raven – Thornbridge
Bracia – Thornbridge
Carafa Jade – Darkstar
Avec Les Bon Voeux – Dupont
Rodenbach Grand Cro
London Fields – Brodies
Monks Elixir – Mikkeller
Best Beer Experience
Going to Dusseldorf and Will nearly wetting himself
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Anna (Port Street Beer House)
Black Tie – Mikkeller
Export Stout – Kernel
APA Harvest Hop – Darkstar
Cuvee Elijah – Brooklyn Brewery
Yeti Oak Aged – Great Divide
Galaxy Pale Ale (cask) – Kernel
Raven – Thornbridge
Superior Porter – Brodies
Rapture – Magic Rock
Ola Dubh 16 Years – Harviestoun
Best Beer Experience
Tasting dark beers with Alex and JP after RedWillow MTB and discovering Brooklyn chocolate stout and Kernel Black IPA
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William (Port Street Beer House)
Evenlode – Thornbridge
Hennepin + BPA – Ommegang
APA Harvest Hop – Darkstar
90 minute – Dogfish Head
Black Tie – Mikkeller
Mt Hood Pale Ale – Kernel
Black Band Porter – Kirkstall
Bitter and Twisted – Harviestoun
Orkney IPA – Highland Brewing
Seaforth + Alchemy X- Thornbridge
Best Beer Experience
Opening Port Street Beer House, meeting Stephano Cossi (Thornbridge) and Mark Trainter (Darkstar), Drinking Altbier in Dusseldorf, Brewing Fathless with Toby (Redwillow)
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Ben Hodgkinson (James Clay)
Cuvee Noir/Crochet Rouge/Sorachi Ace/Black Ops – Brooklyn
Brown Ale/Saison – Nogne O
Imperial IPA Centennial – Flying Dog
Yeti Espresso Aged – Great Divide
Mycenary – Odell
Meine Hopfenweisse – Schneider Weiss
Hennepin – Ommegang
Amarillo – De Molen
NZPA – Hawkshead
Human Cannonball – Magic Rock
Best Beer Experience
Garret Oliver beer dinner at The Cross Keys, Leeds. A tremendous demonstration of how naturally and brilliantly brewed beer partners good food.
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DJ Adams
Tripel Karmeliet
90 Minute IPA – Dogfish
Torpedo – Sierra Nevada
Pint – Marble
Bracia – Thornbridge
Milk Stout – Left Hand
Vuur and Vlam – De Molen
Orval
Saison – Drakstar
IPA – Goose Island
Best Beer Experience
Tripel Karmeliet on draught at PSBH
Doing the Real Ale Trail
Introducing friends to beer culture and converting them.
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Richard (Magic Rock)
Sculpin IPA – Ballast Point
Two Hearted – Bells
Wipeout IPA – Port Brewing
Breakfast Stout – Founders
Parabola – Firestone Walker
Punk IPA – Brewdog
Black Rocks – Buxton
Windermere Pale – Hawkshead
Filthy Red – Camden Town
Surfing Hop – Toccalmatto
Best Beer Experience
Starting Magic Rock Brewing Co and the MTB at Port Street obviously.
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James Clay
World Wide Stout – Dogfish
Imperial Brown Stout – Nogne O
Aventinus Eisbock – Schneider Weisse
Pale Ale Citra – Kernel
Meine Nelson Sauvin – Schneider Weiss
Pliny The Elder – Russian River
Schlenkerla Eiche
Sorachi Ace – Brooklyn
Jandrain Jandrenouille IV Saison
Duchesse de Bourgogne(draft)
Best Beer Experience
Dogfish Head world wide stout back to back with goose island Bourbon Vanilla County Stout.
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Jay Krause (Quantum Brewing Company)
90 minute IPA – Dogfish
Bracia – Thornbridge
Diablo – Summerwine
Big Eye IPA – Ballast Point
Riwaka Pale Ale – Kernel
Brewwharf vs Danko Saison
Tripel 2011 – Marble
Kiwi – Brodies
Magic Rock Human Cannonball & Evil Twin Soft Dookie Black and Tan.
Poperings Hommelbier
Best Beer Experience
#IPAday celebration at the Grove, Huddersfield with Buxton Brewery.
MTB at Port Street on Halloween.
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John Clarke – CAMRA, Opening Times, all round good egg.
Espresso Stout – Emmelisse
Spontangrape – Mikkeller
Framboise – Our Beersel
Saison – De Schans
Diablo – Summerwine
Ageless – RedWillow
Black Beauty – Robinsons
Amarillo Tripel – Pelgrim
Soft Dookie – Evil Twin
Old Manchester – Marble
Best Beer Experience
Summerwine MTB at PSBH or Beer Tasting at Caprices in Brussels where the first beer up was a 20 year old bottle of De Neve Gueuze.
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Rosie (Port Street Beer House)
Evenlode – Thornbridge
Yeti Oak Aged – Great Divide
Raven(keg) – Thornbridge
Colorado Red – Thornbridge
Carafa Jade – Darkstar
Fade to Black – Left Hand
To Ol – Black Ball Porter
Black Tie – Mikkeller
Abbey Red – Kernel
Dark Arts – Magic Rock
Best Beer Experience
Playing Brewster at Red Willow.
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Jamie (Port Street Beer House)
Dark Star ‘Saison’
Thornbridge ‘Raven’ (keg)
RedWillow ‘Heartless’
Summerwine ‘Diablo’ (keg)
Brodies ‘Dalston Black IPA’
Mikkeller ‘Beer Geek Breakfast’
Duchesse de Bourgogne (keg)
Indigo Imp ‘Blonde Bombshell’
Brasserie Dupont ‘Avec les Bons Voeux’
Lovibonds ’69 IPA’
Best Beer Experience
Spending a day brewing with Toby at Redwillow and getting paid in bottled Ageless, and of course, PSBH opening, then getting a job there!
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Customers
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Rick Ogden
Hops Kill Nazis- Brewdog
Mirthless – Red Willow
SPA – Buxton
Infrared – Hardknott
5am Saint – Brewdog
Best Beer Experience
Beer and Food evening with Garret Oliver.
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Lasse Lukacs
Three Philosophers – Ommegang
Winter Solstice – Indigo Imp
Aether Black – Hardknot
Hardcore IPA – Brewdog
Rose de Gambrinus – Cantillon
Duchesse de Bourgogne
Best Beer Experience
Brewery Day at De Dolle, Essen, Belgium
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Gazza (Steel City)
Mental Hop Bastard – Brodies
Oxymoron – Otley
Highwire – Magic Rock
Kahuna – Summerwine
Stella – Brewwharf
Best Beer Experience
Craft beer in Barcelona – it’s going mental in Catalunya now!
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Adam Taylor
Black Rocks – Buxton
Rouge Hop – Summer Wine
Wreckless – RedWillow
Lagonda IPA – Marble
Stateside – Saltaire
Best Beer Experience
The Gingerman in New York, 66 beers on draft, including a black IPA so good I can’t remember the name of it, from Bear Republic. Heaven.
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Christopher Jazwinski
Torpedo(cask) – Sierra Nevada
Cutthroat Porter – Odell
Faithless VII – RedWillow
Geminus – Thornbridge
Best Bitter – Brodies
Best Beer Experience
A pub crawl in Huddersfield.
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Steve
Bishops Farewell – Oakham Ales
American Amber Ale – Quantum
IPA – Odell
90 minute IPA – Dogfish Head
Dark Arts – Magic Rock
Best Beer Experience
First batch of home brew on the new kit.
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Duncan says
4.54 pm
21 December 2011
Think my favourite beer of 2011 has to be ‘Pollards’ by Thornbridge – tasty coffee milk stout :)
Paul Jones says
5.12 pm
21 December 2011
Aquitaine – Kirkstall
Vitesse Noir (cask) – Hardknott
Texas Ranger (barrel aged) – Mikkeller
Imperial Brown Stout – Kernel
Best Beer Experiences of 2011
Port Street opening and the many fabulous events and meet the brewers; The opening night of the Craft Beer Company (London); Mikkeller 19 Single Hop IPA at the Kernel Brewery; Popeyes (Tokyo) with their 70+ beers on tap and table service; and last, but not least, driving to London for a day to buy a car full of Kernel Beer for my wedding.
Fraser Rettie says
6.14 pm
21 December 2011
BrewDog – Hardcore IPA
Great Divide – Espresso Oak Aged Yeti
Left Hand – 400lb Monkey
Hardknott – Queboid
Magic Rock – Human Cannonball
Best Beer Experience
Surreal day at De Dolle brewery capped by getting a lift to Diksmuide railway station by Kris in the back of the brewery van
Jamie says
8.43 am
22 December 2011
Where are Alex’s and my ten? :-(
duncan says
12.51 pm
22 December 2011
will look into it – the sub editor never saw them – maybe the ‘editor’ missed them out ;)
Mes says
8.36 pm
25 December 2011
Best beers
Magic Rock Human Cannonball
De Molen Mes & Sim’s Imperial Wedding Ale
Struise the S.H.I.T.
Alpine Nelson
Alpine Exponential Hoppiness
Drie Fonteinen 99
Drie Fonteinen Millennium
Kernel Imperial Brown
Kernel Nelson on Rye
Russian River Consecration
Best experience
Our wedding bar :)
David Newton says
9.54 pm
29 November 2012
Best beers of 2012:
Mikkeller Big Worst Barley Wine Bourbon Edition
Mikkeler Big Worst Barley Wine Bourbon Edition
Evil Twin Auld Yin Imperial Taiji Stout
Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer Blau
Struisse Black Damnation IV
Emelisse White Label Sorachi Ace Imperial Russian Stout
Emelisse White Label Coal Ila barrel aged IRS
De Molen Rasputin
Brew Dog Tokyo
Harviestown Ola Dubh Special 16
Magic Rock Bearded Lady
De Molen Rasputin
Emelissse
duncan says
9.47 am
30 November 2012
Hi David.
thanks for these, we are working on our 2012 list as we speak, would you like to repost this list on our new blog piece when it goes up, as this is from 2011 :)
Best
Duncan