Port Street Beer House | Northern Quarter beer house, pub, drinking hole

– End of year review / Best Beers of 2013 – a collective poll

2013, what a wonderful year that was for us. Full of beer, new exhibitions and a successful summer of street food and sunshine, with Port Street Pop Ups welcoming Chaat Cart, Las Paelleras, Barnhouse Bistro and more, which led to the Guerrilla Eats residency at our bar in the ‘burbs The Beagle.

We hosted our second exhibition, Beeraphilistic and commissioned photographer Rebecca Lupton to take a tour of the beer festivals of Great Britain capturing the characters there. These characters ranged from volunteers who make these events come to life to the punters who have collectively propped up the bars, highlighting the passion and the spirit of the beer lover.

Speaking of beer festivals and beer lovers it was also our second IMBC which was not only bigger but better, if we do say so ourselves. We had a lot to prove and maintain after our inaugural year. We think, and hope, that we stepped up to the plate so to speak. IMBC 2014 will happen from Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th October, tickets go on sale on Sunday 1st April (no foolin’) so circle the dates on your calendars!

We hosted an international line-up of Meet The Brewers kicking off with the wünderbar Hans-Peter Drexler (Schneider Weiss) coming over from Germany and the delightful Bruno Carilli (Toccalmatto) visited from Italy. Eric Wallace (Left Hand Brewery) popped over from the U.S of A as part of our American Beer Festival. Last but definitely not least of our visiting dignitories, Yvan De Baets (De La Senne) joined us from Belgium for our Euro-tober fest.

From a bit closer to home we had Paul Seiffert and Terry Langton (Liverpool Craft), Rob Hamilton (Black Jack), Gareth Matthews (Mad Hatter), Rhys Powell and Eddie Lofthouse (Harbour), Evin O’Riordain (The Kernel), Eddie Gadd (Gadds) and Americans cum Britons included Jeff Rosenmeier (Lovibonds), the inimitable Byron Knight and Logan Plant (Beavertown). Thanks to all the brewers and all the MTB attendees!

So that’s enough reminiscing for now, what you really want to know is what’s coming up in 2014. Our third birthday starts proceedings on Thursday 23rd January where we’ll be launching our birthday beer brewed with Black Jack which in turn begins the plethora of Meet The Brewer’s that will happen this year with a few special events that won’t happen on a Monday (SHOCK, HORROR). Festival of Britain’s Beers launches on 31st March and runs to 13th April, there’s our American Beer Festival in Summer and later in the year Euro-tober and Old and Dark Festival. We’ve still plenty more to announce, but you know us, we like to keep our cards close to our chest, but we will have some lovely surprises to share with you!

To finish of 2013 we asked some of good friends to compile their favourite beers of the past year, if you would like to add your favourites in the comments section, that would be grand. Hope you enjoy lists?

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Name: Brian Dickson (Grove/Northern Monk)

1) Buxton – NZ Axe Edge

2) Oakham – Citra

3) Magic Rock – Dancing Bear

4) To Øl – Black Malts & Body Salts

5) Wild Beer / Burning Sky / Good George – Schnoodlepip

6) Tilquin – Oude Quetsche Tilquin à l’Ancienne

7) Amager Bryghus/Cigar City – Xiquic and the Hero Twins

8) Fyne/Wild – Cool as a Cucumber

9) Laugar – Aupa Tovarisch (Oporto Edition)

10) Lovibonds – Barrel-aged Sour Grapes

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:
– Borefts Beer Festival
– Black & Tan-ing Unhuman Cannonball & Tsar Bomba at IMBC

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Name: James Buchanan (Thornbridge)

1)  Struisse – Pannepot Reserva

2) Brewfist – Terminal Pale Ale

3) Narke – Gruit Braggot

4) Brooklyn Brewery – Fire and Ice

5)  Steamwhistle – Unfiltered Steamwhistle

6) Thornbridge (I know, I know) – Imperial Raspberry Stout

7) Arbor – Why Kick a Moo Cow

8) De Molen – Single Hop Citra

9) Siren – QIPA

10)  Rooie Dop – 24/7 Session Ale

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

One of the Brewers from Brooklyn took us on a tour and then fed us full of amazingly fresh beers or De Molen Festival!

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Name: Jay Krause (Quantum)

1) Rooie Dop  – Double Oatmeal Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged

2) Roosters – 20th Anniversary IPA

3) Tegernseer  – Spezial

4) Hawkshead – NZPA

5) Marble/@kempicus – Emancipation

6) Ossett – Citra

7) Thornbridge – Kipling

8) Summer Wine – Devil Loves Simcoe

9) Harveys – Imperial Extra Double Stout

10) Ayinger – Kellerbier

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year: Two for me this year:

– ‘Getting’ German beer on a stag do to Munich. Drinking Spezial in the Tegernseer bar, general jolliness in the Hofbrauhaus, St. Jacobus bock at the Forschungsbrauerei – bottom-fermented perfection.
– IMBC and the Leeds International Beer Festival, both were outstanding events and improved immensely from the previous years.

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Name: John Clarke (Editor of Opening Times)

1) Sadler’s – Mud City Imperial Russian Stout

2) Weird Beard – Marianna Trench

3) Toccalmatto – Uber-Pils

4) Blaugies/Hill Farmstead – La Vermontoise

5) Het Uiltje – Black IPA

6) Rooie Dop – Double Oatmeal Stout

7) Oakham – Citra

8) Fyne Ales – Sanda Black IPA

9) Cantillon – Gueuze

10) Cantillon – Lou Pepe Framboise

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Tie between IMBC / Marble Arch 125th Anniversary Beer Festival/ Ghent Beer Festival

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Name: Rosie Setterfield-Price (Port Street Beer House)

1) Cantillon – Fou Foune

2) The Bruery – Tart of Darkness

3) Westbrook – Grumpy Old Time

4) Jolly Pumpkin – Madrugada Obscura (always and forever)

5) Mikkeller – Spontanrosehip

6) Toccalmatto – Zona Cesarini (on cask!!!)

7) Kernel – Raspberry Sour

8) SWB – The Devil Loves…(pretty much all)

9) To Øl – Black Ball Porter

10) Against the Grain – Pepper Yo Bretts

(Bonus beer = Pressure Drop – Wu Gang Chops the Tree)

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Copenhagen…but without the sleep deprivation etc probably IMBC…it’s so close!

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Name: Arlo Attenborrow-Greenway (Port Street Beer House)

1) Jolly Pumpkin – Madrugda Obscura

2) Mad Hatter – Sour Saison

3) Mikkeller – It’s Alive

4) Brooklyn – Sorachi Ace

5) De-Struise – Ypers

6) Wild Beer / Burning Sky / Good George – Schnoodle Pip

7) Founders – All Day IPA

8) Hopcraft – Graveyard Eyes

9) Arbour – Yakima Valley

10) Magic Rock – Punchline Chipotle Porter

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Breaking IMBC viginity. Brewing at Mad Hatter. Splitting a Jolly Pumpkin Bottle with Oliver.

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Name: Becky Rothwell (Common)

1) Pressure Drop – Wu Gang Chops The Tree

2) Ommegang – Hennepin

3) Oersop – Sergeant Pepper

4) Redchurch – Great Eastern IPA

5) Hitachino Nest – Real Ginger Ale

6) Weird Beird / Sad Robot – Saison 42

7) Founders – All Day IPA

8) Brewfist / Beerhere – Caterpillar Pale Ale

9) Summerwine – Mokko

10) Beavertown – 8-Ball

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Boozy Friday Night & Sunday Afternoon at IMBC

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Name: Claudia Asch (Port Street Beer House)

1) Crooked Stave – Surette (Copenhagen Beer Celebration)

2) Kernel – Double Citra

3) Firestone Walker – 16th Anniversary (CBC)

4) Wildbeer / Good George / Burning Sky – Shnoodlepop

5) Brooklyn – Black Ops (late bottle vintage)

6) Lovibonds – Barrel Aged Sour Grape

7) Mikkeller – Spontandouble Blueberry

8) Summerwine Brewery – The Devil Loves Simcoe

9) Toccalmatto – ReHop

10) Marble Brewery – USA Reserve Ale

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Copenhagen Beer Celebration

IMBC (slight bias of course)

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Name: Euan Summers (Port Street Beer House)

1) Westbrook – Cap ‘n’ Skoons

2) The Bruery – Sour In The Rye

3) Founders – All Day IPA

4) Jolly Pumpkin / Maui – Sobrehumano – Bottle only

5) Hopcraft – Graveyard Eyes

6) Weird Beard – Little Things That Kill

7) Against The Grain / Demolen – Bo + Luke

8) Howling Hops – RIPA

9) Pressure Drop – Wu Gang Chops The Tree

10) Blackjack – Springheel Jack

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Going down to Blackjack, making a pumpkin beer, then selling it as part of a Halloween film screening with Optic Films. Good beer makes everything better.

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Name: Iwan Roberts (Common)

1) Summerwine / Common – Nathan Grindall

2) Quantum / Common – Quiff Ale

3) Mikkeller – Koffespontan

4) Mikkeller – Drinking In The Sun

5) Hopcraft – All of them

6) Oscar Blues – Dales Pale Ale

7) Kernel – Rasberry Sour

8) Mikkeller – Spontin Double Blueberry

9) Toccolmatto – Sister Venus

10) Any Cantillon

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Copenhagen Beer Celebration, IMBC, Drinking San Miguelo with Garratt Oliver, James Murphy, 2 Many DJs and Ben from James Clay – he’s a dude.

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Name: Jonny Sture (Common)

1) Mikkeller – Spontan Peach

2) Magic Rock – Salty Kiss

3) To Øl – Dangerously Close To Stupid

4) Kernel – Double Citra

5) Blackjack – Pilsner

6) Weird Beard – Mariana Trench

7) Hopcraft – Mosaic Plus

8) Brewdog – Blitz Bermed

9) De-Molen – Mout & Mocca Bourbon

10) Siren – Liquid Mistress

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

London Craft Beer Fest (Don’t sack me)

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Name: Nick Johnson (Hopology)

1) Beavertown – Black Betty

2) Oud Beersel – Oude Geuze

3) Saison Dupont – Dry Hopping 2013

4) Verhaeghe – Duchesse De Borgoune

5) Het Anker – Gouden Carolus Classic

6) Beavertown – Blood Orange IPA

7) Red Willow – Shameless

8) Senne – Zinnebir

9) Moor – Amoor

10) Siren – Q IPA

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:
When my first customer walked in said “wow” and bought some beer!

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Name: Peter Milne (Customer)

1) Pressure Drop – Wu Gang Chops The Tree

2) Brewfist – Green Petrol BIPA

3) Thornbridge – Imperial Raspberry Stout

4) Brodies – Apricot Sour

5) Quantum – NZ light

6) Brewfist – Czech Norris

7) Summerwine Brewery – Devil Loves Simcoe

8) Tiny Rebel – Urban IPA

9) Kernel – Raspberry Sour

10) Kernel – Citra IPA

Best Beer Based Experience of the Year:

Pressure Drops ‘Wu Gang Chops The Tree’ – extremely balanced, a masterpiece. Too many brewers making ridiculous beers.