Mid-Summer Beer of the Year (2016)

As the weather warmed the number of absolutely stellar IPAs that have passed my lips in 2016 has been astounding; not surprising considering my love affair with the hops.

But while the diversity of the beers I enjoyed this year wasn't exceptional (I blame budget constraints) there was one non-traditional style (for me) that became a big favourite in my books: Stouts.

The volume of Stouts wasn't high - my usual buy was one bottle at a time - but the quality of this classic winter warmer was off the charts. While IPAs stole my heart long ago, it's the Stout category that gets the honour of kicking off my annual (and a few weeks late) Mid-Summer Beer of the Year blog.

There were five exceptional Imperial Stouts that grabbed my attention this year, including Stone Brewery's 20th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout (rich and ripe dark fruit, bitter chocolate, coffee with lashings of dark malts and molasses); The Imperial Bout from Great Lakes (looks like a chocolate milkshake, tastes bitter yet velvety smooth); Kentucky Bastard Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout from Nickel Brook (impressive beer with a bourbon-boozy finish);  Epicurean Coffee & Fig Oatmeal Stout from Epic Beer of New Zealand (smooth and rich and very good); and Imperium - also from Epic - which boasted a big taste of roasted malts and bitter chocolate.

The Imperial Bout from GLB

Throw in a bottle of Aphrodisiaque from Dieu du Ciel (black coffee, toasted malts and deliciousness at just 6.5 per cent) and I had a helluva Stout season.

The winner, after some arguing between some of my personalities, was The Imperial Bout (Great Lakes)

Another beer style I learnt to truly appreciate this year was the Pilsner. I scored the original - Pilsner Urquell - as well as a few twists on the original: Great Lake's Long Dong Pilsner (a long-time favourite and the defending champ in this category); Awakening from Epic; and Epiphany #2 from Black Oak.

The winner, and still champ, was Long Dong Pilsner (Great Lakes)

There were so many fantastic IPAs and IIPAs this year I decided to establish a  few separate categories, including the one-offs - the one-hit wonders that were especially good but hard to find in quantities. The fruit-infused IPAs got their own slot as well and I'm sure I'll come up with a few more as I write this.

In the One-Off IPA category there were five that were off the charts: Handshake, a collaboration celebrating the union of San Diego brewers Green Flash and Alpine that I called outstanding; Hop Hunter from Sierra Nevada; Armageddon from the great folk at Epic Brewing of Auckland, New Zealand; Moralite from Montreal's Dieu du Ciel; and Bellwoods' Roman Candle.

I chose Handshake, which was very citrusy-sweet on the nose with a spicy, deliciously bitter finish. An outstanding beer I will definitely look for this on my next border trip, assuming they still make it.

There were four IIPAs I considered in the One-Off IIPA class, including Rampant from New Belgium; NxS IPA, a collaborative effort from Sierra Nevada and Stone (aka the brewery that-can-do-no-wrong); Witchshark from Bellwoods; and Stone's Enjoy By 07-04-16. It was tough choosing between NxS and Witchshark - both world class doubles - but I decided on an old favourite for the win.

The winner: Witchshark

I found a couple of solid Fruit-Infused IPAs this year, including Disco Soleil (Kumquats) from Dieu du Ciel; and my winner, Hop Nosh Tangerine from Uinta (Salt Lake City), with, you guessed it, Tangerines.

I had a couple of world class Triple IPAs in 2016. Four Horsemen of the Hopocalypse - a collaboration between New Zealand brewers Epic, Hallertau, Liberty and Fork & Brewer; and Life Sentence, a Great Lakes/Amsterdam team effort that has been gone from this world since last winter. It was Life Sentence for the win.

I also cried tears of happiness over my annual tasting of Cockpuncher, an 11 per cent hop boss from Indie Ale House that is my winner in the Triple IPA disguised as a Double IPA category, and enjoyed my first Quadruple IPA, the rare and intimidating 120 Minute IPA (18 per cent) from Dogfish Head.

Beau's Farm Table IPA

Brew Dog of Scotland's Punk IPA repeated as Hybrid IPA champ, while my winner in the just created Best Bang for your Buck IPA is Farm Table IPA from Beau's, which is $4.55 for 600 ml of six per cent goodness and has become my go-to IPA lately. There was just one finalist and winner among Black IPAs: The Dark Prince from Manantler.

I can't forget the Belgian IPA category, which featured La Formidable (Beau's/Gigantic) and Catherine Wheel (Bellwoods) this year. Beau's wins again with the always reliable and usually available La Formidable. It's also a beer that sounds awesome when you say it in French: For-me-dab. Very sexy.

There were several Session IPAs that stood out this year. Daywalker from Rainhard was magnificent; Sunnyside from Great Lakes was  delicious, All Day IPA  from Founders (Grand Rapids, Michigan) was tasty as always and I happily welcomed back Steady Horse from Manantler just a few weeks ago. The winner was citrusy yet creamy and one of my favourite beers of the year: Daywalker.

A new category this year is Vermont-Style IPA and I found my champion on my way to the Tragically Hip concert earlier this month: Bronan from High Road Brewery of Toronto.

Because I cannot live on IPAs alone there were other category winners, including:

Old Ale -  The Observer (Epic)
Hopfenweisse - All or Nothing
Imperial ESB - Coast to Coasters (Flying Monkeys/Phillips/Garrison)
Brown Ale - No Agenda (Epic)
Soured Beer - Coriolis Effect (Sawdust City)
Saison - Takes Two to Mango (Indie Ale House)

There was also the India Pale Lager category ('cause why not) and we have a clear winner with Cameron's Brewing, who has created the outstanding 12 Mile India Pale Lager.

Two One-Off Solo Finalists that Knocked My Socks Off also shone this year, causing me to run out and buy more socks. There was 24 Carrot Golden Ale (Stone/Juli Goldenberg/Monkey Paw), a Stone-sponsored Imperial Golden Ale homebrew winner (tweaked a bit with the help of Stone and Monkey Paw) that tasted EXACTLY like carrot cake, icing and all. Fantastic and unique.


The second is a Kolsch - a 'Country Kolsch' from a Sarnia brewery that twisted the Kolsch rules (the yeast was added at warm temps rather than cold and there was a big addition of non-traditional hops) - that proved too much for the snooty raters on Rate Beer. They trashed it. I loved it. Tart and fruity and smooth, I did my best to bump up the score of Absent Landlord (Cowbell).

There were several top notch Belgian Ales/Pale Ales, including Neon Wasteland (Rainhard) and Legendary Muskoka Oddity (Sawdust City), as well as Continental Drift, an excellent Nickel Brook beer billed as a Belgian Pale Ale. My winner is Neon Wasteland.

Two Porters stood out as well: Smoked Porter (Stone) and Stranger Than Fiction from Collective Arts. It was Stone's Smoked Porter for the win.

Five American Pale Ales rose above the rest this year: Simcoe Lollihop and Mosiac Lollihop from Manantler; the always awesome Naughty Neighbour from Nickel Brook; Rhyme and Reason (an old favourite from Collective Arts); and Golden Beach Pale Ale from Sawdust City. The winner is last year's Beer of the Year: Naughty Neighbour.

And there be more IPAs...

I narrowed the Imperial IPA category to nine, which was difficult with so many magnificent doubles out there. I loved Hop Cone Syndrone from Rainhard; Seismic Narwhal from Manantler  was outstanding as ever; Twice As Mad Tom was just as delicious as always; Hop Zombie, which came all the way from New Zealand (it's a long and oft-told story), was spectacular; Twin Pines (Sawdust City) was brilliantly bitter; Robohop (Great Lakes) was a revelation; The Calling, a recent addition to the LCBO's repertoire from Boulevard Brewery of Kansas City was a wonderful surprise (thank you Duvel of Belgium for bumping up distribution); and Nickel Brook's Immodest was divine. As per usual.

The shocking winner (to me) was the beer with the almost unrivalled aroma: Robohop.

The 2016 Mid-Summer
Beer of the Year: Octopus
Wants to Fight (GLB)

There were even more finalists in the IPA category: 14, in fact. I threw Boots Electric and Liquid Swords (Manantler) in the mix, along with My Bitter Wife, Lake Effect, Karma Citra, Thrust! and Octopus Wants to Fight - all from Great Lakes. There was Instigator (Indie Ale House); Headstock (Nickel Brook); Ransack the Universe (Collective Arts); Sculpin (Ballast Point); Fat Tug (Driftwood); Kapow (Rainhard); and Smashbomb Atomic (Flying Monkeys) rounding out the list.

That's too many finalists, so I pared that list down to a more manageable five, with three coming from Great Lakes: Octopus Wants to Fight, Karma Citra and My Bitter Wife. Headstock and Fat Tug also made me deliciously happy this year.

Despite all this greatness, the decision was easy. Winner: Octopus Wants to Fight (Great Lakes).

I made a list of eight finalists (half came from Great Lakes Brewery) for my Mid-Summer Beer of the Year: Robohop, Naughty Neighbour, 24 Carrot Golden Ale, Daywalker, The Imperial Bout, Long Dong Pilsner, Octopus Wants to Fight and Headstock  - but there could be just one winner.

This beer smelled divine, with mango, pineapple and pine tickling the nostrils and plenty of juicy citrus and delicious bitterness to excite the tongue, and is one of the finest IPAs ever produced. The winner, in a landslide, is Octopus Wants to Fight from Great Lakes.

Cheers!