Year-end Review: Best of 2019

(Part Two)

The best of the best of the best, huh?

With so many excellent breweries run by so many amazing people producing so many great beers, it was tougher than usual picking my favourite this year. Choosing my top brewery, brewer and all my other best-of winners was no easy task either.

First world problems I guess.

With all my category winners checked off in Part One of this year-end blog, it's time to pick the beers that really blew me away in 2019, a top-10 list I narrowed down to 11.

Eleven Most Delicious Beers of 2019

I think the first beer I raved about last spring was Double Jutsu from Bellwoods. I'd had it before but this batch seemed to speak to me, and in a super sexy voice too. Not long after that transcendent experience I enjoyed my first Peanut Butter Godiva from 5 Paddles and I thought I was in peanut butter heaven. An incredible beer I've had many times since.

My first trip (of several) to Fairweather Brewing in Hamilton was highlighted by a single hop Pale Ale called One By One - Simcoe (or alternatively, Menagerie - the naming conventions at Fairweather get confusing sometimes), while my second visit was capped by a delicious Porter by the very apt name of Silky. A subsequent trip to neighbouring Grain & Grit unearthed a Belgian IPA by the name of Crop Circles and you can probably see why I love Hamilton's beer scene so much.

Peanut Butter Godiva

A DIPA With Fruit, a collaboration between Dominion City (Ottawa) and Barncat (Cambridge) arrived by Canada Post later in the year and was simply divine, and that was (almost) rivaled by another IIPA, Double Descente from Boreale of Quebec. That one was a gift from mes amis Ottawa Joel. Thanks buddy.

Speaking of Ottawa, a little downtown brewery housed in the basement of an 1867 piece of history produced a beer - Waller Street Black IPA - that was incredibly impressive. And then there was Karma Citra, an IPA from Great Lakes I have been salivating over since I first got into craft beer six years ago.

That leaves me with two offerings from Little Beasts: Little Wizards, a Gose which is a collaboration with local hot spot Brew Wizards that hit all the right salty/sour notes; and Valkyrie, a Kviek-yeasted APA that I praised so much and so often that Erin & John put it in the regular rotation just to shut me up. That's the story I'm sticking with, anyway.

One of these brews is going to be my Beer of the Year.

Best Beer Writer

I read other beer writers when I can, though it's usually something I just happen upon on social media, rather than something I seek out. I catch up on international beer news through Stephen Beaumont, American beery tales through Bryan Roth and I love to read anything by Jordan St. John. I wish he'd write more often.

My Beer Bros Don Redmond and Robert Arsenault (Drunk Polkeroo) are the writers closest to my heart and both are prolific, entertaining and highly skilled at their craft and I get a little hitch in my giddy-up when I see one of them posted something new. But the star writer of 2019, in my mind, was someone who always seemed to be the first to break the story on critical issues - you know, the ones involving misogyny and racism and stuff - and was a fierce defender of all that was good in the world of craft beer.

Double Jutsu

Robin LeBlanc for the win.

Best Beer City

My travels took me to Hamilton (numerous times), Ottawa, Toronto (particularly the west side of the city) and a few other spots around the province, but the little town immediately to the west of my home in downtown Oshawa earned most of my love - and my cash - in 2019. Home court advantage to be sure, but it is what it is.

Whitby gets the nod, with Hamilton real close.

Breweries I want to visit in 2020

I have enjoyed beer from a few on this list, such as Elora, Rouge River and Wavemaker, while Badlands, Godspeed and Mascot would be brand new experiences. I also want to visit whatever brewery Jim Gorry opens in Orono next year, although we all know how the business works so there's no guarantee Jim will be open in 2020. But here's hoping.

Number one on this list, however, is Wavemaker in Cambridge. My pal Matt brews there and a group of us visited Matt and Jess (best boss ever) in 2018 - before the brewery opened. I haven't been back but I aim to rectify that in 2020.

Best Brewmaster

I know a few brewers but I don't really know what goes on every day at my favourite breweries, so there's a lot of speculation and dart-throwing in this category. But I managed to pick five brewers for my final list: Erin Broadfoot and John Henley at Little Beasts; Corey Fairs at Manantler; Mike Lackey at Great Lakes and Ram McAllister at Fairweather.

Valkyrie

In the end I went with the brewer who hasn't had a misstep that I know of in 2019 (unless you count a non-existent Twitter presence, which is not really his department so I won't): Ram McAllister (Fairweather).

Brewery of the Year

Tough call here for sure, but I winnowed the list down to five breweries that all mastered the secret art of being innovative as well as consistently awesome. Manantler, Little Beasts and 5 Paddles from my Durham Region backyard, as well as Dominion City (Ottawa) and Fairweather (Hamilton), made the final cut.

Considering it led in category nominations (9) and just may have produced my Beer of the Year as well (spoiler alert!), the choice is clear: It's gotta be Little Beasts (Whitby).

Beer of the Year

You probably know by now which beer is my champion of 2019. God, I love Kviek yeast.

Valkyrie (Little Beasts)

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Year in Review - 2019 in Beer

(Part One)

Year-end blogs are highly subjective affairs at the best of times. It's MY favourite beers after all, and you didn't get a vote.

Also, being relatively poor means my disposable income is limited, so I tend to buy a lot of what I already know or are very confident I will love. I get out and about a bit to stretch my palate on occasion and I am usually pleasantly surprised when I do, so maybe there's hope for me as a beer reviewer yet.

But I freely admit my list barely scratches the surface of the wonderful selection of beer we have at our disposal in this province. So be it. I am writing this year-end review anyway.

Besides, I have a few family members and a handful of friends who have the misguided view that I am a Beer Influencer. Bless you for that, but you are incorrect. Maybe next year.

So  I write, which is  a good thing, as I haven't written much of anything in several months. I rehashed some old blogs but produced nothing new since I wrote a story on the Downtown Whitby Beer Festival in early October. Before that it was Part One (of what was supposed to be a three-part blog) of the Ottawa Brewery Invasion in September. Parts Two & Three never saw print.

This shot from Port Credit's Stonehooker Brewery
 - brilliantly captured by Candice - sums up the
vibe we all experience at our Brewery Invasions.
The next one is next month in Kingston.

Sorry Waller Street Brewing, Bicycle  Brewing and Dominion City. My pal Don wrote about you, so there's that.

We did another brewery invasion in November, hitting up five of Hamilton's excellent breweries (Fairweather, Grain & Grit, Merit, Collective Arts and Clifford), as well as Nickel Brook, Cameron's and Stone Hooker just to the east.

Not a word from me, however.

But there's a lot more to enjoying great beer than writing about it and 2019 turned out to be a pretty special year for beer and the friendships that go along with it.

Using that a touchstone, it was a damn good year for beer indeed.

I spent a day up at Lake of Bays' Huntsville Brewhouse helping to brew a beer, made multiple visits to Hamilton (I love the Hammer) and, as mentioned, sampled some of Ottawa's best during a memorable trip to our nation's capital.

I also visited my locals - particularly Little Beasts and Manantler - as often as I could afford, so I was able to get out of the house a bit.

And 2020 promises to be a much more productive year, filled with big changes. I'm moving, for one thing (although that has been delayed numerous times already so I shouldn't jinx it) and that comes with a new job and new responsibilities.

I'm really looking forward to that.

I'm also getting a full knee replacement (Total Knee Arthoplasty is the technical term) for my left knee in just over a week. Not sure I'm exactly looking forward to that, or to the physio that will follow, but it has to be done and I'm anxious to get started on this new chapter.

Maybe - just maybe - I can get back to writing on a regular basis too. I be REALLY looking forward to that.

Speaking of which, this is supposed to be a blog about beer, so let's get started.

IPAs and their friends

Karma Citra

IPA - The OG for me, and the style that got me hooked on craft beer. It's also still the most popular craft beer, and I had plenty of excellent examples to choose from this year. But for once, there wasn't a beer that stood out from the rest. I considered four from Great Lakes Brewery (GLB) - still the King of IPAs in Ontario - and 14 other beers from 13 different breweries.

The finalists included Octopus Wants To Fight, As Far Back As I Can Remember, Karma Citra and Thrust! from GLB; Roman Candle and Ghost Orchid from Bellwoods; as well as Greenwood (Left Field), High Grade (Fairweather), Headstock (Nickel Brook), On The Lam (Bicycle), Hazed & Confused (Muskoka), Australis (Elora), Fat Tug (Driftwood), In the Palms (Grain & Grit), Sunsplit (Dominion City), Square Wheels (Town), Dr. Juice (5 Paddles) and Melo (Wavemaker).

Often  a finalist but never a winner, Karma Citra (GLB) takes home the prize this year.

Imperial IPA - Could be the strongest category in 2019, with more than one IIPA also making my Best-of-the-Best list. So many impressive doubles this year, including Radio the Mothership and Big Cat Roars from Collective Arts, Double Descente fom Boreale. Unrivalled from Merit, A DIPA With Fruit from Dominion City and Barncat, Hopslam from Bells, Double Jutsu from Bellwoods, Laser Show from Left Field and Lil' Sebastian from Town.

The winner came in a box from Ottawa, via Canada Post - my one and only beer mail in 2019: A DIPA With Fruit (Dominion City/Barncat)

Triple IPA - I didn't enjoy too many Triple IPAs this past year, but there were three which stood out: Null & Void from Dominion City, Sparklepuff from Flying Monkeys - yes, if you can get a can without chunks it is a sublime beer - and Kraken from Little Beasts.

Considering Sparklepuff's controversial history, I chose Null & Void (Dominion City) and Kraken (Little Beasts) in a dead heat.

Quadruple IPA - Yes, that's a thing, though I had just one this year. But it was a winner: Cradle to Grave (5 Paddles)

Milkshake IPA -  I feel like this style suffered somewhat after the initial craze a couple of years ago as too many brewers were producing thin beers that tasted of vanilla and lactose and not much else. But there were two which stood out for me in 2019: Rumble Juice, a collaboration between Little Beasts and a couple of local homebrewers; and Peach & Apricot from Bicycle.

The winner? Rumble Juice (Little Beasts)

Crop Circles

Session IPA - Me, Myself & Mosaic (Manantler) for the win, besting Good Times (Beau's) and Paddle On (Lake of Bays).

Wet Hopped IPA - V Bines (5 Paddles)
Black IPA - Waller Street Black IPA
Nano IPA - We All Can't Be Patrick Swayze (5 Paddles)
Rye IPA - Rainbows in the Dark (Redline)

Belgian or White IPA - Three excellent examples of the style - a long-time favourite of mine - were Crop Circles (Grain & Grit), Rabbit of Caebernog (Indie Ale House) and Wag the Wolf (Beau's).

The champ is one of my favourite beers of 2019: Crop Circles (Grain & Grit).

ESB - A style I used to enjoy more often, so when I tried Mugg's Life (Manantler) I knew I had to honour it. Thanks Matt.

American Pale Ale - Might be my favourite style these days. More sessionable and so incredible delicious. If I could marry an APA, I would. Eleven made the cut in 2019, including two from Little Beasts (Valkyrie & Pinion); two from Manantler (Eastern Promises & Tunnel Vision); two from Fairweather (One By One Idaho Gem & One By One Simcoe); two from Bellwoods (Wizard Wolf Citra & Columbus and Wizard Wolf Simcoe & Mosaic); Redline (Clutch), Beyond the Pale (Yummy) and Town (Four Corners).

The winner (by a landslide): Valkyrie (Little Beasts)

The Dark Side

Imperial Stout - I spent my cash judiciously on these beers, which can be pricey, so I missed out on most of the special releases of 2019. But the ones I did enjoy? So worth it. My three finalists were Origin of Darkness - with Cannelloni (Collective Arts), Peanut Butter Godiva (5 Paddles) and Prodromus (Omnipollo).

Silky

Considering how often I waxed poetically about it, the obvious winner was Peanut Butter Godiva (5 Paddles).

Porter - Two finalists to select from, and they're both from Hamilton: Clifford Porter and Silky (Fairweather). The winner is Silky (Fairweather). So good.

Tropical Stout - Wait So Long (Little Beasts/Victor North)
Session Stout - Peanut Butter Shake (Whitewater)
Brown Ale - Barley Brown (Manantler)

Lagers, Saisons & Sours

Sours - The tangy goodness of a well-made Sour is a well deserved break after a tough day, and the market is full of excellent Sours these days. There were five  which got my attention in 2019, including two from Fairweather: Dream Pop and Kokomo. Little Beasts (Changeling - Peach/Apricot), Town (Fruit Dart) and Shacklands (Cosmic Trigger) also made the list.

The winners are Cosmic Trigger (Shacklands) and Fruit Dart (Town).

Saisons - Two finalists, with La Saison d'Ete (Little Beasts) edging Earl Grey Marmalade (Dominion City).

Lager - Decoy Lager (Spearhead)
Kolsch - Clean Cut (Beyond the Pale)
Gose - Little Wizard (Little Beasts/Brew Wizards)

Next up, my top 11 beers of 2019 (I couldn't stop at 10), Best Brewer, Best Brewery, a few other best-in-class winners and my Beer of the Year.

Cheers!

First published in 2013, I tweak it a bit from time to time. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all in this great city! We will get through this to hug again

The Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Shwa

Not a creature was stirring, not even the law
My IPA was spiked with the finest in cheap gin
St Nicholas would know that was a win

My youngest was nestled all snug in his bed,
While visions of Mem Cup tickets danced in his head
And me in my boxers, the presents in a heap

Had just passed out for a short Christmas sleep

When out on the driveway there arose such a din
I sprang from the couch, knocking over the gin
Away to the door I ran but I stumbled
My boxers were tattered my fingers they fumbled

I made it outside in time to see a rare thing

The Mayor of Oshawa in full gangsta bling

He gave me a nod to say it was safe to go home

He didn’t see the sleigh all shiny and chromed

The man in the suit, I knew him straight away

I saw him downtown already today

His sleigh-pulling team, faster than eagles

Was six new Sierras and a used Buick Regal

Now Davis and Kornic! Now Giberson I say!

On Bell! On Julius! On Rosemary and Gray!
To the top of the building! To the top of the sky!
I put down the bottle ‘cause I must be too high

As dry heaves convulse me for I’ve seen far too much
I’ve seen bloody Santa Claus, his presents and such

I shielded my eyes as his sleigh-cars they glistened

I knew he was real, if only they listened

And then, in a flash I heard a noise on my ceiling
Like the sounds from the BIA, when one side’s appealing
I raced in the house in time to see Big Red

The jolly guy himself asleep on my bed

He was dressed in bright red, trimmed in black leather
He looked like he could handle any foul weather
His big sack of toys had fallen to the floor
The mud from his boots left a trail to the door

His eyes, how they sparkled! I’d say if he woke

But alas! I just hoped he hadn’t had a stroke
His face was all crimson, that was a concern

I hoped it wasn't Covid; perhaps just sunburn

His lips lacked the pipe he smoked in the day

Santa quit smoking, hip hip and hooray!
He had a kind little face and a six-pack for a tummy

He’d been to the gym; Mrs. Claus didn’t raise no dummy

He jumped to his feet; Santa was ready to go

There were kids to appease, he couldn’t say no

He gave me a smile, a nod and a wink

And said he’s off to drop toys at Harmon Park rink

He floated out the window and onto his sleigh

And revved up the engines, like’s he’s done each day

He gave me a wave and he soared o’er the trees

The Oshawa Centre be the next thing he sees

He blared all his horns as his sleigh flew away

Christmas, he yelled, comes only today
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"