2018 - a Year of Beer in Review

(Part One)

To say 2018 was a great year for beer in this province would not be hyperbole, but instead be a gross understatement. Ontario beer is, quite simply, world class and getting better on the daily.

To quote Ontario Craft Beer Guide authors Robin LeBlanc and Jordan St. John (and not for the first time), "every day that passes is the best day for beer."

I can drink to that.

I got to drink in a lot of different cities and at a lot of new breweries last year, as I opened my heart and mind to the concept of visiting towns and taking over all their breweries. Or as many as we could, anyway.

What an awesome concept.

I got to know Hamilton real well, as I was there at least three times - including once when I was nearly on death's door from a bad case of sniffles - and I was also an enthusiastic participant at brewery takeovers in Cambridge (I miss you Jess!) and Barrie/Muskoka as well.

I also watched my local - Buster Rhino's - close (for two days), then re-open (for two months) before closing again (for a week) before re-opening (under new ownership) as Top Corner, with the core staff (who I love dearly) still slinging suds.

2018 also saw beer lovers across this fine province cast enough votes for my friend Robert Arsenault (Drunk Polkeroo) at the Golden Tap Awards (held in conjunction with the OBAs - the Ontario Brewing Awards) to make Polk the Beer Writer of the Year in Ontario.

The same night in that same venue, Erin Broadfoot and John Henley of Little Beasts Brewing took home the Newcomer of the Year Award at the OBAs. So cool.

So a pretty good year then. And as it is now February, I guess it is also time to do my Best Of 2018 blog, just to see how awesome the beer scene actually was last year.

And yes, I know other, more prolific beer bloggers did their annual reviews a month ago (or more), but I've been busy being me, so here we are.

That and my friend Candice was asking why the hell the year-end blog hadn't been written yet.

Here you go Candice.

As always, the categories are open to beers from every nation and Don's older than I am, so let's get started.

The IPAs and their friends

Most of the beer I drink falls into one of these categories because I drink what I like and I like IPAs and all their pals very, very much.

Eleven 'standard' IPAs made the cut this year.

Wizard Wolf - Mosaic, Ghost Orchid (last year's winner), and Roman Candle, all from Bellwoods; IPA Project #5 (Collective Arts); Dr, Juice (5 Paddles); Brave New World (Town); Greenwood (Left Field); Waheela (Little Beasts); Space Invader (Amsterdam); Sun Kiss (Jackass); and Karma Citra (Great Lakes).

Winner: Greenwood (Left Field). So smooth tasting, with that burst of citrus leaving my mouth feeling happy. A superstar in the making.

There were ten Imperial IPAs on my list of finalists, including two challengers from south of the border. One of those was the legendary Heady Topper from The Alchemist in Vermont (a gift from my pal Don), which more than lived up to its billing. So freakin' good. But did it win?

Radio the Mothership (Collective Arts); Hop Rising (Squatters); Heady Topper (The Alchemist); Cosmic Tiara and Double Dry-Hopped Cat Lady (Bellwoods); Immodest (Nickel Brook); Laser Show (Left Field); Planet Caravan (Town); Double Clutch (Redline); and Beyond the Pail (Falcon).

Winner: Radio the Mothership (Collective Arts). Dangerously delicious. Go Ontario!

American Pale Ales, or Day Beers, as I call them, make up a significant portion of my beer consumption, with the low ABV and the shit-ton of flavour the reasons why. Ten APAs made my final list.

Morning Glory (Fairweather); Cascade Lollihop (Manantler); Four Corners (Town); Clutch (Redline); Borealis Citra (Elora); Pale Ale - Citra, Mosaic, Eukanot (Bellwoods); Pinion (Little Beasts); Naughty Neighbour (Nickel Brook); Rally Cap (Left Field); and Rhyme & Reason (Collective Arts).

Winner(s): Cascade Lollihop (Manantler) and Four Corners (Town). Two of my absolute favourite beers from 2018. Both were just so fantastic I couldn't decide.

More friends ...

Sour Pale Ale: Peer Pressure (Manantler). Brewmaster Corey Fair's first attempt at a Sour. I'd say keep doing what you're doing Corey. Spectacular brew. I want more.
Sour IPA: Skull Pucker (5 Paddles)
Oat IPA: Oat of this World (Manantler). Lots of beers with oats in the mash, but this is the only one with oats in the name, too, so it gets its own category. Plus, I liked it a lot.
Rye IPA: Rainbow in the Dark (Redline)
Belgian IPA: Bewitched (Wellington). Part of a re-branded brewery mixed-six, this was a treasure.
Belgian IIPA: Broken Arrow (Town). A serious Beer-of-the-Year candidate.
Brut IPA: Inner Sunset (5 Paddles)
White IPA: Sundrop Wheat IPA (Fairweather)
Session IPA: Light Ray (Grain & Grit)
Milkshake IPA: Liquid Arts Fest (Collective Arts). The best of this style I've ever enjoyed.
Brett IPA: Barn Owl #10 (Bellwoods). Another Beer-of-the-Year contender. Sour and refreshing at the same time. It was like pineapple meets Sour Key.
Black IPA: Death's Tar (Manantler). Honourable mention goes to The Dominatrix (5 Paddles) and Apocalypse Later (Great Lakes)
Session Black IPA: Hot Wax (Manantler)

Sours became a really big deal for me in 2018. In fact, I'm not ashamed to say I fell madly in love with the style, with a handful of soured beer among my top 30 or so beers last year.

I had a runaway winner in the Gose category, and seven finalists in the contemporary dry-hopped section. I could have easily added more.

There were two versions of Changeling from Little Beasts on the list and two from Bellwoods as well.

Motley Cru 2018 - Black Raspberry and Jelly King - Strawberry Rhubarb (Bellwoods) were both delicious, as was Changeling - Peach Apricot and Changeling - Cherry from Little Beasts. Full marks to Blood Brothers for their Spiced Cherry - I put a good dent in at least two kegs at my local - and to Wellington (Little Current) and Fairweather (Dream Pop).

Winner(s): Changeling - Peach Apricot (Little Beasts) and Paradise Lost - Spiced Cherry (Blood Brothers) 

Gose - Gose with Guava (Collective Arts). The aroma is grapefruit, tartness and childhood memories. Brilliantly made beer.

The dark ales got some love in 2018 too, and I certainly wouldn't forget the Stouts and Imperial Stouts that get so much attention on beer rating sites. Especially now, in this most wintry of seasons that is the best time of the year to be a lover of all things dark.

There were two light Stouts that caught my attention in 2018: Build Women Up, a collaboration beer brewed by Town with TV personality Kate Campbell that helps support women in the trades, and Mystery Beer 'A,' part of a promotion from Nickel Brook that let customers choose the brewery's next beer.

Winner: Build Women Up (Town)

Five worthy (and big and beautiful) Imperial Stouts made my final cut, including two from Bellwoods. There was Bring Out Your Dead - with cacao nibs and hazelnut and Hellwoods from Bellwoods, as well as Petite Mort - Whisky (Dunham); Tempest (Amsterdam) and the legendary Canadian Breakfast Stout - Barrel-Aged from Founders, which was amazing. I'm especially glad I drank it from a bottle that still had a Mountie on it and, more importantly, that it was consumed before I learned about the culture of racism that appears to exist at the Michigan brewery.

Winner: Hellwoods (Bellwoods). Coffee, bitter chocolate and dark, possibly demonic, fruit. Hellishly good.

I'm starting to appreciate a well-made Saison now, and there were four that stood out for me in 2018. Little Beasts had two - the always awesome Sason D'ete and Really Good Friends, a beer brewed by Brewmaster Erin with the aforementioned Robin (The Thirsty Wench), Rene Navarro (Beer Diversity) and PFLAG Durham in support of the local LGBTQ community. Signal made a top notch beer in this style in Volt, and Barn Owl #11 from Bellwoods was pretty damn good as well.

Winner: Saison D'ete (Little Beasts) So simple. So good.

There was also a Sour Saison I really liked, so I put that in its own category.

Winner: Neon Lights (Town)

There were a few other beer styles I enjoyed last year, just less often.

Hefeweizen - Hasheeshian (Chronicle/Wave Maker) - A delicious one-off collaboration between Chronicle and still-not-quite-opened Wave Maker of Cambridge. Which meant my pal Jim Gorry (the former Head Brewer of Chronicle) got together with my other pal Matt Chellew, (now a Brewer at Wave Maker), to make a kick-ass beer.
English Mild - Hero's Handbag (Chronicle)
Brown Ale - Dark & Sticky IBA (Cameron's). Honourable mention to Redline's Leather Interiors.
Hoppy Lager - 12 Mile IPL (Cameron's) Honourable mention to The Cat's Away IPL (Great Lakes).
Abbey/Quad - Rochefort Trappiste 10. Honourable mention to 11.05 (Sawdust City/Collective Arts)
Abbey Dubbel - Chimay Red
Dortmund Lager - Mountain Lager (Side Launch). I finally listened to beer writer Ben Johnson, who has been raving about this beer for years, and tried one. I highly recommend his recommendation.
Kolsch - Absent Landlord (Cowbell)
Belgian Wit - Sticky Fingers (Town). Really tasty brew.
Barley Wine - Madness of Ophelia (5 Paddles). The 2016 version. (I think.)
Porter - Harry Porter (Great Lakes)

The big categories, including Best Brewer, Best Brewery and Best Beer, as well as a few others I will make up after a few more beers tonight, will be published tomorrow.

Or maybe the day after. One of these days, anyway.

Cheers!