2018 - A Year of Beer in Review

(Part 2)

The toughest thing by far about writing these year-end blogs is choosing the winners in any category involving people.

Picking my favourite beer is no easy task either, but Karma Citra is not going to be butt-hurt if I choose another beer as my favourite over her.

Because Karma Citra is naturally super chill and wouldn't concern herself with feelings of jealousy and ... damn! Did I just assume the gender of a beer? I think I did.

Anyway, people are different than beer, I think that's what I'm trying to say. And breweries are more than just bricks and mortar and shiny things and ... beer. Breweries are made up of people, so when I set about choosing my Brewery of the Year I had a great deal of difficulty in picking a winner.

I was able to pick a few finalists, so that's a start.

Brewery of the Year

Little Beasts, Town, Manantler, Collective Arts, Left Field, Redline

Three local breweries and three other superb Ontario breweries. I talked about how far craft beer has come in Ontario in Part 1 of this blog, and this is a great example of how far it has come right here in Durham Region.

The three local breweries are the ones I frequent far more than any other. They are more convenient, sure, but if the beer wasn't top notch I wouldn't visit, at least not often. And the people? Aces, in my book. Erin and John at Little Beasts, Matt and Corey at Manantler and Tim, Dana and Jeff (to name just a few) at Town. Great people making great beer.

Which is my way of saying I couldn't decide on a winner, so I went local and chose three breweries as my co-winners.

Kaitlyn and Dex from Redline Brewery
in Barrie. Unforgettable hospitality

Winner(s): Little Beasts, Town, Manantler

Best Brewery Experience

I hit up a lot of breweries - near and far - last year, and was treated like gold at damn near every one. Brewery staff always lay out the welcome mat for customers, and when they're welcoming a bunch of bloggers, vloggers, alleged beer 'influencers' and the general ne'er-do-wells I usually associate with, they really go all out.

I enjoy myself whenever I go to a brewery, local or otherwise. I've just always loved the vibe. But when my friends and I hit up a new city to get a taste of the local brew, well, that's just another level.

It's such a blast, and brewery staff go the extra mile to make us feel loved. Me. I would have given us a suspicious glance and counted the sample glasses before the tour started, but brewery people are clearly much more trusting than I am.

Which is a long way of saying this category (this year) is open to breweries from Hamilton, Cambridge, Barrie and the County of Muskoka.

From Cambridge, my favourite was Jackass. Wayne Saunders, who owns the joint with his brother Keith, was behind the bar and it seemed like he was in the mood to party. Naturally, so did we. We really wanted to stay longer. Northland Brewing also got points.

It was difficult to pick a favourite from the Barrie trip because of the incredible people we met at, really, all five breweries we visited. And though Muskoka and Sawdust City made strong cases, Redline's hospitality was seriously on point. From Kaitlyn to Dex to Paul to Joe, even though we were a little (!) drunk by then we were still treated like royalty.

In Hamilton, it was definitely Grain & Grit, with Merit also earning some love. Joe Mrav, who partnered with his wife Lindsey to build this brewery, was on hand to entertain Beer Bro Don and I last February and enlighten us on all things beer, though he wasn't able to cure the bad case of the sniffles (advanced stage) that I was suffering from.

One of his beers - "OMG, I can actually smell this!" - almost did, at least for five minutes.

When you win an award like the
Golden Taps Best Beer Writer
you never let it go, even if it
means cuddling with it
at night. Amirite|?

Winner: Redline. Unforgettable experience.

Best Beer Influencer

I debated the name of this category for a bit - Beer Personality was considered - but settled on 'Influencer' because that's what the people on this list do. They influence people to do good things - Drink Local, Drink Good Beer, Don't Be An Asshole, that sort of thing - and we are all the better for it.

Some people on this list I've met once, others I have yet to meet but talk on social media. Some have quickly become good friends and others - okay, Don - I've known for nearly 40 years. But they all rock my world in some way.

Don Redmond, Ben Johnson, Kathryn Arsenault, Robert Arsenault, Robin LeBlanc, Rene Navarro, Jordan St. John, Dana Jackson, Matt Allott

Winner: Robert Arsenault (Drunk Polkeroo)

The 2018 Best Beer Writer at the Golden Taps Awards, Polk has been a passionate advocate for craft beer for only a few short years, but he is already a star in Ontario's craft beer landscape. Drink Local, Drink Good Beer and Don't Be An Asshole could be his middle names if they weren't so long and wordy.

A worthy winner if there ever was one.

Best Triple Play

This is a category for IPA lovers like myself (it is my blog after all), because it is awarded to the brewery which produces the best IPA/IIPA/APA combination. You know, the classics.

The beer fridge at Town.
Always full of my favourites

This year my finalists came from Bellwood (Ghost Orchid, Cosmic Tiara, Pale Ale - Citra, Mosaic, Eukanot); Left Field (Greenwood, Laser Show, Rally Cap); Collective Arts ( IPA Project #5, Radio the Mothership, Rhyme & Reason); and Town (Brave New World, Planet Caravan, Four Corners).

I gotta visit the folks in Toronto's Leslieville neighbourhood more often.

Winner: Left Field

Best Beer Fridge

When I walk into a brewery I make a beeline for the beer fridge first to see what is coming home with me. I like most of the offerings at most breweries most of the time, but rarely do I like everything I see.

At Bellwoods (Hafis Road) and at Town Brewery, it's rare there is a beer I DON'T like. This also means I drop more of my hard earned dollars whenever I visit, so I guess there's a downside to this too.

Winner(s): Bellwoods (Hafis) and Town

Best Beer Executive

I admit it. I stole this category from my pal Don and his own Year in Beer Review. I think it was Part 3, or maybe Part 6, I'm not sure. Anyway, I have Matt Allott from Manantler; Erin Broadfoot and John Henley (Little Beasts); Spencer McCormack (5 Paddles); Mark Woitzak (Brock Street); and Joe Mrav (Grain & Grit) on my final list.

These are the brewery owners who always make the effort (while doing it effortlessly) to ensure you are made to feel welcome every time you visit; who tell you when they have to clear out the fridge to make room for the next batch and that there are discounts available; and who contact you in advance (so you can raid your piggy bank) to tell you your favourite pale ale is about to return.

Matt Allott. So awesome Santa Claus still
gives him presents

In other words, super awesome people who should be recognized for their awesomeness.

Winner(s): Matt Allott (Manantler) and Erin Broadfoot (Little Beasts)

Best Brewmaster

Always a tough call, especially as I don't always know who's actually making my beer.  But I'm smart enough (just) to recognize brilliance when I taste it, and there are four brewers - three of them local - who I decided to nominate in this category.

Erin Broadfoot (Little Beasts); Tim Ferriman (Town); Corey Fairs (Manantler); and Ryan Morrow (Collective Arts).

All four put out killer beer after killer beer, but no one produced consistent winners like the rock star running the back of the house at Town Brewery in Whitby.

Winner: Tim Ferriman (Town)

Beer of the Year

When I started a list of beers I thought should be nominated for my Best Beer of 2018, I found I had trouble putting my pen down. So many excellent beers were consumed last year I ended up with 31 on my list.

Thirty-one finalists. That's a big number. Besides the usual suspects of IPAs, Imperial IPAs and American Pale Ales, the list includes a Hefeweizen, a Gose, two Saisons, three Sours and even a Dortmund Lager.

There are six finalists from Town Brewery, four each from Collective Arts and Bellwoods and three from Manantler.

Two legendary beers are there as well.  Rochefort Trappiste 10, an Abbey/Quad from Belgium that is consistently among the highest rated beers in the world - it is a beautiful beer - and Heady Topper, a Double IPA from Vermont that I could say was a gift from the gods, except it was a gift from Don.

My Beer of the Year

Meh. Close enough.

Four Corners, Brave New World, Broken Arrow, Planet Caravan and Sticky Finn - all from Town - and So Long and thanks for the IBUs; a Town/Muddy York collaboration. From Collective Arts I have Liquid Arts Fest, Radio the Mothership, IPA Project #5 and Gose with Guava; and from Bellwoods there is Barn Owl #10, Hellwoods, Ghost Orchid and Bring Out Your Dead with cacao nibs and hazelnut. Cascade Lollihop, Death's Tar and Peer Pressure are my three finalists from Manantler.

Little Beasts had a couple of memorable beers last year in Changeling - Peach Apricot and Saison D'ete; and Redline produced two as well: Clutch and Double Clutch. And I could never forget Heady Topper (The Alchemist) and Rochefort Trappiste 10.

Also making the cut was Greenwood (Left Field); Hasheeshian (Chronicle/Wave Maker); Tempest (Amsterdam); Bewitched (Amsterdam); Volt (Signal); Dr. Juice (5 Paddles); Mountain Lager (Side Launch); and Paradise Lost - Spiced Cherry (Blood Brothers).

I never thought I would see the day when my Beer of the Year was a Sour, but here we are. All I had was a shared bottle (three ways!), a glass on tap a couple of days later and then a final bottle (also shared three ways) but it was enough. So tart; so freakin' delicious.

Winner: Peer Pressure (Manantler)

Cheers!