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!