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!