2020 - A Year of Beer in Review Part 2

After a month that was more procrastination than production, I think it's time to wrap up this blog of the best beers (and other things) of 2020. Especially as we are more than halfway through the first month of 2021. It wouldn't be the latest I published my year-end blog, and as I take no pride in that record I figure I'll get right to it.

Besides, there's a new President in Washington now, so I guess it's finally 'officially' 2021.

The Top Ten - the beers that stirred my soul 

Wellington Nothing Civil IPA

The can art was sublime, the poetry (by Truth Is ...) was brutally honest and the beer was pretty damn good too. 

Fruity aroma with pineapple and citrus. The pineapple is more prominent on the tongue, along with slightly tart citrus and a touch of long-suppressed anger. Nothing flashy about this beer: it's smooth, a little juicy and damn good. Also, the can art and the poem is the absolute bomb. Black Lives Matter

Bellwoods Barn Owl #22

I was ignorant of how good a barrel-aged Sour could be until this beer came around. The ultimate blend of funk and tartness. Well worth the $12 price.

Funk, tartness and some fruit on the nose. Looks beautiful in the glass too. Tartness and apricots on the tongue, with the funk now subdued. Fruity and delicious

Matron Janky

Matron Janky IPA

I had been drinking so many Hazy IPAs, with the occasional West Coast thrown in, that I forgot how a perfectly balanced beer should taste. This is that beer.

There's fresh citrus on the nose. Super balanced, slightly juicy with a hint of dankness and smooth AF. Delicious

Stonehooker Tantrum

I had a good idea that Stonehooker brewer Adam Cherry could brew a world-class beer from a 2019 stop, but this beer - from an early Autumn visit to the patio with my pal Don and his son David - was a revelation. So very, very good.

Delicious beer. Citrus and a bit of sweetness on the nose. Taste is tropical, with pineapple and tangerine, along with some melon. Luscious on the tongue. Did I say delicious?

Third Moon Epoch with Guava, Mango & Apricot

Everything I brought home from a summer stop to this upstart Milton brewery was excellent, but their Epoch line of dry-hopped Sours - particularly this one - was over the top goodness.

Tart guava and other tropical goodies in the aroma. Damn, this is delicious! It's guava juice, with a dollop of mango

Sawdust City Everyday Magic

I got this in my glass early in the year and it was my number one Beer-of-the-Year contender until mid-summer when other pretenders started appearing. An absolutely wonderful beer.

Citrus and tropical fruit aroma. Big flavour, with loads of pineapple and papaya and a bit of coconut on the back end. Juicy. Creamy. Delicious

Blood Brothers Paradise Lost Pear with Chai

I had been enjoying so many excellent Sours at this time with blueberry and with citrus flavours that I wasn't expecting this spicy number to wow me. It wowed me. Simply fantastic.

Chai spices on the nose, with nutmeg most prominent, with some green apple and pear as well. Super tart on the tongue, with an apple pie sweetness from the cinnamon and nutmeg to go with lemony tartness. Super good

Collective Arts Blueberry Sour with Cacao Nibs

The first Sour to make an impact on me in 2020, and the first of several blueberry Sours that got my taste buds excited. Another early front-runner for my Beer-of-the-Year

Looks and smells like blueberry puree. Wow. Tons of berry on the sip, followed by a fruity-chocolate finish. Thick and rich, this is the bee's knees

Little Beasts Valkyrie

My favourite beer of 2019 and I certainly couldn't leave it off my contender list for 2020, could I? Especially since I continued to enjoy this brew whenever it was available and it never, ever let me down.

Orange and mango aroma with a touch of sweetness. Tastes like Valhalla, with tropical fruit, a bit of Belgian-ish yeastiness from the (Norweigian) Kriek yeast and a finishing tang unlike any other beer. Outstanding.

Town Absolute Unit

Rich and tropical, this was my favourite Imperial IPA of 2020.

Rich aroma of tropical fruit and citrus. More tropical goodness on the tongue, with orange, some pineapple and a hint of tart guava. There is a bit of welcome stickiness on the back end

Honorable Mentions: Karma Citra and Burst from Great Lakes and at least a couple from Bellwoods' Jelly King series - Peach & Mango Passionfruit. That Wellington Faces IIPA with Cascade & Chinook was pretty great too.

My Favourite Blog of 2020

I wrote a very sweet blog about living with my 87 year-old parents during the pandemic that got a lot of positive traction and I thank my friends for that. I also had some fun at the beginning of the year talking about my knee replacement surgery in somewhat graphic detail. But the blog that gave me the most joy came from a December 1 post called The @glennhendry Appliance Series, (or, How I came to be Almost Famous).

The genesis of the 'series' came from a complaint that I wasn't posting enough pics for my friends on Beer Twitter's liking, which morphed into a 10-day campaign where my pals would post pics of beer on or in everyday appliances (with my name attached), just to prove that beer pics don't have to be professional-looking to be post-worthy. I was going through a particularly tough time - it was pre-Christmas in the Year 2020; who wasn't? - and the campaign, along with the Twitter poll that went with it - made my heart sing when I needed it most. So thank you.

Best Brewer

This was a tough one, and I waffled between perennial favourite Ryan Morrow (Collective Arts) and relative newbies Justin da Silva (Matron) and Adam Cherry (Stonehooker). The winner simply kept producing winners with every beer. I've never had a bad one at this Port Credit brewery and I have enjoyed plenty of stellar brews. And he's an awesome dude. That's good enough for me.

Matron Brewery,
Prince Edward County

Adam Cherry - Stonehooker

Best Brewery

Quite a few finalists on my list. Bellwoods, Matron, Stonehooker, Little Beasts, Town, Wellington, Collective Arts, Sawdust City, Badlands, Third Moon, Dominion City, Spearhead and Great Lakes. The brewery that stood out the most to me was the one that made me fall in love with lagers AND produced an amazing IPA. It was the folks from The County who got my vote.

Matron Brewery

Best New Brewery

This was an easy one. They opened their doors right in the middle of a Pandemic and never looked back, producing outstanding beer after outstanding beer. IPAs, Imperial Stouts, Sours: all top-notch. They've already gained quite a reputation with the hop heads and they're on most must-visit lists.

Third Moon Brewery

Beer of the Year

I had my top 10 to choose from and I wavered a bit before narrowing it down to two: Matron Janky IPA and Bellwoods Barn Owl #22. Balanced and Beautiful vs Tart and Funky. My horoscope says I'm a Libra, so balance wins.

Matron Janky IPA

Will we be doing this in 2021?
I have no idea. But I sure hope so

The Real Champions of 2020

My friend Erin at Little Beasts was quoted as saying she was sick of hearing so often how Ontario breweries were 'pivoting' their business model during Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. Of course, that's exactly what breweries did: most transitioned to online sales and deliveries, some sold hand sanitizer, and they all did whatever they could to stay afloat.

All those pre-Covid business plans got thrown out the window in mid-March, and breweries have been dealing with a constantly changing retail climate since then. It has been "beyond exhausting," Erin told me in October and it has not got any easier in the ensuing months.

But they have persevered and almost all are still here, making Ontario Breweries the real champions of 2020.

Honorable mention goes to you, me, and everyone else who supported our breweries this year. If we hadn't shown our support with our hard-earned dollars, well ... let me just say we all deserve a medal (or at least a pat on the back) for our service.

I hope to see some of you, with a pint of beer in hand, real soon.

Cheers!