Whilst generally this year has been a good year for beer, looking through my untappd check-ins it doesn’t appear to have been a vintage one personally. Casting aside bottleshare sips of aged, one off and extremely rare or unusual beers, it took me quite a while of scrolling through the list to find a nominee for every category that I rated highly, and that I returned to. Maybe I’m a bit jaded, or maybe my standards have risen. Certainly, for me, while I haven’t found anything to overly dislike this year a lot of beers have seemed indistinct, with the same flavours and textures – particularly at the hoppier end of the spectrum. A lot of my choices are old favourites, existing Breweries that have raised their game, or venues that I cherish.
Picking winners for each category is always difficult, but more so this year when I’ve been drinking pretty much exclusively UK beer and also not making many ventures to pastures new – its been a year of, well, not exactly sticking to what I know, but perhaps reining back on the extremes of looking for the ‘new’.
Best UK Cask Beer – Tough choices here, but in what is fast becoming a yearly tradition I am voting for Magic Rock High Wire again…why vote for anything else other than repeated perfection?
Best UK Keg Beer – Marble Beers’ Gale’s Prize Old Ale (Bourbon Barrel Aged) was an utter delight at Dark City – so good I almost immediately went back for more. To be fair, this would probably also win best bottled beer, if I wasn’t saving the bottles I have in the cupboard. Verdant’s Maybe one more PSI was also a memorable glass amongst the tide of Murk, as was Magic Rock Brewing’s Psychokinesis – Sorachi goes well with the new breed of IPA – why aren’t we seeing more of this?
Best UK Bottled Beer – Kernel never let me down, and their Biere De Saison Perle Simcoe was one of the most memorable beers of the year. Lost and Grounded’s Keller Pils was also a fridge staple.
Best UK Canned Beer – Summer Wine take the nod for this category. It was great to see them back on the shelves, and Pico Diego was a low-abv revelation. Also, Cloudwater Brewing get all the headlines for their DIPAs, and I’m sure they won’t be short of nominations in this category for those, but I enjoyed their range of IPLs even more – especially the Autumn + Winter IPL El Dorado Mosaic which filled my fridge in February
Best Overseas Draught – I haven’t been dipping my toe in these waters much, but all the Other Half Brewing beers I’ve tried at Hop City/elsewhere on occasion have been great. Double Mosaic Dream in particular. I also usually enjoy Dugges Bryggeri when I see it – Big Idjit did it for me.
Best Overseas Bottled Beer – Not a new beer, but Brouwerij De Ranke’s XX Bitter always keeps me going with its unrelenting bitterness. In a similar vein – De Dolle Arabier was also something I drank quite a few of.
Best Overseas Canned Beer – I rarely buy these, so I’d have to go with a nostalgic hooray for the return to these shores of Odell St. Lupulin – I still love it.
Best Collaboration Brew – Fuller’s combining with Marble Beers for Gale’s Prize Old Ale, but also a gracious nomination for the Fuller’s and Friends collabs with Marble and Moor. Cloudwater and The Veil also made a can of peach juice called Chubbles that was pretty delicious as well.
Best Overall Beer – Third mention for Marble Beers for Gale’s Prize Old Ale. I’ve praised it twice already, so enough said. Champion.
Best Branding – Leeds’ own Eyes Brewing have lots of designs that catch the eye. Abstract and unique.
Best Pump Clip – Erm…the new Harvey’s clips are a nice shade of Turquoise….
Best Bottle/Can Label – Northern Monk’s Patrons Project cans deserve to take this award for the sheer amount of effort that goes into every one, the Ingleborough Session Porter is just one outstanding example amongst many. Also, I very much admire the shiny cans from Burnt Mill – contents were pretty decent too.
Best UK Brewery – Always tough, and I usually stay within the Yorkshire boundaries, but this year I’m going for Marble – Gale’s Prize old Ale series, White Wine Pugin, Your Betrayal,
Best Overseas Brewery – Dugges for the beers I’ve tried this year, but overall I still drink more beers from Belgium than any other country outside the UK, so De Ranke.
Best Pub/Bar of the Year – I don’t like picking a best for this category, as mine changes visit by visit, but I’ve really enjoyed my end of the night visits to The Turk’s Head. Cosy and calm, with great beer and service.
Best New Pub/Bar of the Year – It is great to see The Cardigan Arms reopened and revived by Kirkstall Brewery – as lovely as it should be, and with enough of the touches that beer geeks like, but also keeping accessible and friendly to all.
Beer Festival of the Year – Leeds International Beer Festival obviously, but Hop/Dark City were also great this year, and will go from strength to strength.
Supermarket of the Year – Morrisons for keeping their range fresh for a few fridge fillers.
Independent Retailer of the Year – I’m not going to pick a winner, as we are so utterly spolit in Leeds that I rotate my visits between 4/5 shops, but Little Leeds Beer House is somewhere I always visit when I’m in town, and Raynville Superstore is expanding ever more. Both excellent places to stand, chat and choose.
Online Retailer of the Year – I only ordered beer online once this year, and was left a little disappointed. So meh.
Best Beer Book or Magazine – Boak and Bailey’s 20th Century Pub – it’s about so much more than beer, and an essential read for anyone trying to understand the history of UK drinking culture.
Best Beer Blog or Website – Again, Boak and Bailey – I don’t think there is anywhere that is producing such a variety of great articles that isn’t a full time, paid operation. Good Beer Hunting always come up with interesting perspectives, and there’s plenty of full time and amateur bloggers out there whose sites I regularly read – they know who they are. Shout out to Hopinions as well for filling my bus journeys with an hour (or more) of beery content every week.
Simon Johnson award for Best Beer Twitterer – I’m not going to pick a favourite here, but shouts go to @6TownsMart – travels through Europe and the UK, with plenty of excellent beer tips, @thebeernut – fully formed Beer reviews, with a side of pithy humour and @RowettBrew – pisstaking, homebrewing and general LOLage.
Barrel Aged Leeds 