My Year In Beer

No, I have not spent a year actually IN beer, although my liver might disagree with that!

This could end up being a long and drawn out ramble so bear with me.. I'll start with the bars.
Bars
Evening Star - I love that place, it's friendly, the beers are always top notch and it's somewhere great to go outside London

Euston Tap - FINALLY somewhere to drink other than The Rake! I know the guys behind this and the Sheffield Tap and they're onto a winner with it.
The White Horse, Parson's Green - Still the best pub in London and still going from strength to strength.
The Bunch of Grapes, Pontypridd - Run by the guys behind the Otley Brewing Company, great beer, great atmosphere and awesome food. Such a great place to drink in!

Blogs
Boggle About Beer - Sorry Pete Brown but it was really good to see you knocked off number one, even for just one month! Sid has a mission to stop the spoogebeerians and his blog is a great read!
Tandleman's Beer Blog - It's been a pleasure getting to know Peter this year, he comes across as a bit of a grumpy old git at times but so do I. He knows his stuff though and it comes across in his writing.
Cooking Lager - Do I need to say anymore? Legend!


Brewers
Thornbridge - One of my beers of the year was Thornstar, along with Kipling, Jaipur, Lord Marples.....blah blah blah, I could go on all day with this list!
Kernel - One man, one small brewery, so much great beer, as one of my staff said about a week ago 'I've never come across a Kernel beer I didn't like'. I second that.

Dark Star - Consistent, great, tasty beers. Not nearly enough recognition from the Geekaratti.
Otley - Still making great beers and still letting me loose in the brewery a couple of times a year, look out for more Utobeer/Otley collaboration this year!


Beers

Goose Island IPA - Still as consistently great as ever, a beer for brewers to aspire to!
Kernel S.C.A.N.NS IPA - One of Evins best beers this year.
Schlenkerla Urbock - Waited a long time to get this to The Rake and it was worth the wait. Simply the best smoked beer I have ever tasted!


Best Moments
My Wedding - Heed my words, getting married is the best!
My Honeymoon - My first stateside trip and because of it, not my last, so much great beer, so little time.

What a rabble, what a great day!

Twissup #1 - First of the Twissups in Sheffield and a great time was had by all!
Boggle Gets to No.1 - Already said it, I'm a bit of a sucker for the underdog so it was great to see him get to number one even if only for a month.
Blogaborations - Did  a collaborative blog with Shea, Dredge, Kelly and Mark earlier this year, got a couple more in the pipeline. It's fun, thought provoking and interesting pastime this blogging stuff.

I'm certainly looking forward to 2011 and what it brings. There are several big beer festivals I'm organising for The Rake and even though I'm not going to make it personally, the European Beer Bloggers Conference should be a lot of fun.
See you round the Isles! Love, Peace and Chicken Grease.