Best UK draught :
Winner : Thornbridge - Chiron. - pretty much spot on for me.
Runner Up : Brodies - Black IPA(keg) - no matter what Queally says, I like this version.
Best UK bottled or canned:
Winner : Kernel - Imperial Brown Stout
Runner up : Brewdog - Chaos Theory - Oi Brewdog! - make more!
Best overseas draught:
Winner : Maui - Imperial Coconut Porter
Runner Up : Russian River - Pliny the Elder
Best Overseas Bottled or canned:
Winner : Firehouse - Hops on Rye
Runner Up : Epic - Hop Zombie
Best Overall Beer
Winner : Firehouse - Hops on Rye. - Steven Donohue is a legend, thanks for this beer, it's truly amazing.
Best pumpclip or Label :
Winner : Magic Rock Cannonball - The artwork is superb.
Runner Up : Kernel (anything) - The lack of artwork is superb.
Best UK Brewery:
Winner : Otley (Pontypridd) - Home from home.
Runner Up: Summer Wine Brewery (West Yorkshire) - For Northerners they really do making fucking great beer! ;)
Best Overseas Brewery :
Winner : Russian River - Sourz!
Runner Up : 21st Amendment. - Love these guys, and their beer!
Pub/bar or the Year
Winner : Southampton Arms - London
Runner Up : Falling Rock - Denver
Beer Festival of the Year
Winner : GABF
Runner Up : GBBF
Supermarket of the Year
Winner : Lidl - yeah, like I buy beer from supermarkets.
Runner Up : Aldi - Ditto above.
Independent Retailer of the Year
Winner : Beer Ritz - I'll never vote for a company I work for but really glad Zak and the team brought this business back from the brink!
Runner Up : Utobeer - My local, what can I say but 700 + beers can be pretty hard to chose from.
Online Retailer of the Year
Winner : BeerMerchants
Runner Up : Ales by Mail
Best Beer Book or Magazine
Winner : Pete Brown - Man Walks Into a Pub - laughing out load on holiday in Spain can be quite embarrassing.
Runner Up : ATJ - 1001 Beers to try before you Die - Awesome reference book.
Best Blog or Website - I have picked joint winners because these two cannot be separated and they rock equally.
Joint Winner : Ghost Drinker - he might be a northerner but he's cool and his writing is second to none.
Joint Winner : The Beer Monkey - Might be a spurs fan but he knows about beer.
Best Beer Twitterer
Winner : @SWBrewery - James, Andy, just keep doing what you're doing, never stop!
Runner Up : @Simonhjohnson - Merkin tastic my friend Simon is.
Best Online Brewery Presence
Winner : Summer Wine Brewery - Never short of an opinion or two, or a Kevin or 6.
Runner Up : Lovibonds - close run thing between these guys and Epic(NZ)
Best Food and Beer Pairing of the Year
Winner : My spicy chicken and any hoppy as fuck beer pairing.
Runner Up : Shit loads of beer and a kebab.
In 2012 I would Like to
Be taken seriously for a change. This does of course mean getting a complete personality transplant but who knows what medical marvels will happen in 2012.
Open Category
Best beer experience - Watching the guys behind the bar at Falling Rock strut their stuff during GABF. Legends all.
So there it is, we still have 21 days to go and my golden pints are in, cheers for the beers, opinions and general friendship guys, you have all made my year better!
14 comments:
Nice one Glyn! I think most people will join me in toasting you as a legend, and yes Northerners know how to make fucking good beer! Keep up the updates on how East is getting on :D
Without wanting to sound sycophantic, you're the 'lege' mate, you're quite simply ten times the writer i'll ever be. Cheers buddy.
Matches my view across many categories Glyn. The Magic Rock branding and labels is as good as any I've seen. I especially love the Human Cannonball keg pump clip with the metallic detail.
Having had the privilege of visiting Russian River this year, I'm made up that you've voted their sours in 1st place as they are all fucking fantastic. We also called in at 21st Amendment and loved the place. I remember the Kernel Black IPA launch and hearing you explain how the recipe was based on Back to Black (if memory serves).
The last point I totally get in this post is the supermarket point. Yes I can buy Brewdog and other fantastic craft beers in my local Tescoburys, mostly at a loss to these breweries but why should I when I can enjoy a perfectly conditioned pint in town and support decent pubs. I understand the role they fulfil in promoting the beers but in terms of the overall industry they bring very little long-termism (I know that's not a word).
All in all, a great post Glyn. Cheers!
The North has been well ahead of the game when it comes to beer - London's still playing catch up. Yes there's new and decent beer bars opening now, but let's face it, North Bar opened over 10 years ago!
Take you seriously, you must be kidding!!!
BIG up Aldi - where oktoberfest happens in March - gerrin!
@captcheerful 15 years come July2012 almost old enough to drink!
It's rocking for all of us tho - big things on the way, we should take a leaf out of ABF's book and run a mad bar next August...
Ben - I think you took my Northern jibes a bit too seriously mate. I have nothing but respect for those guys and frankly, for my sins, I've never been to North bar. Something I intend to rectify in 2012.
Andy - Yep the Kernel BIPA was based on the Back to Black. The point about Supermarket is mainly that there are so many of these 'express' style ones popping up in London and not one of my local ones stock any decent craft beer!
Matt - completely agree with your last point there mate. and 15 years in June? nice one, seems like the perfect time to visit!
I was just winding you up Glyn ;-)
It does occasionally rankle to see the odd piece here and there in the press about how "cutting edge" the London scene is though!
Rabid - You're welcome any time mate, give me a bit of warning and I'll make sure I'm about for a few scoops and all...
Ben - London's gonna get all the press of course, but that's just vindication of what we've been doing all these years, rankle by all means but I'm sure it's good for everyone.
Fair point Matt.
Cheers for the Epic mentions :)
No worries Kel, Hop Zombie was indeed...EPIC!
If I have a "Curmudgeonly Womble" category in my awards, you're a strong contender.
Simon - aw bless you sir....
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