ʻO Palima

 

 

Whim Ales - Arbor Light

 

Whim are one of those breweries that have been around for long enough to have a good handle on their beer.  Traditional yet seemingly by the same measure progressive long before being a forward thinking brewer was seen to be a marketable quality.  Their beers very much at their best in hands of a capable cellar person, as was the case when I happened upon Arbor Light in Derby this year.  In the comfortable surrounds of The Peacock it was was the kind of drink that could very easily ruin a day's drinking because of its sheer simplicity.  When folks talk about cask being a dying market, this is the anomaly...  Simple, clean but oh so effective!

Special Commendations:

Marble - Brett the Hitman Tart

Elusive Brewing - 2 UP

When Elusive's Andy Parker was offered the second runnings from this year's iteration of Siren's Maiden (their ongoing barrel blended anniversary barely wine) he obviously grabbed the opportunity with both hands and used the wort to concoct his very own Baby Barley Wine in 2 UP.  A full bodied beer with a rich chewy toffee/bready backbone and then an intense hit of oily marmalade followed by spoonfuls of hedgerow fruits.  Proof if ever it were needed that sometimes an IPA just won't do!

Special Commendations:

Alpha State - Plum Saison
Fixed Wheel - Mule Kick

 

Summer Wine Brewery - Diablo

Summer Wine are one of those breweries that not many folks pay attention to, but have always been quietly capable of knocking it out of the park without ever really trying.  Diablo their punchy yet approachable West Coast IPA arrived in 2011, an addictive combo of Cascade and Citra weighing in at 6%.  Fast forward to 2017 and with news in the wind that Summer Wine were moving to packaging their beers in can, furthermore Diablo was going to be one of the first into can.

From the can in 2017 this is everything that Diablo promised back in 2011, big flavour, solid malt backbone and with hefty bitterness.  A beer that proves sometimes it's not always necessary to constantly chase the new.


Special Commendations:

Mills Brewing - Saison Lees

 

Other Half - DDH Mylar Bags

Sampled as part of the Moseley Craft Beer Festival this delivered everything this year's beer style du anee promised.  A big unashamedly hoppy NEIPA, with a soft too drinkable body.  Other Half have put out some stellar beer in the UK this year through a series of collaborations with the likes of Cloudwater, Magic Rock and Northern Monk, but it was this solo brew that stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Special Commendations:

Brouweerij Van Eecke - Popperings Hommelbier

Firestone Walker - Bretta Rosé

Russian River Brewing - Pliny the Elder

 

Not new by any stretch of the imagination but a beer that has eluded me some time, I've had the odd bit here and there from Russian River through sheer luck more than anything else but not Pliny the Elder not that is until the middle of this year (a fresh in package one to boot).  Wow what a beer, seriously the kind of IPA that is endlessly drinkable, clean and doesn't drink its strength at all.  Its very easy to see why so many have spoke highly of this beer in the past and now I can too.

 

Burning Sky/Fork and Brewer - Les Amis Du Brassage

Old definitely seems to be a recurrent them for me this year, so why deny it....  Brewed way back in 2014, this collaboration between Burning Sky's Mark Tranter and Fork & Brewer's Kelly Ryan (also of numerouss UK based breweries) is a masterful take on a barrelled saison blend.  This is a beer of serious pedigree and with multiple layers of flavour that seemingly fire off one another.  The vanilla woodiness of the chardonnay barrique poke through the dry crisp base of the saison then the wild nature of the blending lambic kicks in.  All together as a package this is a stunningly well put together beer and testament to the spirit of collaboration and the friendship of brewers.

Special Commendations: 

Northern Monk/Marble - Black Hole Sun
Cloudwater/Deya/Northern Monk/Verdant - Awkward Phase

Northern Monk

 

Northern Monk's branding and packaging has really hit its stride this year thanks in no small part to their Patrons Project; a series of collaborations both across the beer industry and with the art community.  Aside from the beer inside (which was pretty fantastic in all cases) the patrons project has been a fantastic highlight as to how two radically differing areas of culture/industry can work together in an innovative manner.  Now that we have that does that then make way for a new platform for Art/Beer to interact?  I certainly hope so!

Marble Brewery, Manchester

2017 has undoubtedly been a fantastic year for Marble; not only have they recently celebrated 20 years of production they have had a year of brewing which many have viewed to be utterly faultless.  Under the direction of head brewer JK we have seen countless collaborations with a stellar cast of breweries from the world over, the establishment of a barrel programme rich with special treats and the return of a very very sorely missed beer in Dobber.  All this from a brewery that had until fairly recently been a bit of a guarded secret that the North West kept to themselves.  Its been fantastic to watch from the sidelines as people have started to take more notice of all of their efforts.

If 2017 is anything to go by then 2018 is going to be another vintage Marble year!
 
Special Commendations:

Northern Monk Brewing Co, Leeds

 

Brasserie de la Senne, Belgium

Call them old hat if you want but that will not ever take away from the fact that time and time again I find myself returning to their beers.  Tarras Boulba and Zinnebier are two essentials that should be on any beer menu purporting to have a world beer selection, and also two beers which I can get endless pleasure from drinking.  Those two aside however and you have a core lineup of beers that have an amazing array of depth and flavour from ridiculously drinkable high ABV of Jame du Bois to the barely controlled wild nature of Bruxellensis.  There is pretty much a De La Senne beer for every mood.

 

Good Chemistry Brewing, Bristol

Good Chemistry are the kind of brewery that have quietly impressed me this year, and whilst technically they have been going since 2015; its this year they have started to reach out beyond Bristol and appear in limited numbers up and down the country.  Their beer is most definitely something to track down with a wide range of well executed contemporary style already under their belt...  Want a recommendation start with Kokomo Weekend and carry on from there!

Special Commendations:

Birmingham Brewing Company
Affinity Brewing Co 

 

The Smithfield, Manchester (NQ) / The Dark Horse, Birmingham

Two up here; one local and one further afield.  First up Manchester's The Smithfield defacto home to Blackjack never fails to impress me winner of Manchester Food & Drink's "Pub of the Year" in 2016.  This place has gone from strength to strength since Blackjack took over thr reigns in 2015.  Excellent selection of beers, always well kept and an evolution for the Smithfield which in past years had started to lose it's former charm.



Closer to home (in Moseley) in fact is my second deserved nominee/winner; The Dark Horse on Alcester Road in the leafy suburbs of Birmingham is a gateway to all things about beer (and indeed bbq).  Over the last year they have appeared on my radar as an excellent addition to Birmingham with a focus on providing a gateway into more contemporary beer.  Beer is kept in exemplary condition and always with an eye on quality.  Also of note was the debut of Moseley Craft Beer Festival which was conceived by the Dark Horse as part of their efforts for this year's Birmingham Beer Week.  This was both well run and provided to serve as a reminder of the bonhomie attitude which fuelled Birmingham Beer Bash.

Special Commendations:

Clink, Birmingham
The Wolf, Birmingham

 

The Malt Miller

I thought long and hard about this and had to give it to the guys at Malt Miller because of their excellent service when ordering brewing ingredients/equipment.  But not only that as their website is also a one stop shop for homebrewing advice and inspiration.  Also this year they provided me with the opportunity to get my hands on some Yeast Bay cultures which have definitely been the reason for some of my happiest brewing mistakes this year.  Here's hoping that they get more exotic yeast cultures in next year, or even provide a permanant conduit to the smaller yeast labs over in the states on a more regular basis so that I can spend hours staring blanking at an oddly satisfying shelf full of demijohns again in the coming months.

 

Beer Compurgation (@MarkNJohnson)

 

Mark's blog has become a must read over the last year or so; covering the kinds of topics that have for a long time have gone unchecked in an industry and social sphere that is still happy to navel gaze about issues such as mental health, sexism (both covert and open) and the ethics of beer itself.  I normally spend my time on the beer Internet consuming technical brewing nonsense in the hope that it might pay dividends in my sporadicc forays into homebrewing.  So for a blog to grab my attention so much overr the last year and to have me nodding in tacit agreement is definitely a sign of a good blog.

Special Commendations:

GoodBeerHunting

 

@BeerNouveau (Steve Dunkley) 

 

Steve's voice on social media is one of reason; often times providing a steadying influence to discussions both technical or otherwise that are otherwise lost in the morass that is the Internet.  As a person and as a brewery he is engaging and open which is a quality I look for when wanting to talk beer.

Special Commendations:

@ShaneSwindells

 

@CKDSaddlers

Who else could it be that has kept me entertained and or at least partially sane this last year via the medium of twitter?  He's by far an awful lot more active in the twitter sphere than I could ever really be and he's also quite good at drinking Bathams.  A former brother in arms in things beer related in Birmingham, and also a half decent shoulder to lean on during drunken escapades (except that one where he sloped off early leaving me to go drunken shopping in Waitrose).  So yeah an all round good egg, also he won't read this because he hates lists; so there you go, keep on keeping on you bat fastard!