Best UK Cask Beer:
There can only really be one. It’s been around for a
while but Siren’s Broken Dream is the best cask beer I drank this year
and probably my favourite cask beer ever. It’s a sublime stout that is at its very best
on cask and for me it typifies why cask as dispense method is so important.
Best UK Keg Beer:
This was a tough call but I have to give this to Loral
& Ardi, a three way collaboration between Cloudwater, Lost &
Grounded and Verdant. This was a dry-hopped take on a Belgian tripel and I was
amazed at how well it worked. It was super juicy with just a hint of the
qualities you’d expect from a tripel, a real triumph.
Honourable mention to Bloom, also by Verdant
Brewing Co, a super fruity, quaffable IPA.
Best UK canned beer:
I can only award this to Cloudwater for their
Spring + Summer DDH Pale series. Both the Chinook & Citra and
Southern Passion & Citra iterations were absolutely magical. I drank
a few of these because they’re cheaper than their DIPAs whilst being just as
delicious.
Honourable mention to Magic Rock for their Bearded
Lady Barrel Aged Bourbon Dessert Edition which was bloody delicious
(although not as good as the hazelnut version in my view).
Best UK bottled beer:
I only had this a few weeks ago but it was amazing
so my best bottled beer from the UK this year goes to Brew By Numbers
for their 05|25 India Pale Ale – Citra & HBC 431 – a supremely
smashable juicy IPA. To have both BBNo and Kernel knocking out IPAs like this
within metres of each other is amazing.
A very honourable mention must go to Beavertown for
their Tempus Project Brosé, a bonkers barrel-aged sour that, thanks to a
shed-load of grape skins, trod the line between beer and wine. This was
excellent.
Best Overseas Draught Beer:
I can’t say that I drank a huge amount of draught
beer overseas this year so this a fairly easy choice – it’s hard to beat some
of the classic Belgian beers on draught and this is one of my favourites, so it’s
Westmalle Dubbel that I enjoyed in Brussels at Easter. Lovely.
Best Overseas canned beer:
I went to Norway in the summer and drank a lot of
very expensive beer. Some of it was good, some mediocre but Apocalyptic
Thunder Juice from Amundsen Bryggeri was amazing. A juice-bomb
packed with tons of passion fruit.
Best Overseas bottled beer:
I went to Ireland three times this year and drank a
lot of beer there too. I wasn’t expecting a lot from Hope’s Summer Session IPA
but it was delightful. Plenty of bang for your buck that belied it’s ‘session’
moniker. I was not surprised to read that it was brewed with citra.
Best Collaboration Beer:
I can’t look beyond Loral & Ardi for this
one.
Honourable mention to Beavertown and Trillium
for Beaverillium which was great.
Best Overall Beer:
Again I can’t look past Loral & Ardi, the
three way collaboration between Cloudwater, Lost & Grounded and Verdant.
Arguably three of the most exciting breweries in the country produced one
beer that really wowed me.
Best Branding:
Beavertown and Cloudwater
continue to excel on this front. The labels for Northern Monk’s Patrons
Project are wonderful and Burnt Mill’s cans are stunning. I can’t
pick one, I don’t think I really care quite enough.
Best UK Brewery:
I probably have to go with Cloudwater on this
one, narrowly fending off Beavertown. Yes – there is a lot of hype
surrounding CW, but much of it is merited.
Best Overseas Brewery:
I don’t drink a huge amount of foreign beer unless I’m
away from home as there is so much good beer in the UK now. As such it’s hard
to think of a brewery that stands out as I’ve simply not had multiple beers
from many overseas breweries. As above I drank a lot of Irish beer this year,
so I’ll give this one to White Hag – everything I’ve had from them this
year has been pretty solid.
Best New Brewery Opening:
I can’t think of many contenders for this either, so
I’ll go with UnBarred from Sussex. I attended a Meet the Brewer event
with them this year and everything I’ve had from them has been good if not as
refined as I’d have hoped. I think they’ll be one to watch in 2018.
UK Pub/Bar of the Year:
I keep finding myself back at Cask Pub &
Kitchen despite not working anywhere near there anymore. Always a great
beer range, cask and keg, good food. Can’t knock it.
Honourable mention to The Harp just
off Trafalgar Square which remains one of my favourite places in the world.
Best New UK Pub/Bar of the Year:
Only one new place comes to mind and I don’t think it’s
good enough to be included in the list based on my visits there so far.
Best Overseas Bar of the Year:
I enjoyed visiting Mikkeller Viktoriagade when
in Copenhagen earlier in the year, it was the one overseas bar that really made
me think “I wish I lived around the
corner from this place”.
Best Brewery Tap of the Year:
I haven’t really been to many this year, the
addition of a seating area at Brew By Numbers is great and Fourpure
has improved its offering dramatically with the menu screens and live Untappd
info.
Best Beer Festival of the Year:
Didn’t attend any in 2017.
Supermarket of the Year:
It’s been great to see most supermarkets upping
their games this year. Marks & Spencer is far and away the best
though and some branches (i.e. Moorgate) are superb.
Independent Retailer of the Year:
Purely based on convenience I have to give this to Clapton
Craft really. Usually a great selection, prices are okay and it’s near to
my work.
Other contenders are Ghost Whale, which for
me has the most interesting beer selection in the capital and Hop, Burns &
Black in Peckham.
Best Beer Blog or Website
Boak & Bailey write the most
interesting beer-related content as far as I’m concerned.
Honourable mention to the blog of Retired Martin which
I discovered this year – I’ve enjoyed his documentation of the backwaters of
the UK (and beyond) and he is always good for a pub recommendation pretty much anywhere.
