My ten favourite breweries that I forgot to put in my top ten favourite breweries

As is already tiresomely well established, I love top tens and indeed lists of any type.  They keep me off the street.

Now, in last week's issue I listed my top ten breweries and was happy to do so.  Unfortunately it seems that in the course of that top ten I a) took leave of my senses and b) have subsequently remembered some more breweries that I really like, but which I failed to include, but which I now want to pay homage to, in whatever cockeyed route is still available to me.  What an appalling opening to a blog post this has been so far.  Genuinely terrible.  >>>Fast forward>>>

So then, here are 10 more outstanding breweries, who I love for my own reasons, and who could quite easily have been interchanged with any of the previous top 10*.  These ones are in no particular order. 

i) Stone

Original Yank powerhouse brewery.  I tried Arrogant Bastard and Ruination in 2004 and was blown away.  More recently in 2011, Sublimely Self Righteous was the first good Black IPA I ever tried.

ii) Great Divide

Can't believe I didn't include this lot in the original list, not least because my two highest rated beers of all time, were both brewed by them - Hercules and Yeti.  Wowsers.

iii) Andechs

Fabulous Munich** brewery - great lagers and weisse beers.

iv) Oakham

Another headshaker.  Cannot believe that I forgot to include the people who gave me Citra and Bishops Farewell, in my original list.  Green Devil is a new favourite. 

v) Buxton

I just cannot resist Buxton.  Such a sweet hop blend in all their beers.  Their Black IPA is magnificent, and so is Axe Edge.

vi) Brodies

Wonderful London microbrewery.  So fresh and full of experimentation, and yet so weighted down with finesse and quality. 

vii) Everards

Yes, they are from Leicester, so they sneak in through the local connection, and through happy memories of childhood.  But, in all fairness, Tiger is a brilliant ruddy Bitter.

viii) Crouch Vale

They predate the 'craft revolution', but their attention to hops fits well into this new paradigm.  Brewers Gold was a classic back in 2003, and they continue to churn out hoppy golden treats. 

ix) Paulaner

A wide variety of German proficiency is available from this giant.  Their Hefe is a classic, but it's their Roggen which is, for me, a classic beer sadly absent from these shores, in recent times.

x) Dark Star/Marble/Bristol Beer Factory/Magic Rock/Moor

Lists are always unsatisfactory (and yet I love them).  There will always be breweries I'm not able to include, but whom I love.  Here are a fistful of massively brilliant UK names, who deserve to be namechecked in any list of top breweries. 

I may write shortly about the lovely story which featured in the Birmingham Post.




*perhaps. To be fair to the previous top 10, they deserved their exalted status.
**not actually based in Munich, but close-ish.

 

Ratebeer Best 2012 - Part Two

OK, just a quick post, as promised to wrap up the fascinating results of Ratebeer's annual beer survey.

Looking at the different beer styles, it's clear to see that US beers dominate across a lot of the categories. This is the case with English Style Pale and Bitters where 2 of the top 4  are American.  Thankfully, 2 of my favourites feature in the top 10 also: Citra and Taipan, both from Oakham.

Some familiar names pop up near the top of various charts e.g. Ayinger Celebrator is top of the Bocks, Stone scoop the 3rd and 10th best IPAs, with Founders taking the top 2 Stout positions.  The Belgian Strong list is crammed full of familiar names like Chimay, Westvleteren and Rochefort, whilst the appearance of Orval at number 3 on the Belgian Session list, is two spots too low as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, for most of the style categories, we have little chance of seeing the winners in Birmingham (based on current form), however we are pretty well served for Belgians, between Stirchley Wines and Post Office Vaults, so things are moving in the right direction.

Finally, a glance at the list of the World's best beer bars is enough to make you dig out your passport.  Top spots feature in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Rome and Prague - all within reach of budget airlines.  Unfortunately for the UK there are only two venues which make the cut: CASK Pub and Kitchen and Craft Beer Co - both in London and both owned by the same company.  These are certainly two fantastic venues, but sadly for Birmingham, our representative on the list, The Wellington disappears, after making the cut in 2011 and 2010.  This is a bit of a downer, but is probably not a real reflection on the Welly, just that the levels are constantly rising and that a beer bar has to go even further now, to stand out from the crowd.

p.s.
On the lookout for obscure facts?  How's this for you: I have on top of my fridge a bottle of Canada's 49th best beer Charlevoix Vache Folle Imperial Milk Stout. Fascinating eh?