#cloudwater

2016 was an odd one. I don’t just mean politically, historically, environmentally - I mean on a personal, more human level, down in the trenches where I can be found crawling around. It was touched by grief and by joy - a bereavement and finding out I was going to be a dad, respectively - and besides those things, everything else seemed slightly greyed out in comparison, like the softly-blurred middle distance of a photograph, focused on something else.

Blogging took a back seat, unfortunately, as the slowly diminishing archives of BAPD shows - even if the drinking didn’t, what with it being there to comfort you in the down times and toast you in the good. In fact, I can say without a doubt that 2016 was my best drinking year ever - for quality, for diversity, maybe even for volume, though maybe not that, since I was a student once. Quite literally, from the moment the clocks chimed midnight and ushered 2016 into being, I have been drinking good beer - I started with Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout 2015, and the as final vengeful seconds of 2016 ticked away, I was sipping a Trappistes Rochefort 10. The pace and the pleasure rarely let up. Hopefully that been reflected in the blog, even if not as regularly as I would have liked.

The accepted way to celebrate the year in beer on the internet is in the form of Golden Pints - a kind of communal awards, shouting out all the things you loved most from the past 12 months. Having gone right over the year end, just in case anything was going to sneak in under the wire, here are my prize winners, in whatever categories I feel like recognising:

Beer of the Year - Cloudwater DIPA V10

It feels like Cloudwater’s evolving DIPA series has become almost emblematic of UK craft beer and the culture surrounding it - a high ABV your dad would wince at, scarcity in the select bottle shops it turns up in, and a series of eye-catching designs meaning the bottles are as satisfying to look at as they are to open. But despite its cultural dominance, it’s barely been 12 months since the first iteration appeared and made everyone lose their collective shit. Now on a monthly schedule, and harnessing the accumulated experience of nine past iterations, December’s DIPA V10 saw the addition of alchemical hop powders and oats to the grist, for their most billowingly fruity effort yet. DIPA defined the year. Bring on the cans.

Brewery of the Year - Brew by Numbers

It feels almost impossible to pick a brewery of the year when there were so many good breweries making great beer this year - the aforementioned Cloudwater, Magic Rock and Siren all made strong showings - but ultimately I picked Brew by Numbers because I couldn’t think of another brewery making such strides with such diverse styles as they have this year. From barrel-aged imperial stouts to semi-legendary saisons, via hazy pale ales and sticky IPAs, there isn’t a dice roll of digits that hasn’t worked for them.

Venue of the Year - waterintobeer

Sometimes, you just get lucky. This year, my sleepy corner of south east London discovered, in the space of a few days, that it was getting two bottle shops. Both turned out to be excellent, and I maintain Salthouse Bottles may be the most pleasingly laid out shop in the capital. But waterintobeer has a special place in my heart, thanks to a) having seats allowing you to sit in and drink b) playing excellent records and introducing me to bands like Martha. It’s a home away from home already.

Location of the Year - Brussels

I’m almost embarrassed (humblebrag!) by the number of places I went this year where beer was a centrepiece of the trip. I did a cask ale crawl round the charming pubs of Derby. I drank my way through the dankest offerings Brooklyn’s Other Half had to offer. I crushed cans of Jai Alai in the Florida sun, and crammed in as many bars as Manchester and Leeds had to offer. All of these are worthy beer trips to make, but nothing else quite matched up to my first trip to Belgium. After a bad teenaged run in with a bottle of Leffe, I’d never truly come to appreciate Belgian beer, but a weekend in Bruges and Brussels soon changed that. Sitting in the sunny yard of a puppet theatre drinking Westvleteren XII was close to a religious experience.

Writers of the Year - Matthew Curtis / Will Gordon

Whether on his own site, Total Ales, or doing beautifully illustrated stories for Good Beer Hunting, I’ve loved reading Matthew Curtis’ work this year. He writes with passion and precision, and an uncommon clarity about the broader industry that always makes me pause to consider the bigger picture. Meanwhile, Will Gordon remains the chief inspiration for me bothering to tell other people what I like to drink, with a voice that combines humour and insight in equal doses. I hope they both keep up the good work.

Moment of the Year - The British Guild of Beer Writers Annual Awards