Golden Pints 2016

• By thenoisethatwemade
• •
• 03 Jan, 2017
• •

What are Golden Pints?

Started by Andy 'Beer Reviews' Mogg back in 2009 alongside Mark Dredge & Fletcher. Evaluating the last 12 months of beers, events & more, before looking forward to the next.

Why join in?

A moment to reflect & share your beer journey (& discover others). This is my fifth year of  Golden Pints & it's a process I really enjoy going through. It's often the kick-start to rediscovering my joy of writing about beer each year. I also like Boak and Bailey's take on it ('AKA Our To Do List'), where they create a list of beers/breweries to try from a selection of others' Golden Pints.

 

Drum roll......

• Best UK Cask Beer – Dark star 'Creme Brulee' - I sampled this on cask at the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival & it was the standout of the festival. Lots of rich vanilla, dark, sweet licks. Even with the new keykeg bar area (controversial?, yet seemingly uneventful on the day & with an odd CAMRA infographic banner next to it), this cask beer won hands down. I'd half forgotten about Dark Star (since Mark Tranter had started Burning Sky) & this was a corker of a beer from them. Glad to be reminded of them too.
• Best UK Keg Beer–  NMBCo x Tom J Newell x Hop Hideout 'Watermelon Crush'. Had so much fun coming up with this idea & brewing with NMBCo & Tom on the day. A sour, fresh, tangy, spritzy & earthy banger perfect for the August Bank Holiday weekend. Would love this to be canned for Summer 2017! (Brewed with fruity hops, Belma & Huell Melon, plus juniper berries, watermelon & cucumber).

• Best UK Bottled Beer – Marble 'Valancourt' old ale aged in Fino sherry barrel. Absolutely stunning beer, restored my faith in Marble. The old ale series has been imaginative, flavoursome & James Kemp has definitely instigated Marble's return to form. I tried this paired with prime beef brisket thanks to the BBQ Collective & it was a perfect pairing. Rich caramelised meat & deep fruit layers of beer flavours marrying harmoniuosly.
• Best UK Canned Beer – Magic Rock Brewing - for consistency of core range, beer range, small batch releases (& collaborations), artwork & events at the MR Tap. All round hitters. I revisited Common Grounds a number of times in 2016 & loved it every time, a real rich vanilla coffee porter with bags of flavour & at a great price.
• Best Overseas Bottled Beer – BFM '225 Saison' A new brewery discovery for me this year & renewed my love of saisons. This Swiss brewery Brasserie des Frenches-Montagnes delivered a dry super refreshing, rounded, oaky & killer saison. A five star saison for me.
• Best Overseas Canned Beer – Modern Times 'Blazing World'. Hoppy dank amber - phenomenal aroma, chewy, spicy & citric. Would love to see more India Ambers(?)
• Best collaboration brew – Lost Abbey / Brasserie Dupont 'Deux Amis'. Fourth generation Belgian Master Brewer Olivier Dedeycker & Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey (and Port Brewing) team up to deliver the best of both of their worlds & skill. This truly was a landmark collaboration for me & the saison was first class. I sampled at Craft & Draft, Amsterdam after Borefts festival & its refined beauty shone through. If anyone finds any bottles for sale anywhere, please let me know!

https://youtu.be/ZS2Ke6IziHI

• Best Overall Beer – Lost Abbey / Brasserie Dupont 'Deux Amis'.
• Best Branding – Modern Times. Alluring typography on big 500ml cans with matched colour flashes.

• Best UK Brewery – Magic Rock Brewing, reasons as above.
• Best Overseas Brewery – Drie Fonteinen - moved into new space with tasting room (lambik-O-droom), re-branding spot on; can't wait to see what 2017 brings.
• Best New Brewery Opening 2016 – Elusive Brewing. Andy Parker has launched his small scale brewery with such huge love & hard work it's been a pleasure to watch it come to fruition after so many years.
• Pub/Bar of the Year –  Kings Arms, Bethanl Green, London. I'm always astonished at the beer list at this London pub & awed by the breweries they organise events with. Wish it was my local. Black Ops at NYE & Rodenbach vintage to welcome in 2017, YES PLEASE!?!

• Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2016 - Mason & Co, London Honourable Mention: The Turks Head, Leeds. Coincidentally run by the same group (person!?!) they seem to have an eye for detail and quality.
• Beer Festival of the Year – Leeds International Beer Festival. Loved seeing this event grow year on year & add thoughtful interesting elements each time.
• Independent Retailer of the Year – Beermoth, Manchester - they always supply my other half Will with great gift beers for my birthday!
• Online Retailer of the Year – It's a very crowded market now online & it's difficult to stand out.  Especially when the market is global(ish), to a degree (lots of packages seem to be coming to the UK now from Belgium, France and Denmark!). In terms of access to beers (The Alchemist!?!), merchandise & blog content - I'm going Mikkeller
• Best Beer Book or Magazine – Pallet Magazine,  finally a magazine with content on art, music, food, beer & more. Bringing all my interests together in one place & done with great finesse.
• Best Beer Blog or Website – Boak and Bailey Beer Blog, a mix of long reads & short snappy thoughts. Collates other blogs to look out for in a handy place. Open to others' thoughts & comments.
• Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer – @PJMcKerry personal, honest tweets & often picks up on topics before the wider twitterstream. Flashes of brilliance on blog which definitely pokes at people to open debate on topics. Had the pleasure of hanging out at Brewdog's AGM, it was good to have a sincere beer friend that weekend.
• Best Brewery Website/Social media – Lambic.info Hugely dedicated online information resource on lambic.