2014 Beer in Review

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY - I'd have to say Mill St takes it for me this year. Muskoka didn't really do anything new, Great Lakes/Bellwoods isn't available outside of Hogtown (sorry, if you don't have a presence in the LCBO, you aren't getting my vote). So sticking to Mill St for continuing to release innovative and solid mix packs that contain many obscure styles.

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER - I discovered Rochefort this year, and holy crap is their stuff good


FAVORITE LOCAL BEER - Locally, no one has yet to unhorse the Muskoka Spring Oddity in my eyes, although Wellington's Milk Stout took a good run at it.

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER - Rochefort 8, it epitomizes Trappist Ale


NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY - Garden Brewers and Piperales which I tried at Because Beer this year. Good to see a Hamilton based Brewer producing good product. Sadly, can't get it in bottles.


NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER - Besides Rochefort? Hmm....have to go with Kilannian and their Kolsch.


NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT - Got to go to both Hamilton based Beer festivals this year!


LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH - Nickel Brook and Collective Arts, they are upping capacity as they've taken over the old Lakeport operation and with that, they might become the next Mill St in Ontario. Also, it wouldn't shock me if they start renting their equipment to other brewers. Specifically, The Hamilton Brewery and Garden Brewers.


BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER - I dunno, the ongoing legal battle between, Duff, Pawtucket Patriot and Budrock? I got nothing.


LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER - Beau's, I mean I just ran into a bad stint with them this year. Didn't like their Saison, found the Nordic Ale to be repulsive and just wasn't overly impressed.


BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER


MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!) - I have a St Bernadus and Unibroue Mix Packs in my fridge.

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY - The Moon Under Water. Maybe. I guess. They're the only ones trying anything.
FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER - Sierra Nevada and Firestone Walker. They only seem to brew perfection.
FAVORITE LOCAL BEER - Shipwreck IPA
FAVORITE BEER - OTHER - Schneider Weisse
NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY - none, this is Victoria.
NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER - Storm Brewing. I've drunk the beers before, but never visited. Amazing place.
NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT - none
LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH - I guess Category 12. Their first two beers were well brewed, but need some recipe work. Also, they're selling a pale ale as a saison, not cool.
BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER - none
LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER - Driftwood. Massive inconsistency issues. Quality of the seasonals has tanked. Almost every beer has diacetyl problems.
4 Mile. Why?
BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER - Great Lakes. Their IPAs are boring. Well brewed, but incredibly boring.
MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!) - The next beer.

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY
Bellwoods, but to shake things up, I'll say Old Flame Brewing (Port Perry)


FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER
1. Dupont
2. Rodenbach
3. Ayinger

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER
1. Bellwoods Barrell #119 (Cask Days)
2. Old Flame Brunette
3. Nickelbrook Bolshevik Bastard

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER
1. Avec Les Bons Voeux
2. Rodenbach Grand Cru
3. Andechs' Doppelbock

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY
Cask Fuller's ESB at Volo

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER
Ten Fidy (Good, but unfortunately it reminded me a bit of Southern Tier Choklat and to a lesser degree Flying Monkey's BNL)
Old Rasputin (Startlingly bitter, at first I was worried I left soap in the glass)

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
2 Buffalo Trips, Cask Days 2014

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH
Because of proximity: 5 Paddles

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER
???

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER
Innocent Until Proven Guilty

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER
Drie Fonteinen Intense Red Oude Kriek (Too Apple Cider)
Alesmith Speedway Stout



MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Opening my Rodenbach Caractere Rouge

 

Whoops, forgot a category, also need to add.

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER - Flying Monkey's BNL Chocolate Stout, I mean it was still good but people were sounding off like this was one of the greatest beers of all time. No, and frankly after Stereovision I have to say they are also on my bad year list.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER - I gonna grab the bull by the horns and go with Samuel Adams. There is no excuse why the Boston Beer Company has been able to list only Boston Lager and a single rotating seasonal (typically Noble Pils, Summer Ale, Latitude IPA, Oktoberfest, Winter Lager) in the LCBO or the Beer Store even. Frankly, US beer in general in the LCBO. I'm so sick of seeing Southern Tier (who I've yet to have anything drinkable from), Rogue (who are perpetually meh) and the same Sam Adam's (who is typically good) representing the US craft up here. Especially when you have Founders and other great New York beer a State away.

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY

I live in Cornwall so I'm pretty much right an hour from Ottawa and an hour from Montreal. Beau's and Cassel Brewery are about 40 mins from here but they are far from being my favorite breweries. Given my location I would have to go with Dieu du ciel hands down. Peché Mortel, Moralité and Dernière Volonté are always in my fridge.

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER

Hill Farmstead

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER

DDC Moralité. For me it's one of the best IPA's available in Canada right now.

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER

Lawson's Finest Sip of Sunshine

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY

Potsdam NY. It's a small town just 30 minutes from Cornwall and they have a pretty great selection of beers. Anything from Dirtwolf, Old Rasputin, Sculpin and many Dogfish Head variants. I would strongly recommend this place to anyone living in the Ottawa region.

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER

Vermont! Did my first road trip here this summer and I didn't wanna come back. Waterbury VT has an insane beer scene given it's size. Prohibition Pig is a must, they always have Heady on tap, a few Hill Farmstead beers, Lawson's Finest, Lost Nation and many other great gems. Craft Beer Cellar also has an impressive selection of bottles for purchase and great beer merch.

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT

Going to Extreme Beer Fest in Boston, sampling Utopias for my first time and turning around and bumping into Jim Koch. I even had the chance to talk to him for a few minutes and got a wicked picture. Also meeting the Bros; Jason and Todd at EBF.

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH

Beyond The Pale. This brewery has put out some great one-offs this year and are definitely the best brewery in the Ottawa region. Furthermore, Cornwall has a brewery opening in the Spring of 2015; Rurban Brewing. I'm anxious to try there beer and to see how they compare to other breweries in the region.

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER

Lawson's Finest Liquids. Sip of Sunshine is the best beer I've tried to date and they recently started canning it as there first year round beer. Try it if you ever get the chance, you won't be disappointed.

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER

Beau's. I must admit, they do put out good one-offs every now and then but for the most part there beers are overhyped and not very exciting.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER

Stone's Crime. It didn't have a great rating to begin with but I just had to try it when I saw it at EBF. I love Hot Peppers and love Chile Beers but Crime was like drinking Habeneros. It was so harsh and it ruined my pallet for the next few samples. Probably the worst beer I've ever had.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)

Anything from Hill Farmstead. I plan on doing another trip to VT in the Spring to get some more great beers from this brewery. I've had 6 different beers from them and was blown away by all of them. Truly a world class brewery. Shaun Hill is one of the best brewers out there.

 

Got sad news for you Dernière Volonté has been discontinued by the brewery. Sad for me to as it is one of my favourites from them.

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY - Gotta go with Driftwood. I don't think anyone else on the island puts out any "world class" beers like Driftwood does.

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER - Cantillon. I've been lucky enough taste through almost all of their lineup and every single one has ranged from extraordinarily good to mind-blowing. Runner up goes to Hill Farmstead. I could see Russian River vie for that crown but I've only been able to sample a few of their offerings.

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER - Fat Tug; it's always available, it's everywhere, and it's delicious.

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER - Fou Foune absolutely blew me away. A perfect blend of fruity, funky, and sour, all wrapped up into the most cloudlike mouthfeel I've had the pleasure of tasting.

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY - The Drake Eatery is a great new beer bar in downtown Vic. Great selection, good atmosphere, a craft bar done right.

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER - I lived in Copenhagen for half of the year and certainly discovered their well-developed beer scene. In particular, everything that Mikkeller has built up over there, three amazing beer bars, a great bottle shop, a fine-dining restaurant with beer pairings, a bit of an undiscovered craft beer heaven over there.

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT - Got to try some amazing, sought after beers this year. 3F Vintage, Armand'4 Lente, Blåbær, 50*N 4*E, Fou Foune, 12 HF beers at a tap-takeover in CPH, Hoppy Birthday, BVDL, Rum Barrel Marshal Zhukov, etc, etc... And visiting the Cantillon brewery, amazing experience, can't forget that.

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH - I'd say Category 12, they're brand spanking new but it looks like they plan to put out some really cool stuff.

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER - Ale Apothecary are producing some amazing wild ales out in Bend, OR but don't seem to be getting the recognition they deserve. Sounds like they're building a real tasting room this summer so that might help push them out into the public eye a little more.

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER - Had heard good things about Townsite brewing, finally saw one of their beers on tap, a delicious sounding Flanders Red... hmm, turned out to be nearly flavourless. I'll give them another try but it certainly wasn't a good first impression.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER - Three Floyds. It may have had to do with the age of the kegs they get in Copenhagen but I was underwhelmed with all 10ish of their offerings I tried, IPA's in particular but the stouts as well did not have the fully developed flavours I was expecting.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!) - Hoping to do more road tripping through the PNW this year so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some more beer from the likes of Fremont, de Garde, Boneyard, etc... Would like to try more beer from Eastern Canada too, will definitely try to get in on the CANBIF.

 

FAVOURITE LOCAL BREWERY
In the Edmonton area we don't have a large number of breweries. I have to say Alley Kat puts out some great seasonal sand I've been enjoying the Dragon Series IPAs. Yellowhead Brewing in downtown Edmonton makes one beer - Yellowhead Lager - and it is excellent.

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER
Yukon Brewing makes great beer. Lead Dog Ale is outstanding.

Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, CO. I had a conference down there last year and was able to try some great beer.

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER
Alley Kat Full Moon Pale Ale.

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER
Odell Myrcenary DIPA

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY
Hog's Head Brewing in St. Albert. Had a tour of their facilities and tasted the beer. I've bought a few cases but the QC needs to be better there as I had a couple cases of bad bottles.

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER
Lagunitas Sucks. I had it for the first time last month and it blew me away.

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Checking out all the great beer in Fort Collins and Denver.

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH
I'll be curious to see what Alley Kat puts out in the seasonal beers.

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER
With Stone recently coming to Alberta I'll keep trying their beer.

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER
Alley Kat Olde Deuteronomy Barleywine - I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would based upon the great reviews it gets.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER
Dogfishhead 90 Minute. I was underwhelmed compared to Odell Myrcenary and Firestones Double Jack.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Pliny the Elder and Younger

 

Where did you hear this from? This is terrible news indeed

 

From the brewery I am their agent for the prairie provinces. One last batch of Pinot barrel aged is due for release for shortly.

 

Damn, that really blows! ISO Pinot Barrel Aged Dernière Volonté

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY

Dunham, 2nd place: DDC

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER

Bellwoods

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER

Moralite, Leo's

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER

Fair Maiden, SOS, Heady

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY

La Bretteuse

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER

Fat Heads, Toppling Goliath, Carton, Night Shift, Kern River + many others

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT

Going to EBF!

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH

Dunham , Lagabiere

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER

Foley Brothers

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER

TDD Limbes, Ours - not even in same league as their Belgian counterparts

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER

Westy 12...good but not stellar just like the 8 i had a few years abck.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)

EBF again maybe, still haven't visited HF yet

 

I think next year's list should be split in to 3 sections
- Fav beer, local
- Fav beer, other (canada)
- Fav beer, other (US)

Sometimes the many great Canadian breweries get lost among the more mature US beer market.

 

Can't believe i forgot about this beer, my fave of 2014 i think: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22893/73618/

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY
Bellwoods- easy answer

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER
Hill Farmstead

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER
One of the best beers I had all year was easily the 2014 “take out your dead”. Followed closely by barrel aged “grandmas boy”.

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER
Really enjoyed Heady topper, and HF double citra.

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY
Block 3 in St.Jacobs

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER
Perennial, what I’ve had has been really good.

Not nearly as exciting… is Sculpin… really fell for this beer as regular fridge stock.

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Road trip out to Vermont, including an HF visit.

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH
Probably Block 3. Their offerings can still be sometimes a bit inconsistent, but I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve had. To me their pricing is fair, and they seem to be the most innovative and well made beers of that area. They also have a barrel program starting up, which always intrigues me.

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER
Dunham- their farmhouse ales, and saisons are all ,across the board, very well done. I also enjoy their approach to blending different lots and beer types, I think there is great complexity being added to the final product with this process. They also have invested a lot of time and effort into their ever expanding barrel aging program. Exited to keep trying their ever evolving beers!

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER
My local disappointments have been plenty this year. Many of them have already been mentioned on this thread. Silversmith being my most local option is constantly creating underwhelming, off style, generic beers. Oast House is making, for the most part, decent beer, but at prohibitively exorbitant prices. Between quality and price respectively, there is basically no reasonable local option for everyday drinking in Niagara. Others that I hoped would be better are Innocent and Royal City. I’ve returned to Innocent, but still have an issue with the balance in their beers (I’ve not tried anything but their regular line up). Royal city ,I believe, seems to have beers that already smell/ taste tired straight out of a same day squealer fill. Their year round and seasonal offerings are also… just sort of… uninteresting…. in style and execution.


BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER
KBS- Just was too overhyped, I guess. Didn’t deliver up to my expectations.

Stone- had a chance to try more offerings from them. Found their beer to sound more inspiring then they turned out to be in liquid actuality.

Finally our visit to Ommegang. The place was a zoo, and the service was poor.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)

Side project, Zombie Dust, SARA, and look to try many more great saisons, IIPAs , and farmhouse ales.

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY
Dunham. The wild ales are really impressive, and the prices are fair for such quality.

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER
Hill Farmstead

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER
Probably Dunham's saison réserve, once again, but props to stuff like "Le hérisson". That's really good.

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER
Probably the last Batch of HF Flora, which was even better than Art in my opinion. More delicate, less oak, simply outstanding

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY
The new Isle de Garde bar in montreal, and l'Hermite in Victoriaville. Both serving great beer selections

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER
Lost Nation brewing and Fiddlehead in Vermont. 2nd fiddle is really good and fairly priced, while lost nation has an outstanding pilsner and a really cool patio with an outdoor kitchen. Awesome...

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Visiting Rome and Paris beer bars/shops, going to bar volo's cask days, and hosting 3 theme-based tastings at homes: 1 with 21 differents hf beers, one with 12 different Cantillon and other gueuzes, and one with about 20 wild ales from Quebec, with the goal of raising money for a charity.

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH
Have to say Dunham, as it's getting better and better

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER
Four quarters brewing, a small one-man brewery in winooski, Vermont. Quite intriguing, I'll try to get there on next VT trip... Also a big fan of Bellwoods, hope their expansion will mean more great beers!

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER
Except for "Le hérisson", wasn't too impressed with this year's new releases from Trou du Diable. Stuff like "Le Coq" was especially weak, with a sharp acetic character. Also, the overpriced average offerings from "À la fût", like their "oude gueuze", for which I paid for than what I pay for Lou Pepe gueuze, and which was overall fairly average, again with an acetic character. Oh well, at least it's nice to see them trying, just a bit steep price-wise...

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER
Lots, lots, lots of disappointment with hard to get, hyped american beers from breweries like 3-floyds, Bruery, Pseudosue from Toppling goliath, Lost abbey, Cascade, New glarus, Logsdon, Cigar City, Jester king, etc... Lots of "american wild ales" were just overall quite weak, especially if you compare with cheap, easy to get gueuzes like girardin black label. Getting a bit annoyed of chasing rare stuff only to be let down. Understand me, some of those were quite good, but not THAT good...

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
HF's Ann, but still uncertain if it will be possible to get some with the announced lottery system. Crossing my fingers!

 

FAVORITE LOCAL BREWERY
Seeing as sadly I haven't tried Bellwoods yet, I'm going to with Great Lakes even though I haven't tried a good chunk of their IPA line up either. But to me, Devil's Pale Ale, My Bitter Wife IPA, and especially Lake Effect IPA just take the cake as those have become staples in my fridge. Saison Du Pump was also a hit.

FAVORITE BREWERY - OTHER
St. Bernardus - I tried three or four new beers from them for the first time in 2014, and despite really high expectations for all of them, every single one of them exceeded my expectations.

FAVORITE LOCAL BEER
Great Lakes Lake Effect IPA, Great Lakes Devil's Pale Ale, Collective Arts Rhyme and Reason, Mill Street Dammerung Dunkel was very tasty too.

FAVORITE BEER - OTHER
Favorite new beers meaning tried for the first time in 2014 would be St. Bernardus Christmas Ale, ST Warlock and Great Lakes Brewing Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Duvel Tripel Hop (Mosaic) and Schneider-Weiss Eisbock are honorable mentions. Otherwise the same as 2013, Weihenstephan Hefeweiss and Rochefort 10.

NEW LOCAL DISCOVERY
Going really local here, but Collective Arts has been mightily impressive with Rhyme and Reason as well as Saint of Circumstance.

NEW DISCOVERY - OTHER
Buxton Brewery from the UK grabbed my attention with their Black IPA, Chile beers in general (I need to try a ghost pepper beer) and other new styles like Sahtis and Eisbocks.

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Hmmm... Reviewed over 300 beers this year, went to my first Beerfest (Thanks Hamilton) and got to try some fantastic beers while in Europe on my honeymoon. Biggest surprise was either the bottle shop down the street from my hotel in Copenhagen with copius amounts of Danish, Belgian and German beers, or my first Sahti tried on a patio in Estonia.

LOCAL BREWERY TO WATCH
Collective Arts to see if they can build on their momentum from 2014 and Nickel Brook now that they've expanded into one of the old Lakeport buildings in Hamilton. Interesting to see how the additional capacity will impact them going forward now that they've settled in.

BREWERY TO WATCH - OTHER
Still being fairly new to the craft scene I'm very interested to see what Muskoka, Great Lakes and Amsterdam will release in the next year or so. Otherwise I haven't tasted enough full lineups to really know what to expect from bigger players south of the border and overseas.

LOCAL BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED BEER
Great Lakes Crazy Canuck didn't live up to modest expectations even, and I'm still waiting for an Ontario APA that I can get at the LCBO to take my breath away. Otherwise my compaints are mostly with distribution and would love to see better distribution of US beers especially those located in nearby New York and Michigan. The foreign imported content isn't perfect but there is at least some variety whereas US imported content is virtually non-existent. Oh and it would be nice if LCBO distributed the hard to find seasonals south and west of Mississauga too.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - OTHER
Not that it has crazy high ratings but Lion Stout fro Ceylon in Sri Lanka was very underwhelming as well as Bier du Boucanier Dark based simply on rDev ratings. I was also very unimpressed with the Tom Green Beer from Beau's and the Sam Adams Double Fat Jack was uninspiring.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Chile beers, a wider selection of Quebec beers with a Quebec / eats coast trip tentatively planned and maybe a trip to Michigan to get an up close and personal look and Founders magical offerings.

 

If you wanna try a hot Chile beer:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/65997/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/65998/

 

Two of the worst beers I had in 2014.

 

Thanks SebD! These were a couple with this one (below) I definitely want to try.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23/65230/