2016 Beer in Review

I think maybe people here have such a romanticized view of good IPAs cause all the IPAs here were bad for so long that they latch onto whatever they can. That and social media. Just during the course of the last year the Auval hype has gotten worse to the point that after the last time I went for bottles I swore I wouldn't ever do it again. We'll see if that lasts. Another one I see trying to horn in on that hype is Vox Populi (mainly the IPA), though they don't have near the hype of Auval yet.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE - Bellwoods, with Great Lakes as the runner up.

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA - LTM, Four Winds Runner Up

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Bellwoods Jelly King
Great Lakes Lake Effect
Barncat The Juice

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
LTM Ceci N'est pas une Gueuze 2016
Four Winds Nectarous
DDC Barrel Aged Peche Mortel

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE - Half Hours on Earth

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA - The lazy border guards at Cornwall who waved my 3 cases of beer and 2 bottles of scotch a gratis

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT - Toolshed has yet to fire me!!!

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE Godspeed. Only a matter of time....

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA All or Nothing - curious to see how taking one of the biggest gambles in Ontario (or Canadian) brewing pays off. Freres Houblon - how much longer can these guys stay in business?

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
Duggans #9 (shit does this SUCK nowadays, lowered my initial rating by almost 1 full points (or 10 basis points)... Shillow Bitter Waitress (Overhyped)... Innocente Charcoal Porter (is this even hyped??)... Indie (Overhyped) ...Bandit (Disappointment)... I'm probably giving about 20 other Toronto beers a free pass here.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
Four Winds putting out a bland industrial lager. I'll agree with the Auval overhype listed above

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!) - Probably a one-off barrel aged LTM offering.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE: It should be Auval, but their lack of distribution makes getting their beer impossible to find and people asking for your first born in trades...pass

Le Castor: their wild ale program is really good, they have a great IPA and they are 2 min away from my house!

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA: Hands down, Bellwoods

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE:
1. Auval Super A: wish this was year round
2. DDC Solstice D'ete framboise: I wasn't complaining when they scaled up production this year
3. Le Castor Chardonnay: if this a sign of their upcoming wild beers, sign me up!

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
1. Bellwoods Jelly King: Probably my favorite beer this year.
2. Bellwoods 3 minutes to midnight: BA stout with Cherries? I'm in!
3. Bellwoods Farmageddon: I sense a trend here...

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Sutton Brouerie: these guys will have a big 2017

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
Didn't travel much to the rest of Canada, but Unfiltered Brewing was pretty damn good

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Attending Zwanze for the first time this year.

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Le Castor: excellent wild ales, plus expansion (they now have a coolship) means we could be seeing some really interesting things in 2017.

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
Tooth and Nail: already some interesting things coming out from them

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
Quebec as a province borders Vermont, where it seems that everyone and the neighbors dog is able to make a top notch IPA/DIPA, and it's readily available. Here, it would seem you have to murder someone to get it (Auval) or stand in line at 5:30am to get some (LTM's DIPA release). Which leads me to...

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
Beer Jerks/Trading: My blood boils when I see someone dickswing that they got 4x alloment because "Yo! Beer is serious yo!" and proceed to post all of FT, with and ISO that is completely stoopid (LTM DIPA for King Julius...really?). Does anyone even drink beer anymore??

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Monkish...everytime I see a picture of one of the IPAs, I start to salivate!!
Four Winds: ISO Nectarous!

 

And nowhere near as good as Auval...Double fruit punch is probably the most disappointing beer for me in 2017

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE
By volume that I consume: MaBrasserie (even though it's all one beer)

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
More research required

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Tribale DIPA
Orange Tie Wrap
La Fin du Monde

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
More research required

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
MaBrasserie's Tribale Double IPA! It's made about 500m from my house and I haven't found another Quebec DIPA that can match its combination of flavor, price and accessibility.

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
More research required

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Made my first trip to the Alchemist's brewery in Stowe and brought back 36L of beer. This lead to me discovering The Crusher, which I really liked. I also made a few good batches of homebrew, although there were some screwups, too...

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Gainsbourg - their Orange Tie Wrap is great and they make a pretty solid IPA, too. They need to come out with something that's a little less expensive so I can drink it more frequently, though.

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
More research required

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
While I loved the older versions of IIPA de la sorcière, neither of the last two batches really did it for me. I think I'm basically done with Pit Caribou, sad as I am to say that. I wasn't super impressed by a lot of the Momentum releases from DDC, although Petit Detour was solid.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
More research required

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Despite having both friends and family move to Massachusetts this year, nobody brought me any Treehouse or Trillium when they came back to visit! Well, I got to try one Trillium beer, but it wasn't an IPA. This has got to change!

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Dandy

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
Dieu du Ciel

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Brewster's Marzen
Whatever is happening in Dandy's tap room
Wild Rose's Pilsner

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
Disco Soliel
La Pitoune
Vache Folle ESB

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Trolley Five

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
Harricana in Montreal

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Shelton Brothers Festival, Wicked Weed

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Dandy

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
Le Trefle Noir

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
Tool Shed

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
Most of the beers from Vancouver Island.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Looking forward to what Jester King's brewery is doing now he left.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Four winds

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
Les Trois Mousquetaires and Bellwoods always impress.

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Dia De Los Muertos La Ressurecciòn
Alpha Dog
Side Cut

TOP 4 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
Péché Mortel En Fût De Bourbon Américain
Grandma’s Boy 2016
Amsterdam Barrel Aged Double Tempest
Aromatherapy IPA

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Torchlight Brewing

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
Half hours on Earth
Barncat

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Bad Tattoo Brewing ran 4 homebrew competitions, declared me Brewer of the year, then let me collaborate on a recipe and brew 2000L (R&D Cherry Wit)! I also worked on Canada's top 100 and hit 99.

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Yellow Dog

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
Half Hours on Earth
Barncat

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
Kettle Sours!!!

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
I don't want to name names.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
I won another homebrew competition and Red Collar should be brewing my "Houbliner Weiss" next year.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Half Pints

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
Bellwoods - limited experiences with them thus far but I've loved EVERYTHING

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Half Pints - Humulus Ludicrous
Half Pints - Hop Pun
PEG Beer - Guten Tart

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
Bellwoods - Jelly King
Fuggles & Warlock - Rei
Great Lakes - Karma Citra

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Torque Brewing would likely have to be my favorite and most consistent of all of the new breweries that have joined the Manitoban ranks this year

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
Bellwoods!

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
I'm not there yet, but I should be hitting 800 unique brews on Untappd soon (by the end of the year for sure, I promise!)

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Torque for sure

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
I'm going out on a limb because I've only tried two of their beers now, but I'm going to say Barncat.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
Barn Hammer Brewing was hyped to the moon locally and I can't say I've enjoyed a single one of their beers to date. Boring would be the word for them, sadly.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
I can't say that anything I was really looking forward to ended up being a major disappointment. I'm thankful to have tried a lot of great beers this year.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Not Canadian related, but I've got six crowlers on their way back from Weldwerks Brewing in Greeley, CO that are going to be my first foray into the NE IPA style that has become so popular. REALLY looking forward to those.

Canadian wise, I'm really hoping to get my hands on some more Bellwoods in the new year. Also still ISO Nectarous, as that's one beer I've wanted to try forever and have still never managed to get my hands on.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Twin Sails

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
LTM

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Superflux - Colour & Shape
Twin Sails - Con Leche
Yellow Dog & Machine Ales - Turbo Wolf (Hope this comes back now that Machine is back under the name Superflux)

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
Great Lakes - Octopus Wants to Fight
LTM - Ceci N'est Pas Une Gueuze
Bellwoods - Jelly King

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Boombox Brewing Company (These guys are based out of Callister's and are making awesome IPAs and sours)

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
Half Hours on Earth

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Hit 1000 unique beers on untapped with a Westvleteren 12

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Twin Sails (This summer these guys started putting out small batches in tall boys and each release has been great)

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
Haven't tried enough Canadian beers to know. Maybe Half Hours.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
Pumpkin beers. Too many and was disappointed with most of them

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
All the beers I had from other provinces were good.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
Hoping to drink more beer from the other provinces.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Blindman, Lacombe

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
Collective Arts, Hamilton

FAVORITE BREWERY - US
Breakside, Portland (Not Canadian but I loved everything they did with hops)

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Bench Creek - White Raven IPA
Troubled Monk - Open Road American Brown Ale
Big Rock - Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Amber

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
Dieu Du Ciel - Moralite
Collective Arts - Ransack the Universe
Tied: Driftwood - Raised by Wolves/Four Winds - Juxtapose

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
That there are a ton more new breweries than I knew about or have tried

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
BC wet hops in october

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
First batch of home brew

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Canmore Brewing Company, excited there's gonna be a second brewery in my town

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
I was excited about some Saskatchewan brews making their way into AB until our provincial government totally F'ed our tax laws

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
I guess the whole Tool shed thing got hyped, I kind of just found it hilarious

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
Disapointed about overpriced beers, regardless of where they're from, still not at the point of paying $20 for a limited release bomber. Overhype doesn't apply to Canada as much but all the endless stories of on this site of people waiting in release lines, camping chairs, mules etc. again it's just a source of entertainment, although I still wonder what the beers are like.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
More NE ipas and barrel aged stuff from Alberta brewers.

 

... I haven't been following beer releases lately, did i miss something? Since when have people been raving over LTM?

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - Ontario

Bellwoods

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
Bellwoods gets the nod based on familiarity.
But Four Winds would be up there.
When i step back and look at it, it's been a disappointing year beer-wise in Canada. Trou du Diable should top the list, but man, a lot of their releases have not been great.
TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Bellwoods: Bring Out Your Dead
Bellwoods: Outlier #2
Barncat: whatever their opaque IPA's called

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA

Four Winds: Nectarous
Trou du Diable: Buteuse special (brandy barrel aged)
A La Fut: Co Hop V

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE

Half Hours on Earth, Barncat and Halo. RedLine's definitely one of the more exciting breweries to watch. Some amazing barrel stuff coming out.

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA

nothing really

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT

having my first commercial beer release

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE

RedLine, Halo (in late 2017), Barncat, Godspeed. Bench, once they finally get their own facility.

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA

Doug, who interned at Cantillon, is opening a sour brewery in Edmonton. It will be the real fucking deal.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE

We're a province of overhyped beer and little that's cutting edge.
Amsterdam's become one of the most disappointing breweries. Forgotten its accomplishments with sour and barrel-aged beer. It's become a blonde beer factory.

 

I am not sure, I can't get past the poorly malted green apple tasting Fronteac malt they use.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - BC
REALLY tough to call this one. A few months ago I'd have said Four Winds for sure with their cork and cage series being far and above any other program, plus some awesome hoppy releases this year. But then WHOA Twins Sails just lit it up recently! All their canned offerings have been some of the best in the country imo. I love the Callister co-op model.

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
If Bellwoods did hoppy beers as well as BC Breweries, I'd give them the trophy. But they don't. I do feel they have the best overall variety. That said the best isn't always the favorite. I'd still probably go with Four Winds on this one because they are also fairly local for me, just wish they did stouts.

TOP 10 FAVORITE BEERS IN NO ORDER- YOUR PROVINCE
Space Armadillo
Operis
Colour & Shape
How Bout That?!
Pomona
Vex
Nectarous
Alpha Dog
Randonneur
Pablo Esco Gnar
...I could go on

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
Peche Mortel variants on Peche Day
Dunham Assemblage series
Bellwoods Stouts

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Machine/Superflux and Boombox. Amazing stuff coming out of that Callister shop.

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
Le Castor. Had the pleasure of visiting them early in the year, and helping convince them to send beers to BC

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Running Farmhouse Fest year 2 despite the rain was pretty great. 3 Breweries coming out from Quebec to join in the fun. Visiting Vermont and Montreal both for the first time would be my highlight of the year for beer vacations.

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Superflux, Boombox, Twin Sails. Four Winds (they have so much wood now!) Also Dageraad, I feel like they are about to kick it up.

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
Half Hours, Bellwoods upon expansion, the new Winnipeg breweries (my hometown)

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
Loyalty programs. They....didn't quite hit the mark this year. Solid offerings, but a brewery should hopefully release at least one of it's best beers of the year to it's membership.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
Winnipeg breweries. I get it, there used to be nothing so now that there is something it feels good! But uh aside from PEG (which was great) all the new breweries I had in Winnipeg my last trip were pretty mediocre if not downright bad.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
I'm hoping the Ontario/BC scenes get to know each other a little better. BC sees tonnes of stuff from Quebec now. Ontario should be next. Pretty much anything from Twin Sails in a can, and all those Foudres from Four Winds are on my radar.

 

FAVORITE BREWERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Four Winds.

FAVORITE BREWERY - CANADA
It’s between Four Winds and Bellwoods.

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - YOUR PROVINCE
Four Winds Pomona Wine BA Stone Fruit Sour, Twin Sails Space Armadillo DIPA, Twin Sails/Parallel 49 How ‘Bout That!? Triple IPA

TOP 3 FAVORITE BEERS - CANADA
Dieu du Ciel Peche Mortel Speciale 2016, Le Castor Yakima IPA, Dunham Leo’s Early Morning Breakfast IPA

NEW DISCOVERY - YOUR PROVINCE
Twin Sails! Port Moody is killing it.

NEW DISCOVERY - CANADA
Lagabiere, while I was stationed in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu.

NOTABLE BEER-CHIEVEMENT
Visited the following breweries: Dieu du Ciel, Side Project, Perennial, Russian River, Firestone Walker, and Deschutes. Passed the 2000 beers mark.

BREWERY TO WATCH - YOUR PROVINCE
Twin Sails.

BREWERY TO WATCH - CANADA
Probably something from Quebec. Dunham, Le Castor, Pit Caribou, maybe Auval, L’Hermite, or A La Fut.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - YOUR PROVINCE
All those kettle sours. You’re not fooling anyone.

BEER DISAPPOINTMENTS / OVERHYPED - CANADA
Everything I had on tap in Montreal from Le Trou di Diable was pretty forgettable.

MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO TRYING (OR HOPE TO TRY!)
More Twin Sails and 33 Acres. I’d like to make another American beer trip.