Roberto’s Beers of the Year 2012

I was planning on writing this blog post a month ago, I’ve had so many glorious beers this year that I believed, wrongly, that nothing in the final months would force its way into my top ten for 2012. How delightful it is to be wrong sometimes as a further two made a late dash into my favourites. My 2012 top ten consists of 8 beers that were new to me this year and 2 I’d tried previously but still felt they made the grade. So without further ado…

1) Mikkeller Festival Special Edition 2012 – Stella 3 (20.1%)

This Über-Imperial Stout by the Danish nomads is incredibly drinkable for something that’s punching at just over 20%. Its aroma is of rich chocolate and coconut, and the taste is an intense combination of raisins, molasses and hazelnuts with a woody and vanilla finish. Goes down like velvet.

2) 3 Fonteinen Armand’4 Oude Geuze Lente (6%)

Having had all four of Armand’s seasons-inspired guezes I chose “Spring” as my favourite. Lente’s aroma is citrusy and tart but also of dusty hops and that famous barnyard redolence. Flavour is of wonderfully sour, crisp and sophisticated Brettanomyces and tart fruit. Best Geuze I’ve ever had.

3) The Bruery Fruet (15.5%)

Created for the fourth anniversary of The Bruery, California, this is their yearly anniversary ale recipe bourbon barrel aged. This beer has a rich bourbon oak-like aroma with a hint of grapes. Flavour is heavily barrel influenced, lots of bourbon, maple syrup and overripe dark fruits. Creamy and thick bodied.

4) Struise Black Damnation V - Double Black (26%)

Bourbon barrel aged Black Albert (Cuvée Delphine) Imperial Stout, processed the Eisbock way. This beer pours like engine oil, and is blacker than the depths of the cosmos, looks dangerous. Aroma is of liquorice and dark fruits. Tastes are a mosaic of espresso, chocolate, prunes, liquorice and with a light hop dry finish. Sets fire to your taste buds.

5) The Kernel / Brodies SCANNERS IPA (6.9%)

Any collaboration between Kernel and Brodies, two breweries I rate very, very highly, is always going to get my attention. SCANNERS is a cloudy, golden coloured beer, its aroma is floral with juniper and light resinous pine. Flavours are… wonderful (dreams for a bit) …um… everything is here: melon, pineapple, mango, tangerine, it’s also herbal and extremely thirst quenching, a tropical paradise of an IPA.

6) Hoppin Frog DORIS The Destroyer Double Imperial Stout (10.5%)

More hops and more malt than the Ohio brewery’s much vaunted BORIS The Crusher. Big roasted malt and coca aroma, huge flavours of dark chocolate, molasses, tobacco and the hops provide a lovely ashy, smoky, earthy bite. An elegant imperial.

7) Birra del Borgo My Antonia (7.5%)

My Antonia is a continually-hopped imperial pils in collaboration with Dogfish Head. A hazy sunshine coloured beer with a tropical fruit aroma, slightly floral and peppery. Flavours are of lime, grapefruit and green pine, the Simcoe hop shines through. The malt provides the right amount of balance and the experience is extremely clean and refreshing. A great example of new wave Italian brewers.

8) Brodies Dalston Black IPA (7%)

For a long time I wasn’t impressed with Black IPAs, either I’d find them an oddly hopped porter or simply a beer where malts strangled brilliant hops. Then came Brodies and their Dalston, a game changer. Its grassy and fruity aroma is followed by faint maltiness, flavours are rich pine, grapefruit and plenty of resinous bitterness, then come the soft smooth coffee and chocolate flavours. The roasted malts, rather than smudge the greatness of the Galaxy hop flowers used, provide a creamy luscious body to hold it all together, exquisitely balanced.

9) Schneider Weisse Tap X Mein Nelson Sauvin (7.3%)

A German Weizen Bock brewed in 2011 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ABT cafés in Holland. The Nelson Sauvin hop, which is an interesting choice for a wheat beer (but also happens to be my favourite hop of all), brings distinctive light vinous, flowery notes to the wheaty aroma. The gentle smoky wheat flavour is there and so is lots of banana, finishing with flowery notes, lemon and grapes. Hefeweizen turned up to 11.

10) Oakham Green Devil IPA (6%)

All that Oakham citrusy goodness taken to another level by Lucifer himself, this single hopped Citra beer is a classic. Lots of juicy grapefruit and pine in the aroma, taste is of passion fruit, grapefruit, gooseberries and pineapple, ends with lingering dry finish. The greatest Citra showcase.

So there we have it, my top ten beers from 2012, for a self-confessed hop addict I’ve surprised myself by the number of Imperial Stouts I’ve included, 3 in fact, followed by 2 IPAs, a Geuze, an Old Ale, an Imperial Pils, a Black IPA and lastly a Weizen Bock, beers from the UK, the US, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Italy. Here’s to 2013 and another 12 months of brilliant beer!

Merry Christmas.