The Goatee Awards 2019

Goatee Phil's review of 2019

Prelude to the Cloudwater Brewery Tour

Has 2019 been a good year for beer? One of the best. Has it been a good one for breweries and the industry generally? Not so much. It's been a year when London's largest brewery, Fullers, was bought out by Asahi of Japan and the country's largest regional brewery, Greene King, became part of the Chinese company CKA Group. But the biggest threat to the UK brewing industry, craft and other, will surely come from the fallout from Brexit. For all the bullish talk by the current Prime Minister, it's hard to see anything other than new and restrictive trade barriers that will hit imports and exports equally. It's not looking good.

Or maybe it is. It is still the case for me that pretty much every other pub visit gives me the chance try a beer that I've never drunk before. The major craft brewers, names like Cloudwater, Northern Monk, Burning Sky and Wylam, continue to produce new beers in a vast range of styles and, like most beer fans, I'm keen to try as many of them as I can. But maybe I am finally moving on from the constant search for new flavours and styles. This year, partly as a result of working with my wife Charita, aka Momma Cherri, on matching beers to her soul food pop-ups and cooking experiences, I have been paying a lot more attention to the beers that I know well. It's those beers that I have been turning to when looking for the best match for each dish.

In no particular order, such a list might include Northern Monk's Faith Pale and New World IPA, Cloudwater's DDH Pale, Wild Card IPA (and, depending on the dish, their DIPA II), Burning Sky Aurora Pale and Arbor's Yakima American IPA. As ever, I'm excited by the possibilities.

So what are the pubs, ales, breweries and beer experiences that have floated my schooner in 2019?

Best Pub : The Foghorn (Portslade)

Runners-up : Watchmakers Arms (Hove), Brighton Bier Haus (Brighton), Brunswick (Hove)

They've only been open a year but already it's hard to remember the centre of Portslade without this friendly cosy room, with its rotating selection of mostly local ales and ciders. It's been noticeable how quickly the Foghorn built up a loyal following and it's interesting too how many of its regulars also visit the Watchmakers (though this might have something to do with the fact that the Hove pub's co-owners, Ruth and Rick, live just round the corner and often call in themselves). Like many of Brighton and Hove's best pubs you will often meet drinkers who have heard of the pub by reputation and have come along to check it out.

The pub deservedly made the CAMRA Good Beer Guide just months after opening, which is no mean feat but no surprise either. They have five casks regularly available, along with three on keg plus four ciders. They also carry a small but smartly curated selection of bottles and cans available to take away (20% discount if you buy 4 or more!)

Like pretty much every micropub the Foghorn don't serve food but they do have regular pop-ups outside from regular caterers such as Kitgum Kitchen, Pizzaface and, er, the rather wonderful Momma Cherri!

Best Brewer: Cloudwater

Runners-up: Northern Monk, Fourpure, Brighton Bier, Sussex Small Batch

There were some impressive brewery debuts this year, especially locally, with the arrival of Sussex Small Batch,and their portfolio of stunning stouts. Also the first two brews from Southbrew, Kiss the Sun, an IPA, and Weekender, a fruity pale, promised great things to come. Locally a lot of my favourites came from Brighton Bier - Viscous Rumours and Imperial Freshman are terrific additions to sit alongside core classics like South Coast IPA and West Coast Pale. But it was heavweights Northern Monk, Fourpure and, in particular, Cloudwater that took the honours.

The Manchester brewery has only been in existence since 2014 but almost from the off, or so it seems
they have been one of the most talked about names on the craft scene. Some of the talk wasn't favourable, and they took a lot of stick for occasionally high prices. Happily the controversy seems to have died down now, allowing us to appreciate the beers.

It's not a criticism to say that there wasn't one standout beer from them, just lots of excellent ones: the DDH Pale, various IPAs and DIPAs, not to mention sours, stouts and porters. Halfway through the year their beers started to sport names that sounded as if they had been thought up by a team of management consultants. Step forward Team Meeting International, Participate in this Area, Welcome to your life, and more. 

If I had to pick a series of brews that summed up Cloudwater's approach, and their quality, it would be the series of New Zealand-hopped beers that they showcased at Brighton's Bison North Laine in October. The best of these were Five Good Lots, a delightfully fruity New England IPA, A Fire by the Bines, a citrussy DIPA and finally a boozy,fruity Belgian style triple, Fireflies at the Gage Hill Homestead.

More power to their coppers!

Best Beer (UK): Fourpure Key West Key Lime Sour

Runners-up: Cloudwater DIPA, Northern Monk Faith Pale, Sussex Small Batch Zucotto Stout, Thornbridge Jaipur IPA.

Cloudwater produced several DIPAs during the year - this seems to be the only one they didn't name. It was the best though, a classically fruity and spicy brew. Northern Monk Faith and Thornbridge Jaipur are just two imperishable classics. These are big names for newcomers Sussex Small Batch to be set alongside but their range of rich, full-bodied stouts makes them worthy joint runners-up, with their Zucotto Stout just about shading it, ahead of the Tiramisu and Reece's versions.

But the best beer I drank this year was Fourpure's fantastic Key West sour. It was one of those great beers that, from the first taste, you just want to jump to your feet and shout "Yess!" I did the next best thing - I rushed over to a friend of mine, as he walked into the pub (the Foghorn, of course) and said "You have to try some of this!" I also took some home for Charita, Momma Cherri, to try. Yes, she agreed, it would be a great match for her key lime pie*!

Despite the fullness of flavour it's not that strong - a modest 5.5% - but it has real body and, like its namesake*, is on the cusp between sweet and sour. A wonderful beer!

Best Beer (non-UK) : Oskar Blues Jefe's Horchata Imperial Barrel-Aged Stout

Runners-up: Sweet Water Tavern High Desert Imperial Stout, Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad, Stone Scorpion Bowl DIPA

Just a third of this one, I think!

I have drunk some terrific imperial stouts this year, one of the best being the High Desert Imperial Stout that Darryl Scott and I enjoyed so much at the Sweet Water Tavern in Virginia. Barrel ageing was generally a force for good, notably in Boulevard's extraordinary Belgian style quad. It was a fair bet therefore that combining barrel ageing and imperial stout and you'd be onto a winner. It was the Brighton Bier Haus that brought Oskar Blues' wondrous Jefe's Horchata Imperial Barrel-Aged Stout to the town and thank goodness they did. I'm not sure I can improve on my comments on Untapp'd:

Beer as a reason for living? Well here's the evidence. A fantastic chocolatey rich imperial stout with a pronounced whisky kick. Stunning.

Best Event: Cloudwater Brewery Tour

 

If you want to know where - and how - some of your favourite beers are brewed then a brewery tour is definitely the way. Cloudwater is situated on a trading estate on the outskirts of Ancoats, once one of Manchester's least appealing outposts. That it's now one of the city's up and coming areas is due in part to the success of ventures like Cloudwater.

The tour began in the taproom, which sits above the brewing floor. It's a pleasant, relaxing space and once I'd got over the unusual sensation of drinking beer at quarter to eleven in the morning I found it an excellent way to prepare! There were about twenty of us on the tour, which was led by Mark Cotterell, the brewery manager. Clearly not a natural public speaker, he was nonetheless fascinating and you can hear just how fascinating by watching Charita's video of the tour. If you, like me, struggle to hear Mark you might want to fast forward to five minutes from the end where he answered our questions and was both more animated and louder.

The tour is only £16, and includes samples, and a half of the DDH Pale. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Best Book : Tom Acitelli - The audacity of hops

Runner-up: Garrett Oliver - The brewmaster's table

Giving Garrett Oliver a runners-up spot for his celebrated tome is a bit disingenuous. The truth is that I haven't yet read it. If I had done so it might be strolling off with the trophy but Acitelli's tome, which I have read, is nonetheless a worthy winner. It's an exhaustive history of the craft beer revolution and while it does cover a lot of the same ground as Steve Hindy's 2015 title The Craft Beer Revolution, it does so in greater detail.

The book takes us back to craft beer's Ground Zero, the mid-60s, when Anchor Steam became the first brewery in the post-Prohibition era to buck the trend towards mass-produced, bland beers, exemplified first by Budweiser and later by Miller. He leads us around the country, introducing us to key players like Ken Grossman, co-founder of Sierra Nevada brewing, the controversial Jim Koch, whose Boston Beer Company didn't even brew in Boston, Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head, and proponent of extreme beer. In between times, we learn about the importance of home brewing, of brewpubs, but also why these pioneers had the odds often stacked against them.

The jacket also carries quotes from the many favourable reviews. This one, from the Library Journal, sums the book up as well as any:

"this title documents the point where an underground movement becomes part of the world it existed to defy".

Biggest Disappointment: The closure of Trafalgar Wines

It's not that Brighton and Hove is short of good bottle shops - we have Bison Beer, we have Seven Cellars, the Wine Barrel, the Laine Bottle Shop, plus a growing number of pubs that have fridges full of craft beers to take out - but it was the best. Steve Foster had been running the shop for over 30 years and although it was cramped and browsing was often difficult you knew that if anyone was going to have the beer you were looking for it would be Steve. He had the best range of UK brews, a great selection of Belgian and European classics and a more than decent sampling of the vast American market.

He may not wish to be looked back upon as a Brighton institution but he was. To all the other off licences in Brighton and Hove, bow down! You are not (as) worthy!  If you want to know a bit more of Steve's story, there's an excellent article in Brighton and Hove News.

And Steve? Thank you.