I’ve left it until the last minute to do these, mainly because I couldn’t make my mind up.
- Best UK Draught (Cask or Keg) Beer Hawkshead NZ Pale Ale – Truly delicious and stupidly drinkable. Second place goes to Summer Wine Nettle and Ginger Saison and Third goes to Hill Island ThaIPA.
- Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer Roosters Babyfaced Assasin, The bottle is one of the sexiest out there, it was amazing fresh and even the OOD bottle that the Fozzards (or was it me?) carted round Newcastle at Twissup was just as tasty. Closely followed by Magic Rock Human Cannonball, Summer Wine Baristam Sharp’s amazing Honey IPA and Buxton Axe Edge.
- Best Overseas Draught Beer De Molen Hot and Spicy at GBBF, The best chilli beer I’ve ever had, closely followed by the raft of sour beers and Kriek I supped at GBBF
- Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer Hornbeer Black Magic Woman, followed by Orval and then Cantillon St Lamvinus
- Best Overall Beer Orval, Fresh or aged it simply is one of the best beers going, one I’ve never got sick of drinking.
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Pandazilla and Darkhorse
Best Pumpclip or Label Pandazilla spotted at the Free Trade Inn at Twissup Newcastle.
- Best UK Brewery This is a really tough one there are some great breweries out there at the moment but it’s between Summer Wine, Kernel, Durham, Adnams and Hawkshead.
- Best Overseas Brewery De molen, I’ve enjoyed virtually everything I’ve drank from the little windmill.
- Pub/Bar of the Year A Tie between The Free Trade Inn and Bacchus, I could happily spend all day in either one closely followed by Hawkshead Beer Hall
- Beer Festival of the Year I’ve only been to one proper one this year and that was GBBF
- Supermarket of the Year Booths – even though I don’t have one locally, every time I visit one I always end up buying loads of beer.
- Independent Retailer of the Year Beer Ritz, Lots has changed at Beer Ritz in 2010 but the customer service and range of beers are great, both online and in store.
- Online Retailer of the Year Beermerchants – Great range of beers from all around the world, usually the first to get stuff in.
- Best Beer Book or Magazine Tough one, but my favourite book of the year did feature beer (only briefly) it’s called the Hills are stuffed with Swedish girls, buy it read it and laugh out loud.
- Best Beer Blog or Website Reluctant Scooper, never fails to make me laugh.
- Best Beer Twitterer Simonhjohnson, by a country mile.
- Best Online Brewery presence Breweries are starting to realise its more important to be seen online, so my pints go to Adnams, Summer Wine, Hardknott, Buxton and Magic Rock
- Food and Beer Pairing of the Year Hardknott Vitesse Noir and Chocolate Tart at the Cumbrian Beer Appreciation Do
- In 2012 I’d Most Like To.. Got to Nottingham Beer festival, build more brewery websites and not get too drunk at my wedding
- Cider of the Year Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon whether it’s £2 a pint in Wetherspoons or £2 a half in Chester Brewery Tap I really do love this cider.
“The Hills Are Stuffed With Swedish Girls” has gone straight into my Amazon order. As I’ve just read the Kitlist pages and beer came out my nose.
As for ‘best beer Twitterer’… yeah, you’re right. As it seems are a number of others. As I once tweeted, if you’ve got a trumpet you may as well play a concerto with it.
Youll love the book, right up your street, I laughed out loud do much on the beach on holiday em ha to keep punching me as I had my headphones in
Can’t complain on the NZPA vote; simply a stunner. Just goes to show, it doesn’t need to be complex – just stupidly tasty!