Hold onto your Spiegelaus, it's about to get Hoppy in here!
Pale Ales
1. Merit Brewing Step to the Right
While the line between Pale ale and IPA is a bit of finessing no matter who you are, this dank and tropical one from Merit blew me away late one night in August. It was a big and juicy with an attention grabbing texture. I may be biased but damn if Hamilton isn't home to some of the finest breweries in the province. Merit brings so much to the table when it comes to the community as well and that makes them one of the best as far as I'm concerned. If this comes back, I'm buying a 12 pack because I missed it moments after I had my last sip and I don't feel that often.
2. Bellwoods Brewery Jutsu
Last years top pale Ale slips a spot but that has little to do with the revamped Jutsu and a little more with Merit's ascendance. Still a big and bitter citrusy treat, it has become a little more dank and juicy and I am all kinds of okay with that. I imagine this will be a big seller online as the more people in Ontario can now experience the genius of Bellwoods through their home delivery option.
3. Great Lakes Brewery Canuck
4. Amsterdam Brewing Cruiser
5. Blood Brothers Brewing Blood Light
Session IPAs
1. Fairweather Brewing foreva eva
Little can be said that hasn't already been about the year Hamilton's own Fairweather Brewing had. This September release was bang on what a session IPA should be. Loads of pithy citrus, dank pine and body made this easily feel like a 9% Double IPA and it came in at half that ABV. Outstanding is not enough praise but damn it really was.
2. Grain and Grit Beer Co. Light Ray
From way back in February comes a beer that caught my eye and my heart. A 4.5 %, 80 IBU session beer that drank like the big boys with a loaded citrus and stone fruit body. It was the best beer I had found from G and G, starting a trend that saw them hit high water marks throughout the year. Hope to see it again and this time I will be loading up!
3. Great Lakes Brewery Sunnyside
4. Nickel Brook Brewing Lost in Orbit
5. Collective Arts Brewing State of Mind
IPAs
1. Great Lakes Brewery Octopus Wants to Fight
Like a message from the heavens came the announcement that GLB would be making the 6.2%, 88 IBU Octo available year round and the ground shook as Ontario Hop Heads applauded and cheered! Given GLB's penchant for fanatical freshness and of course, the hop forward mind of Mike Lackey, we knew this would be a fantastic new everyday option for our homes. The big and juicy tropical notes meet a touch of the dank and to the skies we go with joy. I only wish I was an octopus so I could have 8 pints on the go at once!
2. Fairweather Brewing High Grade
A slight tweak to the recipe made this Fairweather core IPA a damn near perfect beer as 2018 rode along. Touching up the dank, juicy beauty with a deft hand meant multiple trips required back for more as this beer kept needing to be in my glass. Taking a detour from the grapefruit and pine to add mango and melon made this one a must have for anyone who loves 'em bold and bitter.
3. Left Field Brewery Prospect Simcoe
4. Merit Brewing Young Rival
5. Clifford Brewing Artificial Paradise
Imperial IPAs
1. Fairweather Brewing Fortune and Glory
Prestige. Pride. Power. This 8.5% juicy, tropical and dank hop juggernaut was a revelation when it hit my glass in the latter half of the year. So much citrus, pithy and dank with light pepper notes, it went down quickly and I bought more everytime I returned to Fairweather. They have found the key to true happiness and it resides in this bottle, one glorious sip at a damn time.
In the category I love the most, it was a close race and this beer made the case for all the honour it receives.
2. Barncat Artisan Ales Double the Juice
I don't know if you're supposed to drink the whole 2 litre growler of Barncat Double the Juice when you get home from work but I did it. I couldn't resist its juicy, tropical citrus and dankness...it is second but by the slimmest of margins. If I lived closer I would be there every weekend and as it is, 2019 will find me making more trips to this amazing nano brewery that has everyone who tries their creations stunned and awed.
3. Bellwoods Brewery Mylarshark
4. Rainhard Brewing Revolution No. 8
5. Rouge River Brewing The Dankster King
Black IPAs
1. Great Lakes Brewery Apocalypse Later
Like a king returning from battle, this big and boozy 10.5%, 100+IBU strides into Polk Manor with a swagger that is very well deserved. Roasty, bitter citrus pith and pine make this a damn slow sipper of the highest order and the one beer I cannot see dropping from top spot year after year. Perhaps it was my expanding palate but in 2018, Apocalypse was even better, bigger and bolder than before! I patiently wait it's return.
2. Muddy York Brewing Frogman
The early months of the year are always filled with dark and roasty treats and with the release of the 8.0%, 60 IBU Frogman, legendary brewer Jeff Manol of Muddy York crafted something wonderful. Bright and tropical with a solid dark chocolate backbone, it warmed me to the core on a chilly March day and resonates to this day. Look for it to return and if it does, you'll be able to order it online and join the hop madness!
3. Shillow Brewing Bitter Waitress
4. Great Lakes Brewery Black Hole of Eden
5. Manantler Brewing Death's Tar
New England Style IPAs
1. Sawdust City Brewing Juicin'
Putting aside the fact that the Team from Sawdust showed up here at The Grotto for an amazing evening in August, I have been in love with Juicin' since the moment I first tried it a year and a half ago. It topped my list last year as favourite IPA and now takes the crown in the first ever NEIPA category. So many great beers, but this peach, citrus and smooth bodied, softly bitter beauty remains at the top of my list and will be once again returning to my glass when it hits the shop in Gravenhurst in 2019. Hard to knock of the beast when it's this damn good. A must order online when you see it!
2. Dominion City Sunsplit
I have the feeling that I need to go visit the capital region of Canada soon as Dominion continues to impress with both their amazing beers like this legendary and on point Sunsplit and their community works. More on the latter tomorrow but for now suffice it to say this tangerine, peach and mango slow sipper was enjoyed many times thanks to friends and my own mail order and if you see it out again in 2019, make that bet and get your own, sent direct and fresh!
3. Left Field Brewery Greenwood
4. Collective Arts Brewing IPA No. 5
5. Nickel Brook Brewing Wicked Awesome
Belgian IPAs
1. Fairweather Brewing Ipso Facto
Sensing a pattern? Fairweather released hit after hit in 2018 and it came as a shock when this 7.5% Belgian style beauty dropped in September. All the fruity spice of that Belgian yeast with the citrus shining bright. It was a peppery, fruity gem that takes the top spot in one of the toughest categories for me to decide.
2. Elora Brewing Wandering Monk
A literal unexpected find in early January when I stopped in at a different LCBO, this 8.0% slow sipper of a Belgian from Elora Brewing was just what I wanted and didn't know existed. Pithy, spicy and full of zest, it made the choice for top spot hard and it did it from almost a year ago. I need to try this again.
3. Great Lakes Brewery Audrey Hopburn
4. New Limburg Brewing Belgian IPA
5. Brimstone Brewing A Mountie and a Buffalo walk into a Bar
Milkshake IPAs
1. Left Field Brewery WHIP Pina Colada
I don't know if it is properly classified but I'm calling 'em as I see 'em. Lactose, pineapple, coconut and a smooth bodied 6.0% gave me joy in late July and I was sold all the way. I've never seen coconut done quite so right in a beer and damn if Left Field doesn't keep making me smile anytime I get something new from them. It was most amazing!
2. Great Lakes Brewery Grimace's Tears
When I first had this late last year, it didn't grab my attention. The release later in the summer of 2018 was a damn sight to behold as they really nailed the recipe and the balance between the strawberry, vanilla and lactose sweetness was near perfect. Both of my cans disappeared in a single sitting and I look forward to it returning in 2019...I hope.
3. Merit Brewing Breakfast?
4. Collective Arts Brewing Liquid Arts Fest
5. Merit Brewing Till Then
There you have it my friends, all my hoppy dreams came true and more in 2018 and I wasn't joking when I said I could produce 2 separate lists and be happy with the second picks just as much as these. There is no shortage to the creativity and sheer genius in many of these beers and I am stoked to see where we go in 2019!
Come back tomorrow morning for My Least Favourite beers of the year and then later in the day for My Top 10 Most Memorable Beers of the year!
As always, I thank you for your support and look forward to seeing which Pale Ales and IPAs you felt were Top of the Hops for you in 2018!
Cheers!
Polk
No comments:
Post a Comment