My top 9 international beers of the year
As promised, I have now trudged through my near-endless backlog of photos and reviews to cobble together my Top 9 from international breweries for 2020 and believe me it was tough!!
Disclaimer Alert - I have included some collabs that were brewed on UK soil because they were just that good so why not!!
I have alluded to it in previous articles but we have been spoilt for choice in terms of the US craft that has arrived on British soil this year. Putting the price tag aside, we have had the opportunity to buy Green Cheek, Highland Park, Alvarado Street, Humble Sea, Magnify, Finback, Other Half, Trillium, Equilibrium and no doubt countless others that escape me.
There has also been the 2020 phenomenon of certain accounts on Instagram and the odd online distributor scattered across the country selling all sorts of US whales, I’m talking Treehouse, Monkish, Parish etc at a general price of £15 to £20 a can (yes, per can!). This piece isn’t seeking to praise or condemn but from a personal perspective, I’m as yet unwilling to shell out that much on a single can and I do think it takes some of the mystery and excitement out of bucket-list beers if you simply remortgage the house to tick them all off in one go.
Now to the list of beauties at hand, and in descending order:
1. ‘What Could Go Wrong?’ by Track x Green Cheek x Highland Park – the answer, a whole damn lot! I believe this was a rebrew of their 2019 recipe and having missed out on this previously but being an uncomfortable voyeur to the reviews, I was not going to miss out again. This 10% TIPA brewed with Citra x 2 (that is normal and Cryo, being the concentrate, citra cordial if you will – patent pending) and Strata hops. This was just majestic, a faultless beer delivering huge bursts of mango, papaya, honeydew and passionfruit all wrapped up in a ‘hop custard’ thick and creamy body.
2. ‘Muscle Memory’ by Track x Alvarado Street x Humble Sea – another TIPA from Track in collaboration with 2 California breweries and another juicy banger. This time clocking in at 11% and brewed with my darling of the moment, Nelson Sauvin, in addition to Galaxy and Strata hops. This beer divided the community with exceedingly mixed reviews, even subjecting Jackie boy to a bit of split personality disorder, but the two cans I had were mind-blowing. Much sweeter than WCGW? above, this was a sticky nectarine explosion that drank scarily below its ABV!
3. ‘Twice the Daily Serving’ (Black Currant, Blackberry and Boysenberry) by Trillium – wow this was unusual but startlingly good! Basically a can of liquified jam from the MA based craft mammoth. I have no idea where the 7% was hiding and probably needed a couple of fillings after this Berliner Weisse because it certainly packed a whole world of sweetness to counterbalance the sour but this was the surprising standout of a box of DIPAs and IPAs from Trillium.
4. ‘Canadian Breakfast Stout’ (CBS) by Founders – I already loved KBS before stumbling across a bottle of the rarity that is CBS in the Beer Hawk bar in London and knew I had to bite the bullet and pick one up. Founders had announced that they have no plans for a rebrew of their top-rated stout (Ratebeer and Untappd) which baffles me but made the decision to purchase a no-brainer! This beer uses the same base as KBS but aged in maple syrup barrels – I know sounds amazing right. Well thankfully it tastes amazing too, big bold flavours of roasted coffee, chocolate, and biscuity malt combine wonderfully with sticky sweet maple. What’s not to love?
5. ‘Illusion of Choice’ by Green Cheek – my first beer from the California outfit was sublime, as have all since to be fair. The brewer describes the tasting notes on their 10% Citra and Galaxy TIPA as “freshly squeezed Ora Blanco grapefruit juice, white gummy bears and super ripe mango”. Let’s be honest, I’m not surpassing that! It delivered exactly what it says on the tin which also bears fantastically twee notes on the side “it’s your call, but this hazy triple IPA is seriously the best choice you can make for yourself right now” and I would wholeheartedly agree with them. Incredible beer aside, I just love GC’s branding and the wholesome fun they bring to their can designs.
6. ‘Double Mmm…Fruit Dream’ (Guava, Strawberry + Coconut) by Other Half – a similar situation to Trillium, for me this Berliner Weisse completely outshone the IPAs and DIPAs included in the OH pack I had bought. It might simply be the sheer contrast from what I normally drink but this 7% sour achieved such a harmonious balance of sweet fruit, creamy coconut and acidic tang that left me mesmerised and wanting more. The can design was a feast on the eyes too!
7. ‘Gamma Vortex’ by Northern Monk x Other Half x Equilibrium – when you see a line-up like this on a beer you add it to the basket and input your card details with feverish abandon. You know that if you hesitate for even a moment, you risk the dreaded sold-out icon which in this instance will leave you with a FOMO bordering on insanity. This 9.4% TIPA (and it certainly has been Year of the TIPA!!) was brewed with Citra and Mosaic, alongside some other hops I can’t be bothered mentioning. Citra and Mosaic, double dry-hopped, enough said. Citrus, pineapple, passionfruit got along swimmingly with a herbal dankness that rounded this off exquisitely.
8. ‘Barrel-Aged Salted Caramel Cookie Dough Crunch’ by Lervig – this one was hefty both in name and flavour. Sweet biscuity malts, unctuous caramel and a pinch of cracked sea salt all swirled across the tongue, held captive in that luxuriously dense and silky body. A sipper for sure at 12.2% and to be honest, the effects of the bourbon barrelling were quite muted with perhaps a touch of vanilla and oak on the finish but the balance was spot on. Top stuff and a definite dessert replacement!
9. ‘Paying The Price For My Smooth Ride’ by Wylam x Finback – last but not least at number 9, this well-received DIPA checked-in at a punchy 8.8% and was saturated to brimming point with 3 varieties of Citra (lead, cryo and BBC) along with Sabro and Bru-1 in the passenger seat. In their words it brought “fathomless reverberations of ripe guava, mango, peach flesh and pineapple pulp” and I would add to that a touch of toasted coconut and fizzy sherbet. The beer was a joyous tropical explosion on the mouth and the can design equally excellent.
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