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Your author sampling the wares at the Borefts Bierfestival, Bodegraven, Netherlands, September 2012. Pic: Stephen Robinson. 2012 was another great year for tasting beer. Britain’s brewers got ever more eclectic and adventurous, and London’s share of good breweries and top venues multiplied apace. The developing Belgian scene was well reflected in the newly […] Weihenstephaner Vitus Top Tastings 2012 ABV: 7.7% Origin: Freising, Bayern, Germany Website: www.weihenstephaner.de My 2012 top tastings feature not just the brewery that claims to be Britain’s oldest (Shepherd Neame), but the one that claims to be the world’s oldest too. Weihenstephan, or ‘Holy Stephen’, began brewing as a Benedictine monastery in Freising […] Schneider Weisse Tap X Mein Nelson Sauvin. Top Tastings 2012 ABV: 7.3% Origin: Kelheim, Bayern, Germany Website: www.schneider-weisse.de Of all the great European brewing industries, Germany’s seems the most conservative, complacent and insulated from international trends. Many of the country’s vast numbers of brewers still seem to think no further than their immediate […] Tempest Brave New World Top Tastings 2012 ABV: 7.8% Origin: Kelso, Scottish Borders, Scotland Website: www.tempestbrewingco.com In May 2012 I hosted an IPA tasting downstairs at Mason & Taylor in Shoreditch – one of my favourite new craft beer bars in London until BrewDog made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Manager Steve […] Beers and brewhouse at Societe Brewing, San Diego CA. Top Tastings 2012 (The Pupil) ABV: 9.8%, 6% and 7.7% Origin: San Diego, California, USA Website: www.societebrewing.com San Diego, a naval and university city in California’s far southwestern corner, is also a top craft beer producer, boasting heavy hitters like AleSmith, Port and Stone […] Ska Steel Toe Working Class Milk Stout Top Tastings 2012 ABV: 5.4% Origin: Durango, Colorado, USA Website: www.skabrewing.com With my soft spot for the smarter and sharper side of mid-1960s music and fashion and its later revivalist derivatives, I was intrigued to find a Colorado craft brewery calling itself Ska and borrowing its […] Shepherd Neame Double Stout Top Tastings 2012 (India Pale Ale) ABV: 5.2% and 6.1% Origin: Faversham, Kent, England Website: www.shepherd-neame.co.uk When I was rediscovering beer back in the mid-1990s, one of my favourites was bottle conditioned Shepherd Neame Spitfire, regularly available in my local supermarket. Its classic combination of rich malts and moist, […] Russian River Pliny the Elder Top Tastings 2012 ABV: 8% Origin: Santa Rosa, California, USA Website: www.russianriverbrewing.com Russian River brewer Vinnie Cilurzo is generally credited with creating the Double IPA as a commercial beer style. Inaugural IPA, the first beer Vinnie brewed professionally, was so named as it launched his first brewing venture, […] Rodenbach Grand Cru Top Tastings 2012 ABV: 6% Origin: Roeselare, Oost-Vlaanderen Website: www.palm.be Beer writers and experts tend to have different drinking habits from ordinary beer drinkers. To keep ourselves well informed and authoritative, we’re usually tasting beers we haven’t tried before, and find ourselves passing on the popular and familiar by. In […] |
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