The Best of 2018 - The People, The Places

The very day of his passing, Hamilton cartoonist-
artist extraordinaire David Buist did this caricature
of Marvel Comics' legend Stan Lee in his classic
"slinging Spider-Man's web" pose. It was a death
that rocked a lot of us comic geeks, despite his age.

One of the things I like to do when a year ends is review the "Dead Celebrity List." It's a macabre exercise to be certain but a year-end tradition nonetheless and in the case of 2018, well, that was a macabre year that deserved to close in a macabre manner. The list is always chalk-full of actors, athletes, musicians, as well as various and sundry miscellaneous types. But the thing is half the time I read the list, I'm like, "He/she died? Really? Don't remember that." That speaks to two things. One, even long after high school, I do not pay attention in class. And two, it speaks to the transient nature of "celebrity" in today's electronic age.

To be certain, some deaths do register strongly because they scrape the bone. Robin Williams is a good example. I remember him first as Mork from Ork and yet, a generation later, my son remembers him first as the Genie in Aladdin, one of the more comically brilliant cartoons ever produced. In more recent years, insanely-gifted musician Chris Cornell's death gave me both long pause and immeasurable sadness because it was awful to see someone so talented die that young, like Williams, taking his own life.

But in 2018, it was the passing of Marvel Comics' legend Stan Lee that stunned me, leaving me in a daze for a week. I mean, the guy was 95 years old and I still couldn't accept it.

Damn you, Thanos! Damn you all to bloody hell! RIP, Stan.

Like many, I enjoyed his cameos in Marvel movies so much that I found myself doing a mental checklist. He was still alive for the filming of Captain Marvel, being released in March (which I think may prove to be their best yet) and then Avengers: Endgame, being released in April, pretty much the most-anticipated flick of the year. So he'll be in those, which will be bitter-sweet to be certain. And then... that's it. Damn.

But anyway, enough musings from a comic geek - let's get to the business at hand. Ahh yes, with January 2019 now three-quarters gone, it's time to finish up my Best of 2018 list. The entire list was prepared by January 1st. At times, it takes me a while to write these because my quiet basement room is called the Batcave for a reason. I have crimes to solve. You get that, I'm certain. So anyway, let's finish this ugly bastard off so I can continue with 2019 beer stories, which are on pause until this is done. I'm sure you all remember the rules. No repeat winners from any previous years, Ontario beers and breweries only and, yeah, Beer Bro Glenn is really old. (That's not relevant in the least. Just fun to say.)

One of my favourite brewery stops last Summer was the day my
son and I traveled to Bench Brewing in Beamsville. You drive
through some amazing wine country vineyards on your way and
the brewery itself keep the front of a 100-plus year old school-
house as part of its facade. It was the best of old and new there.

Best Sour: This choice is far from the sourest beer I had in 2018. However, it is the one I drank the most. Once they finally opened in the Summer, my son and I drove out to Beamsville on a Lazy Sunday to visit our friends at Bench Brewing at their brand-new facility. Frikkin gorgeous! The brewery was already pretty well-known to me as they were contract-brewed by Nickel Brook for two years prior to their opening. So I found many Bench beers landing in my hands long before Bench had a roof and walls of their own. And the one I enjoyed the most was Bench's Citra Grove Dry-Hopped Sour. More tart than heavily sour, the 6% beer offered tons of Citra hop, giving it a tasty orange and citrus taste. I always grab a couple of these whenever I see them. Great beer, great brewery. (Previous winners: 5 Paddles Skull Pucker Sour IPA, Bellwoods' Motley Cru 2016, Bellwoods' Jelly King.)

Best Milkshake Beer: While Milkshake IPAs seem to get the most attention in the Wild Wacky World of Lactose, I left this particular category open to all styles. Why?

When I first bought the Collective Arts' Liquid Art Fest
IPA, the woman at the counter seriously warned me to get
it home and into the fridge as soon as possible. She also
said to store it upside-down so the puree didn't pool at the
bottom of the can. Within two weeks, the same beer was
sitting on LCBO shelves, getting very warm. No one died.

Because at this point last year, I was still a little dubious over the addition of lactose in IPAs. However, I found a stout with lactose that I loved so with that in mind, to begin this category, I left it wide open to all styles. But soon, a Milkshake IPA very much attracted my (and others) attention this year - Collective Arts Brewing (Hamilton) Liquid Art Fest IPA, a Milkshake IPA loaded with passion fruit, mango and vanilla. Unlike many other Milkshake IPAs, the vanilla and glucose do not add an unusual or off-putting sweetness or mouthfeel to the beer. If anything, their addition thickened it and this was one of the best New England style IPAs I've had. Very tropical, very mango and yet another winner from Collective Arts. Some of the premiere beers in Ontario, being brewed right there in The Hammer. (Previous winner: Merit's Neapolitan Milkshake Stout.)

Best Fruit Beer: An unusual category, yes. But some Ontario breweries had done a handful of exceptional ones so...

Yes, it's a shaker pint glass but I do employ that Excalibur Resort
and Casino glass from time to time if I don't have a brewery glass.
Why? It's got that cool-ass dragon logo. I want a dragon as a pet.

I tend to veer away from the style but when I hear something has either cherry or blueberry in it, well, I'm a little less resistant in checking it out. My favourite fruits. Once again, that glorious old bastard Beer Bro Glenn got me another real beauty from our friends John and Erin at Little Beasts Brewing in Whitby. The 6.5% wheat beer (that is either red or purple, you decide, I can't tell) has beautiful whiffs of vanilla but is back-end blueberry and wheat malts all the way. According to the brewery, they aged it with 75 kg (165 pounds) of blueberries from the Saguenay Lac St-Jean region of Quebec. I say 75 kilos of blueberries is a lot. Hell, I'd go as far to say a shit-ton. Probably stained their teeth just brewing this. Fantastic! (Previous winners: Turtle Island's SMASHed Cherry Ale, Lake of the Woods' Forgotten Lake Blueberry Ale, Wellington's Rhubarb Saison)

Best Belgian Style Ale: Every once in a while, usually the late Autumn as things cool down, I get a hankering for a big-ass Belgie! Why? They warm you when there's a chill in the air.

When Sawdust City's Sam Corbeil gets together with Nickel
Brook's Ryan Morrow every November 5th for both their
birthdays, big things happen. Like a 11.05% big beer every
year! This year's Belgian Quad With Oak and Cherries was
the freakin' bomb, man! Honestly, you didn't taste the ABV.

Well, this year's best came a little later - November 5th to be exact. You see, that's the shared birthday of Sawdust City brewmaster Sam Corbeil and Nickel Brook-Collective Arts' brewmaster Ryan Morrow. Every year, they put out a BIG beer that has 11.05% ABV and varies in style each time. (My greatest regret is never having tried their Triple IPA, brewed back in 2015.) And when the Barrie Craft Brewery Invasion 2018 made a stop at Sawdust City, well, you can be damned sure I filled my little wagon with this year's 11-05 Belgian Quad With Oak and Cherries. Big malts, big cherries, a touch of sweetness and a whiff of oak from the barreling, all hiding the big booze in the glass. Oh man, this was gorgeous! Dangerously so! (Previous winner: Great Lakes' 30th Anniversary Barrel Aged Belgian Quad With Cherries)

Best Ontario-American Collaboration: Here's where we briefly step outside Ontario's border with a glance towards our neighbours and friends to the south. During the past Summer, there was meant to be this big Canadian-American Beer Festival where New York and Ontario breweries would get together and brew some collaboration beers.

Maybe Thin Man Brewing out of Buffalo couldn't get across the
border but dammit, their collaboration with Redline Brewhouse
did!! This hazy bastard was off the hook with tasty goodness!!

There were literally dozens of breweries involved. It was gonna be awesome... Wellll, that kinda fell through. I forget why. Doesn't really matter. But dammit, Redline Brewhouse in Barrie and Thin Man Brewing out of Buffalo were bound and determined to do the challenge regardless and stuck to their plan. Well, that is, until the gang from Thin Man got denied at the border on their road trip to Barrie. Since both breweries got together to create the recipe for their Squeeze Across The Border (oh, the irony) Hazy IPA, Redline simply went ahead and brewed it. Barrie Beer Bro Hago, who told me the back-story on this one, showed up in Oakville with some goodies on Summer day and this beer was among them. Geezuz, they threw everything into this one. American Cascade, Chinook and Equinox hops in the boil, Australia Enigma hops in the dry-hopping, three yeasts from England, Belgium and Germany. Malts that are probably also relevant but we don't care right now!!! Seriously, everything. In the end, they (meaning Redline, I guess) created a big, hazy beast!

On the left is Cameron's Brewmaster Jason Britton.
On the right is a Jack-Hole who makes Jason's life a
living hell by constantly pestering him about brewing
more hoppy beers. Surprisingly, the J-Hole kinda got
a win as Cameron's is now in the middle of a special
growler-only run that is fantastic. Thank you, Jason.

It was banana, it was peach, it was melon, it was... fantastic! At 6.4% and 55 IBUs, it was pretty much bang-on for a fantastic New England Style IPA. An excellent recipe from both breweries. (Previous winner: Collective Arts-Thin Man-Sloop Brewing's Smooth Maneuvers New England Style IPA)

Best Brewery Only One-Off: This one comes with a quick story. Cameron's Brewing is, of course, just down the hill from me. Three minutes away. On occasion, I do bump into brewmaster Jason Britton there. When he sees me, he does the "Homer Simpson backing into a bush" GIF... but he uses doors, scrambling backwards desperately trying to find the door-knob. Why? I pester him about hoppy beers and making an IPA. Nag, even. Cajole, oh yes. The poor guy. I'd feel bad except, you know... the actual feelings and stuff involved in that so *ugh* effort. Okay, fast-forward to the Ontario Brewing Awards 2018 in September. At one point, my buddy Drunk Polkaroo and I find ourselves standing face-to-face with Jason at the facility's north-end bar. Cameron's had won a bunch of awards - six in total. So, of course, I ask, what's next? This time, he was ready for me, telling us that they were about to release a healthy handful of one-offs that we would be very happy with. He wasn't lying.

Adam at Sawdust City (also @SawdustCityAdam)
holds up the two Mystery Bottles that brewmaster
Sam Corbeil had asked him to gift to our group.

He started with a couple of hopped-up pale ales, the second of which was Hazy With A Chance Of Hops, a triple dry-hopped American Pale Ale. It was a sessionable 4.7% brew that oozed peaches, plum and definitely a heapin' helpin' of oat malts. Oh man, I think he's done six or seven specialty brews at this point but dang, that was my favourite  by far. Sometimes, being a colossal pain-in-the-ass actually works out for a beer lover. (More likely? I'm too clueless to notice when things don't work out.)

The Sawdust City Mystery Bottle Riddle: Okay, when we ventured out on the Barrie Craft Brewery Invasion 2018, we were treated like gold. Gold, Jerry, gold! It's like they thought we were a different (way more important) group or something. But the reality is Ontario Craft Breweries have long bend over backwards for their clientele. We help pay the bills, the staff and upkeep on the stainless steel canning line so yeah, they like us. They really like us! So when we landed at Sawdust City Brewing on December 8th, our tour guide dude, Adam, gave us the big tour, answered every question no matter how dumb Glenn's were (Oh, bazinga! I tease because I love) but at the end, there was a Mystery Surprise! (*Cue eerie music*)

♫ You ugly! You ugly! Your Mamma say you ugly! ♫
This beer has floaties only a sewage waste disposal
employee could love. But hot damn, if it wasn't one of
the tastiest beers I had all year! Nice job, Left Field!!

He presented us with two corked-and-caged 750-ml (25 ounce) bottles with no labels. What are they, we asked. Well, that's the thing because we don't know, said Adam. Turns out like a half year earlier, they'd found a crate of them in the basement with no identification whatsoever. Brewmaster Sam Corbeil had instructed him to pass two along to us. What they actually are is shrouded in mystery around the brewery (though I suspect the brewers could pinpoint them to a large degree - if not exactly, close enough). So we happily took them and by "we," I mean Hago and myself as we will both readily acknowledge, "It's all about us." We're all about entitlement so if you give us bright red MAGA hats, I can assure you, we will burn them as quickly and effectively as possible. We're very efficient that way. Also, the fire speaks to me from the depths of Hell is pretty. A month back, Hago enjoyed his first. His assessment: "Grapefruit, citrus on the nose, light fizzy head like champagne. Earthy, maybe wine barrel aged. Sour, my guess. Sour saison." I saved mine for New Year's Eve. My notes: "A shit-ton of sediment. Sour but not hugely so. Definitely barrel-aged but straight (oak). No bourbon or wine. Probably 6.5% ABV. Lots of apricot. I'm thinking Apricot Berliner Weisse?" (Halfway through the bottle, I dropped that ABV to about 4%.) So we both agree on a barrel-aged sour but with differing flavour profiles. And he was bang-on about the carbonation. Exactly like champagne. So who's closer? We don't know. Matt says nobody knows. Well, damn. But hey, that was a fun way to end 2018! The Mystery Bottle from Sawdust City!

The Fugliest Beer of 2018: Ontario Craft Brewers, this wasn't even a contest. It's like Left Field Brewing (Toronto) looked at The Alchemist's (Vermont) Heady Topper DIPA and said, "Really? That's the ugliest you can go?"

Did we keep Collective Arts Brewing's No 5 IPA alive?
Well, a quick answer would be "yes." But a far more
accurate and honest answer would be "uh, no." But hey,
here's more awesome art from Hamilton's David Buist!

Part of their "Prospect Series" where the brewery takes a single hop and gooses the crap out of it in an IPA (they've done about 10 so far), their Prospect Double Dry-Hopped Simcoe Single Hop IPA was a big ol' bucket of pulpy ugly. It was so chunky, Campbell Soups was ready to file for copyright infringement. Okay, the beer itself. Yeah, tons of melon and grapefruit but there was something else there I haven't run into with a lot of New England IPAs. Pine. Seriously, I always thought the east coast yeast knocked the west coast pine out but it was here on the back-end. At 6.1% and roughly 55 IBUs, I kept buying this from the Oak Park LCBO... until it was gone. Every last fugly one of them. Left Field, your gang blew me away with this one. Nicely done.

Is IPA No 5 Alive?: The question before the Ontario Craft Beer Courtroom is simply this: Did we #keep5alive? To bring you up to speed, Collective Arts Brewing (Hamilton) released their IPA No 5 sometime in the Spring. It was 2018's "Broadway Smash Hit" beer.

Rage Against The Beer Machine? While Drunk
Polkaroo may appear like he's about to drop the
hottest tracks of 2019, he actually screaming at
Surround Sound Imperial IPA to stop tasting so
damn good. But beer speaks. It does not listen.

While all of Collective Arts numbered IPA series have all been great (except one that we shall never ever mention again), the No 5 was so spectacular that as Ed Grimley would utter, "We all went completely mental, I must say." It was a New England Double IPA with Simcoe and Citra, 8.2%, probably 70 IBUs glass of glorious hops that had us all raving. How good was it? Well, before they even came out with the next one, about 30 or more of us started a #keep5alive campaign on Twitter. Did it trend? Go viral? Well, no, it's not a Kardashian. It's actually something of societal value, dammit. And man, we kept at it for a while. Finally, the brewery relented and our favourite multi-media person, Toni Shelton, let us know that #5WasAlive! It was Steve from the South Ontario Beer Boys that let me know it was available on tap and now called Surround Sound Imperial IPA when we were all at the hugely-successful, fund-raising Brewers' Ball Baseball Tournament in September. So I grabbed a growler on my way home. It was excellent... but not the IPA No 5 I remembered. Turns out what the brewers did was keep the recipe but change the hop profile with each release. I think they've released four or five different ones now. Every single one has been fantastic. But did we save Collective Arts IPA No 5? The honest answer? No, not exactly. The brewery sorta kinda resurrected IPA No 5 but it's not quite the original. Like Zombie IPA No 5?? If you listen, you can hear, "Grains... grains..."

This devilishly-handsome dude is Matt Allott, the
owner of Manantler Craft Brewing way out there
in Bowmanville, which looks unusually tropical
in this picture. For service above and beyond,
Matt is our Craft Brewery Executive of the Year.

But it was again Steve from SO Beer Boys who sought out the silver lining here. While he wouldn't say it was for the better, he would "say for a more interesting and continual experience as we now have four reincarnations of Surround Sound this year. Bring it on, Collective Arts!" Grains... grains...

Best Craft Brewery Executive: The first time I met Matt Allott, the now-owner of Manantler Craft Brewing in Bowmanville was December 9, 2017. It was the day of the Whitby Craft Brewery Invasion and while he couldn't get away for the full day, he skipped off for a short stint and met us at Little Beasts Brewing. And while I hadn't met Matt prior to that, I knew all about the brewery itself from Beer Bro Glenn, one of their biggest fans since their opening day. In fact, on their Legends Stout Series, Glenn's picture was one of four labels, all featuring early supporters of the brewery. Originally, Matt's brother Chris was the owner, along with the then-brewmaster and two silent partners before he bought them out. Then, Chris brought Matt in as an owner but as Glenn says, "Chris started making bajillions on Bitcoin" (one Bitcoin equals $4,700 at the moment) and the business was handed over entirely to Matt. But that day in Whitby, Matt arrived with a trunkful of Manantler swag and it quickly became a "take my money" frenzy around him. My sick blue Manantler T-shirt has seen the neon lights of the Las Vegas strip and will once again in a few weeks. (But where?)

When Matt Allott posed with both Lady and Drunk
Polkaroo during the Golden Taps-Ontario Brewing
Awards, none of us were aware of one thing. That
Matt was the only one with enough foresight to tape
Polk's big moment at the mic after his huge win...

Still, here's the thing. Every time Matt knows Glenn is planning a trip to Oakville, specialty beers get set aside before they're sold out. And Glenn has brought some beauties to me - several of them winners in the Best of 2018. While that is all more than enough for me to honour the dude, there's one more thing. And to me, it's pretty big. You see, at the Golden Taps-Ontario Brewing Awards in September, the set-up was simple. Winners were announced, they came up on stage, took a bow or curtsy (some of those burly bearded brewers did a mean curtsy) and then exit stage-left. Except when Drunk Polkaroo won the Best Beer Writer of 2018, he didn't just bow. He took the opportunity to grab the mic and thank a lot of people. It was a spontaneous gesture, much like Polk's actions tend to be. A few days later on Twitter, Polk noted he wished he'd had that speech taped. It was all off-the-cuff so of course, days later, even he couldn't remember what he'd said. Within a few minutes, Matt responded with two simple words: "I gotchu." On his phone, Matt had taped the whole Polk moment. He was the only person in the entire room who thought to do so. And right then, he posted it for Polk to relive. A moment caught in time. Ontario Craft Brewers are always thanking us for our support. But it's moments like that where we realize, "Wow, they really take care of us, too." That's pretty cool. Whatta community. And, Matt, you make us all proud. (Previous winners: Mark Woitzik of Brock St Brewing, Garnet Pratt Sidell, formerly of Side Launch.)

. 

Pretty much the only pair in Hamilton who can give Drunk
Polkaroo and Lady Polkaroo a run for the money in the
Cutest Couple Award would be Grain & Grit Small Batch
Beer owners Joe and Lindsey Mrav. I was impressed with
this place the second I walked through the door and thus
returned so many times over 2018, that it feels like home.

Best Brewery (aka The Spirit of Craft Beer Award): Way back in February, Beer Bro Glenn and I did a Hamilton tour that included two new breweries in the west end - Fairweather Brewing and Grain & Grit Small Batch Beer. We loved both but it was hard to ignore Grain & Grit as it was 1) Set up in an old auto repair garage with limited space and 2) We were served by the owner himself, Joe Mrav. Okay, co-owner because let's not forget his wife, Lindsey. But it was a quiet February night, cold as sin, so we had Joe's ear the entire time we were there. For starters, how were they cranking out such low-ABV with such high-IBUs, not mention mind-blowing aromas and flavours? Their session IPA, Light Ray, was 4.5% but 80 IBUs? Their flagship IPA, In The Palms, is just 5% but 90 IBUs? Be this dark wizardry? No, chuckled Joe, their brewmaster, Alex Sporn, a German native, was just that good. While I was out having a smoke, I scouted. It's a small set-up so naturally, I went around the back to see if there was room for expansion. Looked pretty open back there. So I broached Joe about knocking out the back wall and creating more space. Nope, he replied, someone else's property. They're landlocked. You know what that means? They will always be a small batch brewery! There is something about that I very much dig. A purity to it that can never be tainted by big moves. Regardless of style, Alex manages to put a fresh new spin on it and they simply created some of the best beers I had in 2018. I will hop in the car just to go there on a Sunday. (With Fairweather across the street, it's a two-fer.) Joe and Lindsey, I love your cozy cool little joint!

When Nickel Brook released their four-beer Mystery
Pack towards the end of 2017, Beer C - what ended up
becoming Wicked Awesome IPA - was clearly my choice.
To that end, I pushed hard on social media for people to
select it as their choice. I cajoled. I persuaded. And if the
need was there, I threatened. Well, if "I will steal your
beer" can even be considered a threat. To many, it is.

Small place, big heart, fantastic beers! (Previous winners: Longslice Brewing, Brock St Brewing, the Barrie Craft Beer Mafia - Redline, Barnstormer and Flying Monkeys)

Best Beer of the Year (aka The Wingman Award): If you follow me on Twitter, this one should come as no surprise. While Muskoka's Summerweiss Tropical Wheat and Left Field's Laser Show Vermont Style Imperial IPA were both strongly in the running, I've given them their awards because in the end, there can only be one Highlander. This year, that was Nickel Brook's (Burlington) Wicked Awesome IPA. The other two reached for the stars. But Wicked Awesome actually grabbed it. But let me take you back to late-2017 when Nickel Brook released a Mystery Pack - four beers simply labeled Beer A, Beer B, Beer C and Beer D. They were, in order, a low-ABV stout, a session Hazy IPA, a full-ABV (6.5%) Hazy IPA and a Dry-Hopped Sour (because if there's one thing Nickel Brook needs to work on, it's their Sour Game?? Riiight.) Clearly, to me, Beer C was the obvious choice. But others started to make their own arguments for some of the other beers in the four-pack. I was shocked. I was appalled. I was aghast. Clearly, independent thought was running rampant in Ontario Craft Beer Circles. How could this happen? Is this not how anarchy begins?

Believe me, we thank our local brewers on a
daily basis. Whether craft beer drinkers
realize it or not, we are very spoiled here in
Ontario. I would put our beers up against
any beers being brewed anywhere. Truth.

So, of course, I pitched the laurels of Beer C whenever and wherever I could. Online, to friends, in bus shelters, at my many church functions (*cough*), basically, to whomever might listen. In the end, the tropical fruit bouquet of the deliciously-tasty Beer C was enough to garner 34% of the four-way vote - a clear majority, not spoiled by archaic and antiquated systems such as Electoral Colleges (dafuq is that crap?). Within a month or so, Beer C was redubbed as Wicked Awesome IPA. All was right with the world. I could sleep soundly once more. And last year, to me, it was the best in the Province. Well done, my Burlington brothers and sisters. (Previous winners: Great Lakes' Canuck Pale Ale, Collective Arts' Ransack The Universe IPA, Muskoka Mad Tom IPA)

And with that last winner, we finally have a wrap of The Best of 2018. Yes, it took me nearly a month into 2019 but there was an unusually large spat of crimes that needed to be solved from the Batcave. With the use of my Bat Technology - a phone, a laptop, a tablet, a TV and, of course, the Bat Fridge - all crime in Oakville has been solved, except for people who park poorly. I'll leave that to the locals. But I wanna to single out two people who handed me some real winners this year - Nepean Beer Store Beer Brother Ben (who pretty much owned the hoppy section) but mostly, Beer Bro Glenn who brought me beauts throughout the year. These two made this list. Back soon with a look at the #IGBrewCrew's Invasion of Wellington Brewing on January 11 and the beer we created! But Scooby Doo Gang, that's it, that's all and I am outta here. Until next time, I remain...

The Best of 2018 - The Dark and Dirty

Only at the Collective Arts Brewing's Liquid Art Festival would you
see two guys from miles apart both descend on Hamilton wearing the
identical 'What Would Jesus Brew?' T-shirts made by Flying Monkeys
Brewing in Barrie! That would be my buddy, Hago, on the left and his
new friend, Sergei, on the right. The Beer Fest was, for my money, the
absolute best one thrown in 2018. The good news is it's coming back!
"So an Armenian and a Russian walk into a Beer Fest..." These guys.

Ever go to a Beer Fest on a beautiful sunny June day with over 50 different breweries from around the world, armed with some of the best IPAs you'll ever have in your life (and also other styles that I could have tried but didn't because of so many IPAs!) and then come away thinking, "Wow, watching all those artists was so cool..."

Wait... wut? Like beer artists? They make foam animals or some-shit? No, it was Collective Arts Brewing's (Hamilton) Liquid Art Fest back in June and dammit, Janet, it was some kinda fun. Barrie Beer Bro Hago came down for the day and jaysus, did we have a blast. Everything was there. All those beer kiosks, a couple of bands and art being done right before your eyes. All of the brewery's dull grey outer walls were slowly transformed into cool, wild Sci-Fi, psychedelic, funkadelic, crazy-ass scenes. Artists were up really high on scissor-lifts (with the appropriate safety harnesses, I'm sure - truth to tell, I didn't look because hell, I'm not the brewery's Safety Rep or with the Ministry of We Hate Fun).

I am standing in front of a wall that was gray 24 hours earlier. You
see, artists up on cranes worked over two days, putting up crazy
murals all over the outer walls of Collective Arts during the Fest.

Going in, I knew all this art was happening but didn't think I'd care. If that sounds sort of uncultured, it's because I am. I mean, come on, 50 different breweries from around the world, including Iceland and Japan? Really, shouldn't that be 100% of my focus??

But I kept finding myself drifting over to watch while I sipped my little hops bombs. I mean, when we first walked in, I noticed three different artists on the biggest wall, way up high, starting off. There were already tracings on the wall that had probably taken hours but at that point, it didn't look like much.

But by a third of the way down, they had me hooked and every time I got another beer, I walked over to see their progress. Gotta be honest, it was fascinating. And man, so colourful! And because I'm colourblind (red-green deficiency), I also saw it all differently than everyone else there! Well, except for the other 8% of the men there who are also colourblind. Now what was my point? Oh right. Liquid Art Fest is back again! Check their website and for crying out loud, GO!!! (Thank me later. It's that cool.)

So anyway, The Best of 2018 continues today with the third part, The Dark and Dirty (which is why I wanted a colourful start to this). That means your porters, your stouts... And then some oddball styles at the end to round it all up.

I enjoyed all three volumes of the Wellington
Brewing Re-Booted series this year but none
knocked me over more than Volume 5, which
was comprised of one standard and then three
newbies, the same as the other previous ones.

I'm sure you remember the rules. Ontario beers only, no repeat winners from my 2013-2017 Best Of lists and, of course, Glenn's old (but damn, that fogey from Oshawa brings me some tasty beverages!) So let's channel our inner Ramones on this mofo and ♫ Hey Ho! Let's Go! ♫

The Best Mixed Pack: There's always a lot of mixed packs on the LCBO shelves or Beer Stores, especially at Christmas time. But this year, Wellington Brewing (Guelph) had three of them out there over the year. Their Welly Re-booted Mix Pack Vol. 3, Vol. 4 and Vol. 5. They rebooted a lot this year. Rebooting left, right and centre. Wonder what that's all a-boot? Because it's Wellington, I'll always buy it. I mean, it's always one standard with three newbies thrown in the mix. It comes in old-school bottles. ("Before aluminum cans, class, beers were distributed to the public in glass containers. Glass was clear and made from sand.") And while I loved all three, it was Volume 5 that takes the Best Mixed Pack trophy today. You see, it had their Imperial Russian Stout, which is - and forever will be - an Ontario classic. Even if the other three were meh, there was always that stout. But the others weren't meh. The others were really great. The 5.2% Ice Eater Single Hop Chinook Pale, made from locally-sourced hops was a nice malt-pine mix.

Manantler Brewing's Death's Tar (you see what
they did there) That's No Moon, It's An Imperial
Black IPA is an unwieldy name, to be certain. But
damn, that's one dark, rich, hoppy treat, for sure!

I frikkin loved the 6.2% Candle Burner Coffee IPA, which had a great coffee-pineapple thing going and also combined my two favourite beverages. The Russian Imperial Stout was its usual immortal self. And the one I left for later (because isn't there always one left for later?) ended up quite surprising me. The 7% Spice Odyssey Chai Latte Stout was dark and delicious with cinnamon and ginger. I checked into it further on their website and found out it was brewed by all-women "Queen of Craft" crew, who hit the brewery a couple of times a year to brew up some sweet magic, with 25 cents from every bottle going to the Guelph-Wellington Women In Crisis. Well, that's a damn good cause so I figured I'd buy more of those when I was at Wellington on Friday. But alas, none were available. Anyway, great job, Welly's! (Previous winners: Nickel Brook's Mystery Pack, Muskoka's Winter Survival Pack 2016, Okanagan Springs' Craft Variety Pack 2015, Muskoka's Hoptorial Mix-Six)

Best Black IPA: Okay, no previous winners in this category because it's new. I'm not sure why because Great Lakes makes a great one. So does Nickel Brook. Same with Rainhard. But hey, here we are, making up the rules as we go.

FROM THE "I STAND CORRECTED" FILE
I said that Dominion City's Needless Luxury
Triple IPA was the only Ontario Triple IPA I
had ever had. Not true. This one, Great Lakes
and Amsterdam's Life Sentence Triple IPA
was not only my first, I awarded it way back
in 2015 in this very space. I'm a bad monkey.

It's anarchy in this little house of horrors. If you aren't tickled by the name of Manantler Brewing's (Bowmanville) Death's Tar: That's No Moon, It's An Imperial Black IPA, well, then, the taste alone will have to do it for you. Knowing Beer Bro Glenn was coming to visit me in Oakville, Manantler owner, Matt Allott, is always sure to set aside a couple of beauties for the pair of us and this Star Wars' themed beer, released May the 4th (of course) was a big, black 9.7%, 80-plus IBU bomb! Black IPAs, or at least one's done well, always give you the best of porters-stouts with the big coffee and chocolate mixed in with a west coast hoppiness that's a tough combo to beat. For starters, you taste the coffee and chocolate. But man, you smell the tropical fruit and citrus. A blend of two styles I absolutely love and like I said, when a Black IPA is done right, there ain't no beating it. Just a gem!

Best Porter: I am 99% certain I picked this beer up back when Beer Bro Glenn and I toured Hamilton back on a frigid February day. If not, it was shortly after because believe me, two small, just-opened west end breweries, Fairweather Brewing and Grain & Grit Small Batch Beers knocked us both for a loop. I returned to both (literally a minute apart) many times through the year. But here's the thing. The second I had Fairweather's Silky Oat Porter, I knew 2018's race for Best Porter was over. Oh sure, there's always a chance for another great one but really, it was no contest since that early year moment on, as far as I was concerned.

I have no idea whose photo this is except that they
have a very old-school stereo receiver in the back,
which is pretty bitchin'. My hard drive crashed so
I have been depending on my previously posted
Twitter pictures but could not find this one. Okay,
this here - best porter of the year hands-down!!

The label bills this beer as: Soft. Dark. Curious. Well, the oat malts certainly lend to the softness of the 5.5% beer. And yeah, it's deliciously dark. There's no doubt there. But rather than "curious", they should have gone with "smooth" because, man, this just rolls happily down your throat. Totally roasted malts on the nose, this has chocolate, a light whiff of coffee (less prominent than some porters but hey, it works beautifully here) and again, the oats are there on the back end. Even given my devotion to their fantastic High Grade American IPA, which got some very serious consideration here for IPA of the Year, this is the one I always looked for when I land at Fairweather. And when a brewery's porter beats their own IPA that I love? Well, that's a special kind of porter. And this was. (Previous winners: Forked River's Full City Coffee Porter, Innocente's Charcoal Porter, Highlander's Blacksmith Smoked Porter) 

Best Flavoured Porter: I create this category last year because I had so many delicious porters that, with the addition of other flavours, extended far beyond the traditional coffee-chocolate profile of the style and I wanted to give them props separately from the straight-up variety. This year's goes to our friends in Hanover at Maclean's Ales with the tweak on the regular style they simply called Cherry Porter.

Maclean's Ales in Hanover gave us all a fruity twist on the
classic chocolate-coffee profile of a porter with their Cherry
Porter. The cherry jumps out at your nose and tweaks this.

It's kinda funny because just prior to enjoying this 5.6% treat, I enjoyed another brewery's chocolate-cherry porter which I found had the subtlest cherry whiff. While the Maclean's itself refers to their Cherry Porter as having "subtle notes of sour cherry," I found them to be quite prominent and thought they added a lot to the brew, giving it a unique twist on a cold-weather classic. Hey, everyone tastes something different, yes? Forget finger-prints - I say no two people's taste-buds are alike. I thought this was a little beauty. (Previous winners: Big Rig's Tales From The Patch Pumpkin Porter, Mill St Vanilla Porter, Nickel Brook's Pissed Off Pete's Pumpkin Porter.)
Relevant Side-Bar: When Nickel Brook Brewmaster Ryan Morrow first created the Pissed Off Pete's Pumpkin Porter, a number of brewery employees were disappointed it wasn't a traditional Pumpkin Ale that year (thinking 2014 or 2015). As my hometown brewery at the time, I let them know my opinion by sampling it and then walking out with a sixer of bottles, making it clear that would not have happened with a (*ugh*) Pumpkin Ale.

My last beer of 2018 was one of my best beers of 2018. Collective Arts'
Imperial Porter was a fitting end to a fun-filled year. Heck, see the
intro to this and you'll realize this Hamilton brewery was a part of that.

Best Imperial Porter: A year consists of 365 days and that's why I wait until early the following year to do these little "Best Of" lists. Case in point. The very last beer I enjoyed in 2018, less than an hour away from the big midnight countdown was this one - Collective Arts' Imperial Porter. I wanted to end my year on a big note and as our old friend Drunk Polkaroo would say, this was one "big, boozy bastard." Call it an educated hunch but I suspected this might just land on the list. Found at an LCBO all by itself on a warm shelf and needing a worthy home, I properly aged this... in my fridge... for three whole weeks. I know, I know, my patience is unwavering. It's a curse, really. Okay, off the top, I caught lots of chocolate, a touch of vanilla but very little coffee, if any, off this one. You know what else I noticed? Bourbon and lots of it!

Town Brewery showed why they are an up-and-coming
force in the Durham Region, with their own takes on
across-the-board styles. And as much as I love their
hoppy stuff, this Leap of Faith Series' Foreign Extra
Stout was a step above most stouts I had this year.

Aged for over a year in Kentucky Bourbon barrel, this 11.5% black magic had so much boozy warmth going down, that I stepped out into the cold night air for just a moment to see if the bourbon in it was strong enough to warm me up. It, of course, didn't because that's the kind of dumb-ass experiment you'd only try if you've been drinking. And I had. Also I was wearing pajama pants and a T-shirt. But if you asked me what other beers I'd had on New Years' Eve 2018 (there were three or four before this), I would not be able to tell you. This is the only one I truly remember. Usually, it's the last beer of the night you forget. Not this time. Dawn of a New Year equalled Don with a Great Beer!

Best Stout: During our Whitby Craft Beer Invasion of December 2017, our last stop was Town Brewery. Most of us have only the haziest of recollections when it comes to the visit. The next morning wasn't much better as I woke up in my hotel room, trying to figure out whose beers was whose and sorting it all out with Beer Bro Glenn before skipping town. (Also, I scored him a free breakfast at my hotel. Good times!) In the end, I think I took a bag from Town that did not belong to me. However, it contained their Leap Of Faith Series: Foreign Extra Stout. 

When Durham Carpenter of the Year Josh brought these into the limo
during the Barrie Craft Brewery Invasion of December 2018, I thought,
"Perfect, an easy-sipping Chocolate Milk Stout." And the Brock St beer
was precisely that. Smooth and tasty, it's an extra-rich chocolate treat...

Now that poor beer languished in my fridge until early-December (so yes, a full year) until I held the one-person event known as Donny's Dark Weekend. (Actually, weekends but regardless...) It was one of the many stouts, porters and dark ales that finally came off the top shelf to be consumed. When I wrote a blog about the Dark Weekend, I intentionally left this out. I had it ear-marked for here, instead. The Leap of Faith Series was the first round of beers made by the brewery back in late-2017 so it's not like I've ever see this again. That's a shame but damn, this 6.6% brew had it all, plus a bit. Mixed in with the chocolate was a strong kick of licorice that I really loved. Even a year late, I suspect favour deepened over time. Gone but certainly not forgotten.

I visited Wellington Brewing in Guelph as part of the #IGBrewCrew that
made a British-Style Stout and saw the bottles of their Imperial Russian
Stout in the cooler, as well as 473-ml cans. Zup with that, I asked the
clerk, who noted there were left-over bottles from the Welly Re-Booted
Volume 5 so they were selling them off. Well, I walked out with a sixer.

(Previous winners: Lake of Bays' Nightwatcher Oatmeal Stout, Stonehammer's Oatmeal Coffee Stout, Stone City Ales' Ships In The Night Oatmeal Stout)

Best Flavoured Stout: Good old Josh Beaven always makes sure we have plenty to drink in the limo when we do one of our Craft Brewery Invasions. Granted, he gets a big assist from his pals at Brock St Brewing, who always hand him the limo beers but hey, it's Josh who hands me the beer so he gets the props. In 2017, during our Whitby brewery run, it was Brock St. Blonde Ale, a perfect easy ridin' brew. But last year, during the Barrie run, Brock St and Josh upped their game with the brewery's Blayne's Tank 5 Series' Chocolate Milk Stout.

Let's be honest here, people. Who among us can blame him?

And what exactly does this 5.5% brew taste like? Chocolate milk. Just like the kind you used to get at Mac's Milk when you were hung-over on micros. Once again, Brock St and our man, Josh, come through for us, making a fun day out a little bit tastier! (Previous winner: Muskoka's Raspbeery Coco Lait)

Best Imperial Stout: The only reason this beer hasn't won the title before is that I assumed it already had way back in 2013-2014. When I checked back and realized that I've never chosen this, my previous selection got, well, the boot, so to speak. As such, Wellington Brewing's (Guelph) Imperial Russian Stout gets the nod this go-round. No barrel-aging, no bourbon, no tricks up the sleeve, this is flat-out one of the best beers ever crafted in Ontario. With a hint of plum, this 8% dark chocolate-coffee gem goes down so smoothly that you can forget its high ABV at times. As I have a few times. Fortunately, your legs remind you very quickly. Like I said, this is a good as it gets.

Being as this was one of Manantler's most sought-after
beers of 2018, I feel fortunate that owner Matt Allott set
aside a couple for me and Beer Bro Glenn before they
were all snapped up. Geezuz, this was seriously fantastic!

Previous winners: Grand River's Russian Gun Imperial Stout, Nickel Brook's Kentucky Bastard, Walkerville's Barrel-Aged Milk Stout, Bellwoods' Hellwoods Imperial Stout)

Best Flavoured Imperial Stout: While a chocolate peanut butter stout from Ottawa's Whitewater Brewing was dividing drinkers into the pro and con camps very quickly (I never found it), I thought back to an early trip to Las Vegas last year and the best chocolate peanut butter stout I've ever had - Belching Beaver's (San Diego) Peanut Butter Milk Stout. I honestly never thought I'd find another in Ontario that could match it. I would be wrong, as I often am. Early in the year, Manantler Craft Brewing (Bowmanville) and Boshkung Brewing (Algonquin Highlands) pulled off the perfect "You got chocolate in my peanut butter" collaboration with their 8.5% All Shook Up Chocolate Peanut Butter Imperial Milkshake Stout. Imagine if you will, nature's most perfect health snack, a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, but in liquid form. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. These two breweries absolutely nailed it!! (Previous winner: Highlander's Winter Imperial Stout)

Well, Scooby Doo Gang, that's it for the dark and dirty picks but I'll back back for The Best Of 2018: The People, The Places very soon to put a wrap on last year. Then, finally, I can jump into 2019 as a bunch of great stuff has already happened. Yes, Wellington, I'm looking at you! But that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...

The Best of 2018 - Let's Go To The Hops!

"Moooooove over to the Milky Side," implored Darth
Lactose in this classic David Buist cartoon.  The fight
between #TeamLactose and #TeamNoLactose was a
funny highlight on Twitter over the past few months.
And Team Lactose gained a powerful ally in David...

Probably the funniest Twitter Battle of 2018 had to be over the use of lactose in milkshake beers, notably IPAs.

And by "battle," I mean good-spirited, we're-right-you're-wrong, my-Dad-can-beat-up-your-Dad fun. Battle-lines were drawn in the sand and before long, Team Lactose (@TeamLactose) was an actual Twitter entity, battling the forces of #TeamNoLactose.

I did what I usually do - sat on the sidelines with a bowl of dry-roasted peanuts, a tasty IPA and simply watched the fun. Lactose in beer is truly a case-by-case basis for me. At this point, I've had a few Milkshake IPAs that I've very much enjoyed and others that had me going "Dafuq is this shit???" 

I suspect Beer Bro Glenn, Drunk Polkaroo and Lady Polkaroo will remember my reaction after tasting my first Milkshake IPA at Hamilton's outstanding Merit Brewing back in the Summer of 2017. It was their Breakfast Fruit Loops Milkshake IPA. The look of my face probably said it all. I certainly was not an instant fan. The thickness of the mouth-feel threw me off.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know well my love for
shrimp burritos. In fact, I am very careful about which
beer I will pair with one. Burrito Boyz, my usual source
for this tasty Mexican treat, always applauds my pairing,
regardless of beer or style. "Great pairing!" Every time.
It's pretty funny. I get it. Their product is on Twitter so...

It tasted pretty good but I couldn't get past the weird density in the texture.

That said, I did what I always do when faced with a beer that is too sweet, too fruity or in this case, too thick and simply said, "This would work better in a stout, I think." And it did. I took home Merit's Neapolitan Milkshake Stout that same day and enjoyed it so much that it was my Best Milkshake Beer of 2017. So like I said, I take lactose on a beer-by-beer basis.

Okay, back to the Best of 2018 with probably my favourite part - the hop bombs. Y'all remember the rules from yesterday? No repeat winners from previous 2013-2017 lists, Ontario beers only, don't let the robots take over and Glenn's really old. Simple stuff. Let's begin, class.

Best Pale Ale: Okay, you are about to see the first reference to Nepean Beer Store Bro Ben. It won't be the last before this Best Of list is done.

After singing the praises of Market Brewing's Bear
Hug IPA on Twitter, my buddy Graeme, who has the
handle @needmycaffeine (I can relate), said "Give it
a Bear Hug!" Since I had David, I got him to take
this picture of me giving Bear Hug a big bear hug!

Like Beer Bro Glenn, a lot of his contributions to Donny's World of Beer landed in this list. Okay, I need to set the stage a little here. My last Beer Mail to Ben was such a disaster on the part of Canada Post and then UPS, that it is a blog unto itself - one that will be written as soon as my Best of 2018 is done. In retrospect, it's kinda funny. But at the time, both of us were full-on WTF is going on here?? It's mail?? Why is this so hard? Anyways, with that in mind, the last Beer Mail delivery from Ben came hand-delivered as he stopped at my Oakville pad on his way to Niagara Falls with his wife, daughter and father-in-law. Good thing, too. It was a huge box of beer that would have cost him a fortune. But nestled among the treats in this Box of Goodness was Dominion City Brewing's (Ottawa) Paper Salesman Pale Ale. Boy Howdy, this was a delicious pale ale! (You'll see soon with some upcoming beers that Dominion City does, indeed, do hops very well!) There was citrus, orange and mango all tucked into a glass of 5.6% tastiness. Just a dynamite beer in a category that's always been fiercely fought! Thank you, Ben! (Previous winners: Redline's Clutch, Spearhead's Hawaiian Style, Cameron's California Sunshine, Sawdust City's Golden Beach, Rainhard's Armed 'N' Citra)

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this may
have been the most sought after beer that
Great Lakes released this year. It only lasted
a day and a half at the brewery. Gone fast!

Best British-Style IPA: Okay, when I talk about British-style IPAs on here, what I'm saying is that the beer has those west coast hops but also carries a humongous malt backbone for balance. Hence, British-style. Not just in-your-face hops (which, don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy.) This year, it was Market Brewing (Newmarket) that stepped up with their outstanding Beer Hug IPA. Their flagship beer, the first ever produced by them once the brewery was assembled, is a powerful punch of pineapple, orange and pine but backed with a thick bready malt back-end with swirls of caramel in the mix. At 7% and 55 IBUs, my Twitter posting of the beer's picture literally brought dozens out from the background, singing the praises of both the brewery and the beer. I believe the general consensus will be that I chose well with this one. (Previous winners: Walkerville's Geronimo, Longslice's Hopsta La Vista, Junction Craft's Engineer)

Best Great Lakes Brewing IPA: I created this separate category a couple years back when I realized Great Lakes was gonna just keep sweeping the Best IPA award year after year. I mean, yeah, brewmaster Mike Lackey is that good. Because they didn't have a full-time IPA at that point, they just keep releasing fantastic IPAs seasonally. Now that Octopus Wants To Fight is their year-round IPA (a move that made us all very happy), this could be the last year I single out the Etobicoke brewery from the pack.

"For he that sits on the great throne shall rule all the realms within the
kingdom!!" Well, here's a picture that would make any IPA lover weak
in the knees. No, not GLB owner Peter Bulut, although I have no doubt
he's a dashing fellow. No, it's that throne of Octopus Wants To Fight IPA!

This year's choice? The New England Style Octopus Wants To Fight IPA. The GLB brewers took the regular Octopus recipe and simply used Vermont yeast in this version. Why? Drunk Polkaroo said it best in his video review: "Because they can!" They released 100 cases of this on a Friday in November. I had my son on the Sunday and figured we'd head over then as my boy, David, loves going to breweries. But Steve from Southern Ontario Beer Boys urgently contacted me Friday night to say no way it makes it to Sunday. So Saturday, I was first in line to get my fair share. The dozen I bought were then divided and sent around to other friends around the province, not including the four I kept for myself, of course. Same formula as regular Octopus - 6.2% and 88 IBUs - but I found the Vermont yeast added a touch more front-end fruit and took out some, if not all, of the back-end pine.

This is flat-out a solid west coast style IPA. I quite like
their plain white wrapper approach with their beers,
all in these same white cans. Only the names change.

I know the flavour profile depends more on the hops than the yeast but hey, that was my take. Either way, many of us felt fortunate I was able to get some. (Previous Winners: Meanwhile Down In Moxie, Octopus Wants To Fight, Thrust! An IPA)

Best West-Coast IPA: I strongly believe that Anderson Craft Ales out of London is criminally under-rated by beer drinkers, simply because they make really fantastic beers but don't get nearly as much recognition as they should. So here's a little story about them. I was dropping David off in London to his Mom one Sunday and decided to pop over to Anderson before heading back home. Grabbed a sixer of their IPA and then created a mix-six from their other beers. On my way back down Highway 403, I popped into Bell City Brewing in Brantford because it's just off the highway. When I told the guy at the counter that I was coming from Anderson, his eyes lit up and pointing to another fellow behind the counter, he exclaimed: "We love their IPA!!" So I made my purchase, walked out to my car and went back in with two cans of the Anderson IPA. "Here you go, guys," I said, plunking them down on the counter. The gratitude on their end? You have no idea!

Muskoka's specialty Hazed & Confused Unfiltered IPA from
their Moonlight Kettle Series, didn't win my New England
Style IPA this year but it did win Best Comment Of The Year.
When I posted it on Twitter, rhapsodizing its glory, Muskoka
responded: "Why don't you marry it! Just kidding, we love
your love." Later, I met Sarah Girdwood, the rascally wit
behind their social media who is also definitely not Mad Tom!

So they are known and respected within the brewing community and I suspect that will continue to expand throughout the drinking community. That said, this IPA is straight up 6.5%, 60 IBU beauty with citrus, melon and floral notes on the nose and just the lightest malt on the back-end. When it showed up in the Oak Park LCBO in six-packs of 355-ml (12 ounce) cans, I suspect I may just have cleared out the stock on my own. You know the best thing about it? After you get home from work and crack one open, you still have five more!! At some point in the Fall, Drunk Polkaroo managed to get me their 2xIPA Imperial and you know what? As good as it was (and it was very good), I'll still take the regular IPA first. It's that strong. Also, note to Anderson - you know where I buy mine in Oakville. Please restock ASAP. Thank you. (Previous winners: Beau's Full Time, Nickel Brook's Headstock, Flying Monkeys' Smashbomb Atomic, Big Rig's Alpha Bomb Unfiltered)

Best New England Style IPA: Well, here we go right back to Nepean Beer Store Bro Ben and the good folks at Dominion City Brewing in Ottawa. In his last Beer Mail, there were several cans of one very specific east-coast IPA.

Sweet Aunt Petunia, this is some kind of fantastic! The
folks over at Dominion City Brewing in Ottawa sure
know their way around some tasty IPAs. This beer was
a frikkin' beast! One of the best I've ever enjoyed...

That would be their Sunsplit IPA, probably one of the best New England Style IPAs I've ever enjoyed. Right now, my brain is screaming at me, "Don't say juicy!" because it's become a very commonplace and cliched description of the style. Okay, then, juicy is off the table. Hmmm, well, this 6.5%, probably 40-45 IBU haze monster delivers a massive whack of tropical fruit, mango, pineapple and orange on you, courtesy of the megatons of Citra and Amarillo hops that they're using. Like Barrie Beer Bro Hago is fond of saying, "If it looks like orange juice, it's gonna be good." I would also suggest there's definitely a ton of oat malts in the mix because you can feel them on the tongue and this is exactly the kind of texture they add. Now that the Canada Post strike is over and Dominion City is one of Ontario's many breweries that lets you order their product on-line, landing it a week or so later at your front door step (or in my case, the Superbox around the corner), I expect the brewery to become very familiar with my name. Granted, around the brewery, I'll probably just be known as "That Weird Oakville Dude Who Just Orders 15 Sunsplit IPAs At A Time." I'm good with that. (Previous winners: Beyond The Pale's Aromatherapy NEIPA)

Left Field Brewing's Laser Show Vermont Style Imperial IPA has
left both myself and Steve from Southern Ontario Beer Boys
feeling weak in the knees. The Oak Park LCBO that carries it
here in Oakville is just up the street from me and is along Steve's
drive home. The pair of us simply cannot quit this beer. That's
probably due to the fact that neither of us to trying to but still...

Best Imperial IPA: Well, I don't know what to say? If you follow me on Twitter, you already know which beer this is gonna be. You see, Steve from Southern Ontario Beer Boys and myself share an addiction that is harder to break than heroin. (Having never used heroin, I don't know that for certain. I'll have to ask Keith Richards.) Oh sure, we like to tell ourselves we can stop at any time. But we don't. We haven't. We can't? And hey, at $8.95 for a 650-ml (22 ounce) bottle, it may be as expensive as a drug addiction. (Another question for Keith Richards. I should probably write this shit down.) We like to tell ourselves it's a special occasion treat but given the amount we buy, that's pretty much a lie unless Recycling Day and Tuesdays in general are now considered special occasions. The beer in question? That would be Left Field Brewing's (Toronto) Laser Show Vermont Style Imperial IPA. This beast is a Hop Bomb! The 8%, 80 IBU east-coaster is loaded with melon, orange and tropical fruit, something the brewery credits to the "fruity yeast strain from Vermont."

Dominion City Brewing's Needless Luxury Triple IPA laid
me out one sunny Spring afternoon. Well, it was truly a
combination of beers but this one landed a final blow. Let
me tell you this for free. It hurt so good. Holy Frijoles!!!

So there you have it. The yeast affects the flavour profile as much as the hops and malts. Along with Muskoka's Summerweiss Tropical Wheat, this was the second contender for Beer of the Year. Dammit, I cannot quit this beer. (Previous winners: Indie Ale House Cockpuncher, Nickel Brook Immodest, Innocente Two Night Stand)

Triple IPA: Well, there's no previous winners in this category because while I have enjoyed a few triple IPAs before, I've never had one from Ontario. Once again, Nepean Beer Store Bro Ben changed that when in his first Beer Mail to me, Dominion City's Needless Luxury Triple IPA was among them. Luxury? Absolutely! Needless? Well now, let's not get carried away here. I mean, what's your definition of needless? Mine might differ. Okay, quick story to go with this one. The Beer Mail lands in my lap on the same gorgeous Spring day I'm supposed to drive my brother, Gary, to Toronto's Pearson Airport so he can fly back to Spain, where he lives with his wife, Phe. (Hey Phe, love ya! Gary, you're... okay.) Along with this triple are single and double IPAs. So I told Ben, "I have to wait. I have to be able to drive today."

This is the first time one of my year-end Triple Plays - three beers of the
same style from the same brewery - has included a Triple IPA. While Left
Field Brewing may be better known for its use of baseball terminology,
this year it was Ottawa's Dominion City who hit that triple play for me.

And so, of course, the teasing and taunting began. "How can you resist?" "They're chilled and in your fridge calling your name!" Eventually, I cracked, drove to the bank and got Gary $50 to get back to the airport on his own. I literally could not wait any longer. I'm so very weak. Good Lord love a duck, this was unbelievable. Even decadent, if that word can be used to describe beer. Brewed in conjunction with Bar Lupulus, this 10%, 90+ IBU magic potion used Galaxy, Amarillo, Azacca and Citra hops while padding the other side with oat and wheat malts. This was simply a Freakshow of Fantastic! This Dominion City group of rowdies are blowing my doors off.

When I saw this picture of the little girl staring at the huge
pile of ice cream in front of her, I pretty much had to turn
it into a meme. Her and ice cream. Me and release of new
New England Style IPAs. I get the exact same look as her!

Best Triple-Play: This is the part where I find three similar styles of beer, all from the same brewery, and award this one. Usually, it's a Pale Ale, IPA and Imperial IPA. Well, okay then, Dominion City has yet again set the bar higher with their Sunsplit IPA, their Fidelis Double IPA and their Needless Luxury Triple IPA. In this category this year, no one else was remotely close. What a Troika Of Tasty! (Previous winners: Redline's Clutch, Air Ride and Double Clutch, Nickel Brook's Naughty Neighbour, Headstock and Immodest, Collective Arts' State of Mind, Rhyme & Reason and Ransack The Universe)

Okay, Scooby Doo Gang, that's a wrap on the hoppy bastards that turned my crank in 2018. But there's more to come as I'll be back tomorrow with the best of the swarthier beers in The Best of 2018 - Dark and Dirty. This was an insane year for beer. But for now, that's it, that's all and I am outta here! Until next time, I remain...