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Pondering Beers of the Year

As Golden Pints season draws near, we’ve found ourselves wondering how we go about choosing a ‘beer of the year’.

Should it be the one we’ve just declared the best beer in the world? Surely that must also be the best beer we’ve had this year?

Maybe it ought to be the beer that gave us the most profoundly thrilling single experience — the one that literally made us giggle with excitement and joy — even if subsequent experiences of the same beer were less euphoric?

Or how about our main squeeze — the draught beer of which we’ve drunk (quick calculation) more than 200 pints between us since January? (Flippin’ ‘eck — £700!) We must quite like that.

Then again, perhaps we should compensate for the kinds of biases which skew results on rating websites, to avoid more subtle, unassuming beers being overlooked — ones that are technically proficient, or good for their style, but totally boring in the grand scheme of things.

A lot of beers we’ve enjoyed this year weren’t consumed in anything like ideal conditions for achieving an objective view — should they be out of the running?

There are breweries out there trying really hard with limited funding, facilities and distribution — do we try to take into account ambition and intention? Indie Beer of the Year?

We could narrow the field by choosing a beer that’s new for 2014 (imagine if The Godfather just kept winning the Best Picture Oscar every year!) or perhaps even, given our interest in culture and history, the beer which best sums up 2014.

Mostly, we’re just pleased to have something else to over-think.

2 replies on “Pondering Beers of the Year”

When I started Fuggled back in 2008, I way overthought the whole review of the year thing. Now I just have 3 simple categories, pale, amber, and dark. Simples. I still break it up a bit with having 4 ‘finalists’ for each category, Central VA, Rest of VA, Rest of US, Rest of World, and an overall best.

This reminds me, I need to start drawing up highlights for this years drinking. Timothy Taylor Landlord has serious competition on the pale front!!

I think you’re right in stating that you might be over thinking this.
It’s not really that difficult, it’s the one beer that above all others gave you the biggest ‘Wow!!!’ moment this year.

Having said that of course I’m not averse to a spot of over-analysis myself and my blog posts are testament to this. In fact now I’m thinking ‘should it be a beer that was released this year?’ and ‘what about that great beer that I only got to taste a tiny glass of at that mad tasting session and I’m unlikely ever to have again?’.
Curse you Boak & Bailey 😉

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