Beer of the Year - 2007

All of the breweries have been hounding me for weeks to finally put out the results of the BS award for Beer of the Year. It is the most prestigious of all of the BS awards. I wanted to make sure to get the results out in time for the lucky winners to attach this distinctive award as a centerpiece to their Super Bowl advertising.

This year, I have added a special category for vacation beer. I had the great fortune to do an insane amount of vacation travel in 2007. Somehow, I always found a way to sneak some beer into the equation. Each locale of 2007 has it's own distinctive Beer of the Year along with the best place on the trip to sample it.

Vacation Beers

New York - Feb 2007: Magic Hat #8 - sitting in a booth shaped like a baseball glove at JFK airport. Might sound like an odd place to enjoy a meal, but did I mention the booth is shaped like a baseball glove? Sad story, when I returned to this location in November, the New Jersey Who-er that was slowly waiting tables informed me that they discontinued that beer.

Chicago - June 2007: Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat - crammed into the hopping Murphy's outside of the Wrigley Field bleachers. There were several different types of Leinie's on this trip and some of them tried too hard to inject it with flavor, but this lemony summer beer was my fave. And if you ever find yourself in the Chicago area, do yourself a favor; get bleacher tickets and spend some time pregame and postgame at Murphy's.

Mexico - August 2007: Pacifico - little lunch spot in Ensenada. Not a very inspired choice, but I love a cool Pacifico on a hot day... It goes down even smoother after a couple of complementary shots of tequila from my friend on the street. Somehow, I don't remember his name.

Paris - November 2007: Kronenbourg 1664 - McDonald's. I really didn't drink much beer in Paris for a two main reasons: red and white. Only partly kidding there. If you are not drinking wine in France, and I mean instead of soda, you are missing the boat. Plus the beer in France is really an afterthought. But if you are jonesing for some hops and barley, it's fun to be able to go into a McDonald's and order a beer to go with your Royale with Cheese. It's the little differences...

London - November 2007: Tie between Young's Bitter and Fuller's London Pride, cellar cooled. Hard to pick one place because there were soooo many cool pubs. But worth mentioning are The Porcupine, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and several others I can picture but don't remember their names. The good news is their are sooooo many pubs that I haven't visited yet in London. I love pubs! Went on two pub crawls on the first night in London. And London is a city that likes to get their beer on! Fancyapint? Cheers!

Beer of the Year

1. Pyramid Amberweisen on tap - As the beer of the night at my birthday party, this one has to take the cake. I wish it were a little easier to get, but the journey is worth the reward.

2. Newcastle - Always near or at the top of this list every year. We are still looking for that elusive Newcastle sponsorship for the Bad Gnus.

3. Fuller's London Pride - It's expensive stateside, but a tasty reward when you want to enjoy a real British ale.

4. Samuel Adams Light - Hard to believe that this is my favorite beer of the year from my second favorite brewery, but for day in and day out refreshment, I always like to reach for this silver label.

5. Samuel Adams Octoberfest - Maybe it is because it only comes out for a few months every year, but this is my favorite seasonal beer.

Best of the Rest (in no particular order): Sac Brewing Miner's Pale Ale, Pyramid Apricot Ale (I'm sticking with the original name here) Brew It Up Midsummer Honey, Samuel Adams Summer Ale, Leine's Sunset Wheat.

Here's to a tasty and righteous 2008... Party on!