BeerCast #44 – Beer of the Year 2009

The first podcast of any year is always one to look forward to – as tradition dictates it’s our BeerCast Beer of the Year show. As highlighted in our recent preview, the four highest scoring beers from the podcasts recorded in 2009 are re-sampled, and a winner picked. Previous winners are Anchor Christmas Ale 2006 (2007) and Hop Back Summer Lightning (last year), so whichever beer came out on top this time, it would be in good company. Re-tasting is always an interesting experience, as a second go often brings a different result from last time – and so it was to prove. The four beers in our BOTY show were St Austell Tribute (4.2%), Carnegie Baltic Porter (5.5%), Stone Ruination IPA (7.7%), and Goose Island Christmas Ale 2009 (7.0%). On the extended panel – Shovels, MrB, Andy, Richard, Jess and Grooben, all of whom were seconded to a remote and snowy location to sharpen the tastebuds…

1. St Austell Tribute (4.2%abv) 500ml glass bottle
St Austell Brewery, St Austell, Cornwall.
BeerCast#33 scored 40½/50 (81%) 28th May 2009
Originally tasted by Steve 9; Richard 9; Grooben 8; Shovels 7½; Stu 7

What They Say – “Tribute is a magnificent example of a bronze coloured English bitter, with a rich aroma of biscuity malt and tart citrus fruit from the Willamette hops. Juicy malt, hop resins and tangy fruit coat the tongue, while the finish is long and lingering, with a fine balance between malt, hops and fruit, finally becoming dry and bitter.” [Roger Protz]

What We Say…
Grooben – Much nicer than your standard session beers
Richard – As an English bitter you can’t get a better example
MrB – I don’t like it, it’s too watery and too biscuity
Shovels – It’s very subtle but very nice
Jess – There’s some kind of citrus in there, it’s very drinkable
Andy – It reminds me of drinking Tennents in working men’s clubs around Edinburgh

2. Carnegie Starkporter 2008 (5.5%abv) 500ml glass bottle
Carlsberg Sverige AB, Gothenburg, Sweden.
BeerCast#28 scored 32½/40 (81%) 1st January 2009
Originally tasted by Jess 9; Shovels 8½; Andy 8; Richard 7

What They Say – “Carnegie Starkporter är Sveriges äldsta ännu använda varumärke. Smakrik, fruktig och med en tydligt rostad ton och stor beska. Inslag av karamelliserat socker, kaffe och choklad. Carnegie Starkporter kan lagras upp till 10 år. När den lagras mjuknar smaken och aromenens komplexitet ökar.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB – I like porters a lot, but that’s far too sweet
Shovels – I think we’d had a lot of mediocre beers that night
Grooben – It’s a half-pint beer – although it is smooth
Richard – Sweet and it’ll get sweeter, I’m not that keen on it
Andy – I’m not sure it deserves to be in the BOTY Show
Jess – Can’t believe I gave it a 9, I think we were maybe too happy because we were on holiday

3. Ruination IPA (7.7%abv) 355ml glass bottle
Stone Brewery, Escondido, California.
BeerCast#36 scored 38/40 (95%) 13th July 2009
Originally tasted by MrB 10; Shovels 9½; Steve 9½; Richard 9

What They Say – “So called because of the ‘ruinous’ effect on your palate! This massive hop monster has a wonderfully delicious and intensely bitter flavour on a refreshing malt base. One taste and you can easily see why we call this brew ‘a liquid poem to the glory of the hop!’” [Official Website]

What We Say…
MrB – I stand by my 10
Richard – Love that piney resinous hop aftertaste
Jess – I can see why everybody go excited about it
Grooben – Expertly balanced, I’d give it 9½ too
Shovels – It’s the single malt whisky of IPA’s
Andy – They’ve managed to get the perfect balance point so you don’t taste furry-teeth sugary-ness

4. Goose Island Christmas 2009 (7.0%abv) 750ml glass bottle
Goose Island Brewing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
BeerCast#43 scored 25/30 (83%) 16th December 2009
Originally tasted by MrB 9; Grooben 8; Richard 8

What They Say – “Specialty Belgian malts create a deep garnet color and a truly rich old European flavour in our classic Christmas Ale. And the generous amount of crystal hops adds that extra spicy aroma to your pint, perfect for a wintry night.” [Official Website]

What We Say…
Jess – It’s smoky but not as interesting as the Ruination
Richard – This one makes good use of it’s brown ale base
MrB – Not Christmassy, tastes like a nicer Goose Island IPA
Grooben – I think Ruination would blow away anything
Shovels – Gets high praise from me, it’s easy to drink
Andy – Pretends to be smooth but leaves you with a sharpness I don’t like

So that was the thoughts – or re-thoughts – of the panel during the tasting of the four beers that had made it through to the final. The next thing to do was go round the table and mark down a first and second choice for beer of the year. Given the comments about one of the beers above, it wasn’t really a surprise when the slip of paper had circumnavigated the table. Stone’s Ruination IPA was a resounding choice for BeerCast Beer of the Year 2009. Fitting, given that it debuted with a record score of 95% that will struggle to be beaten. There was a tie for second between the Goose Island Christmas and St Austell Tribute – despite certain comments on both it seems festive warmers and English bitters always seem to do well in our BOTY shows. But there was really only ever going to be one winner – the fantastic balance of massive hops and punchy alcohol really came through in Stone’s strong India Pale Ale. It was a deserved winner.

Our panel also tasted a fifth beer – a surprise bought by Richard and smuggled to the podcasting under the strictest secrecy. BrewDog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32%), the strongest beer in the world. Listen to our tasting after the BOTY voting, and check back to the website in a few days for a full review post on what’s becoming the most infamous beer in Britain…