2010 Beer Of The Year

This is my official beer of the year for 2010.  The judging panel was me, Geoff Semon and Mike Foster.  What are our qualifications in giving this prestigious award to this Danish Imperial Stout?

Geoff has ridden bikes on every continent and in most countries except for Africa and Antarctica. He is a pastry chef by trade and an electronics expert by profession, but for reasons best known to himself, chooses to work for us as a bike mechanic. Geoff and wife Marion own 10 bikes. Geoff only drinks ‘real’ beer. (see definition below) Geoff also won the Airport Sprint title at the last National Penny Farthing championships.

Mike is a semi retired advertising exec whose last post was Strategic Planning Director for one of the worlds largest ad agencies. Mike owns more bikes than Geoff and has ridden in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. For his sins, and his unique views on life, Mike has also worked for us as a bike mechanic. Mike also only drinks ‘real’ beer.

So you can see that Geoff and Mike are uniquely qualified to be bike riding beer judges. As for me, the only qualification I have as a judge is that I bought the first of these beers (and the second and probably the third) that we tasted and have employed both Mike and Geoff.

To describe this beer, here’s a summation of the judges views:

Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel Highland Edition 10.9%
This Danish stout the best beer we have tasted in 2010 and is definitely the most expensive. To quote from Mikkeller:

This Imperial Oatmeal stout is brewed with one of the world’s most expensive coffees, made from droppings of weasel-like civet cats.  The fussy Southeast Asian animals only eat the best and ripest coffee berries. Enzymes in their digestive system help to break down the bean. Workers collect the bean-containing droppings for Civet or Weasel Coffee.  The exceedingly rare Civet Coffee has a strong taste and an even stronger aroma.  Mikkellers Beer Geek Brunch Weasel (Highland Edition) is a Whiskey barrel aged version of Beer Geek Brunch Weasel.  When one pours an already very complex Imperial Oatmeal Stout into whiskey barrels, something extraordinary happens.  The taste in this beer is very complex with the distinct impression from the dark malt, coffee, whiskey and wood.  Ingredients:  Water, malts, hops, yeast and Vietnamese ca phe chon coffee.  Then the beer stores for 3 months in Speysidewhisky barrels.

Sensational in every way. If you have the pocket and palate to appreciate very expensive wines and whiskies, then indulge yourself with some of this. Like good wines and whiskies, the taste stays in your mouth long after your last swallow.  Rating – Hors Categorie

The runner up for the award was Murray’s Anniversary Ale 4.  This beer could, over time, possibly become a better beer than the Mikkeller.  To display it’s best, Anniversary Ale needs to be cellared for 5 – 10 years and the examples we drank were only 12 months old.  We’ll taste some more late this year and pass on our findings.

Definition of real beer:  Beer made from grain malt, yeast, pure water and hops, sometimes with the addition of other flavouring agents. It must not be filtered and the brewer should have the courage to make it a flavoursome beer. I have more respect for a strongly flavoured beer that may not be to my taste than I do for the plethora of “international beers”; that is, clean, fresh, taste free beers. I wouldn’t even water my garden with beers like that. I have too much respect for the plants.

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