As last year looking at my Golden Half pints blog it was clear that I love Big Dark Beers. Ok this is nothing new to me or people who know me, But i dont just love these beers, so i thought i would cover the same ground with other styles, working with an arbitrary maximum abv of 5.5.  In  know ive had several good bottles and Cask(all of which id happily drink again) at under 5.5% but i have found this much more difficult to write than the original piece, on the whole these beers while good just dont WOW me, in the same way. Where there is no winner, that is because no beers meeting that criteria didnt make it into my Ratebeer top 100 of the year.

Best UK draught (Cask or Keg) beer(stout):
Winner:  Tinpot Game Spice Stout  
Runner Up: Adkin Alfred’s Jaypee’s Stout

Best UK draught (Cask or Keg) beer(other):
Winner:  Thornbridge Wye
Runner Up: Magic Rock High Wire NZ

Best UK bottle or canned beer (stout)
Winner:Buxton Dark Nights 

Best UK bottle or canned beer (other)
Winner: No winner This year
 
Best Overseas bottle or canned beer
Winner: Crombe Oud Kriekenbier


Best Overseas Draught beer
Winner: No winner this year


Best Overall beer
Winner:  Tinpot Game Spice Stout  

The Most interesting thing about this years results is to find a sour beer in my lists as i really am not a Lambic fan, but some of the Flemish red styles are nice and the Crombe was a stunner.

How ever this year brought about the nicest thing to ever pass my lips. Its not a beer (though it is on Ratebeer) hence does not feature in this post or my main post, So what is it i hear you ask... dont I,  i could have sworn i heard you ask. Oh well im going to tell you anyway, its an ice cider La Face Cachée de la Pomme Neige Recolte D’Hiver to be precise. It truely was stunning, very sweet but ive always been partial to the sweet end of beer. Never have i come closer to taste bud heaven. Now dont get me wrong i still love beer, and i could not drink ice cider all the time (especially given the price) but if your gonna offer me a beer or that ice cider chances are the beers not got a look in.
 

Golden Half Pints 2002

Still to come is my Bitters for 2012 but a Tweet from @BoakandBailey  made me think what would my Golden pints look like 10 years ago. So this is all very airy fairy based on roughly what my memory is saying i loved

Best UK draught (Cask or Keg) beer:
Winner:  Cairngorm Witches Cauldron

Best UK bottle or canned beer
Joint Winner:Manns Brown Ale    
 
Best Overseas bottle or canned beer
Winner: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Best Overseas Draught beer
Winner: I doubt id tried anything, id get excited by

Best Overall beer
Winner:  Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

Best UK brewery
Winner: Badger

Best Overseas Brewery
Winner: On the Strength of Black Chocolate, it would be Brooklyn
 
Pub/Bar of the Year
Winner: This is Tricky, i suspect it might be the Bow Bar, but maybe Holmes Bar in Leith

Beer Festival of the Year
Winner: I probably only knew Medowbank in Edinburgh

 

Best beer twitterer
Winner: Whats Twitter


In 2003, I'd most not have any beer aims as i wasnt as beer driven. But im most likly want to bo back diving in Micronesia

Golden Half Pints 2012

For sheer simplicity im gonna go with last years  format. 
So for each catagory im going to give this years answer and my Overall choice in brackets, noting if this has changed.

Best UK draught (Cask or Keg) beer:
Winner:  Magic Rock Bourbon Barrel Bearded Lady  (Highland Orkney Porter)
Runner Up: joint Thornbridge Bracia (Pedro Ximénez Aged)    (Magic Rock Bourbon Barrel Bearded Lady NEW)

Best UK bottle or canned beer
Joint Winner: Tempest Double Cresta Stout  and Buxton Imperial Black IPA  (Old Chimneys Good King Henry Special Reserve)
Runner Up: (Old Chimneys Good King Henry )
 
Best Overseas bottle or canned beer
Winner: Cigar City Campeador - Greaves  (Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout )
Runner Up:  Evil Twin Even More Jesus  (Struise Pannepot)

Best Overseas Draught beer
Winner: Fanø Chocolate Lava   (Mikkeller X Imperial Stout Calvados Barrel Aged)
Runner Up: De Molen Bommen & Granaten Cascade BA   (De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis 666)

Best Overall beer
Winner:   Fanø Chocolate Lava (Old Chimneys Good King Henry Special Reserve)
Runner Up: Magic Rock Bourbon Barrel Bearded Lady  (Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout )


Best UK brewery (based on new beers this year)
Winner: Highland (Hawkshead)
Runner Up: MagicRock (Tempest)

Best Overseas Brewery (based on new beers this year)
Winner: De Struise ( Cigar City)
Runner Up: Cigar City (Fano)
 

Pub/Bar of the Year
Winner: Cloisters (Edinburgh)
Runner Up: Hawkshead Brewery tap

Beer Festival of the Year
Winner: De Molen
Joint Runner Up: Brodies Bunny Bash and Egham


 
Supermarket of the Year
Winner :Waitrose
Runner Up: Booths

Best beer twitterer
Winner: Simon Johnson


In 2013 I'd most like to find time to Brew at Brodies (sadly chances are low)

Oddly once again i see a theme. Theyre mostly all Black and theyre all big beers, who would have guessed that :-) 

So like last year i will follow this up with a Golden Half pints of the lower abv beers