8 minute read
TOP 10 BEERS FOR 2021
After the year we’ve all endured, we deserve a very merry Christmas and a hoppy new year. As such, Celebrate:MK editor and craft beer enthusiast Jon Boyle picks out his top 10 beers to ensure you’re smiling from ear to beer
Janet Jackson lied. The best things in life are not free. Craft beer is of course the best thing in life, and it’s pretty damn expensive.
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But I’m not here to expose the character flaws of Michael Jackson’s little sister, or to reveal that I could have funded the government’s botched Track and Trace system with the money I’ve spent at MK Biergarten (pictured) recently.
I’m here to share with you the key to hoppiness over the Christmas and new year period, plus several other bad beer puns.
Here are my top 10 craft beers for 2021. Hoppy holidays, MK!
1) VERDANT BLOOM IPA
Being an eternal hoptimist, I have dreamed of a beer like this ever since I compiled my last top 10 two years ago (see right page). Overflowing with juicy columbus and mosaic hops, think of blueberry muffins with a hint of caramel. It’s 6.5% and comes in large 440ml cans of goodness. Who said size doesn’t matter?
2) MIKKELLER BLOW OUT IPA
Cure your ale- ments from this miserable year with this magnificent beverage, which you can buy from M&S. It’s 6%, refreshing, and the big citrus flavour will blow you away.
3) BRIXTON ATLANTIC APA
Don’t worry beer happy, thanks to to this exotic American pale ale brewed in sunny Brixton, It’s 5.4% and the extra pale malt keeps it crisp for hops to rule.
4) VERDANT HEADBAND
I don’t beer-lieve it, Verdant Brewery have done it again. The Cornish kings have a sweet habit of cooking up juicy, hoppy, unfiltered beers, and this 5.5% pale ale is delicious. Their beers are vegan too, if that’s your thing.
5) LOST COSMONAUTS DDH IPA
Brewed by North Brewing Co, founders of the first craft beer bar in the UK, the taste of this 6% double dry hopped IPA made me smile from ear to beer. Available in Tesco.
6) SCAFELL NEW ENGLAND IPA
Brewed with a high volume of oats and wheat to create a full, thick mouthfeel, this 6.5% New England IPA from Northern Monk is brewtiful. It contains the classic hop combination of citra, simcoe and mosaic for masses of tropical flavours. Available in 440ml cans in Tesco, the price has a northern feel to it too.
7) CHIEFTAIN IRISH PALE ALE
Only the Irish could brew a pale ale that is actually dark brown. But this 5.5% beer from Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork is the perfect pick for a cold winter’s night. Drink it on draft at The Barge in Woolstone, in front of the open log fire.
8) MAD SQUIRRELL SUMO APA
This 4.7% APA has a fruity taste I hold beer to my heart, and it’s brewed locally in Hemel Hempstead too. Find it on draft at All Bar One MK, or at Mad Squirrell Tap in St Albans.
9) PUPA - JUICY PALE ALE
If you like Tiny Rebel’s Clwb Tropica, then you’ll love this beer from Vibrant Forest Brewery. This 4.5% pale ale comes in 440ml cans and provides a sweet hit of light citrus and ripe tropical fruit flavours. Available from Brewhouse and Kitchen in 12th Street, MK.
10) BREWDOG PUNK IPA
Two years ago I ludicrously advised you to pour away your cans of Punk IPA and replace them with Elvis Juice. I love Punk IPA again now and can only assume I had my beer goggles on. Soz.
Two years ago, Jon’s top 10 beers for 2019
So that’s the rundown of my top 10 beers for 2021
Email jon@celebratemk.co.uk to book your advertising
Hoppy new beer! Dry January is brilliant and everything... but craft beer is better. Celebrate:MK editor and craft beer enthusiast Jon Boyle picks his top 10 pale ales for you to try in 2019
Now that I no longer live with a girl, my fridge is being used for its proper purpose (see picture, right). So I was thoroughly prepared for this groundbreaking piece of investigative journalism but, unfortunately, I drank so many craft beers that I forgot all the results.But fear not as I re-bought all the beers and drank them all again for you. Here are the results, ranked in order of how hoppy they made me...
1) CLWB TROPICANA
If there is a nicer beer on this planet, I am yet to try it. This tropical IPA from Welsh brewery Tiny Rebel is a must for all residents of MK because if you close your eyes and take a sip, it feels like you are on a tropical beach and not actually 90 miles away from Southend. This 5.5% beer is packed full of American hops, peach, passionfruit, pineapple and mango flavours and it’s so good that I just got distracted and ordered a crate of 24 from tinyrebel.co.uk while writing this. Try a can at Brewhouse and Kitchen at The Theatre District. 2) HEATHEN IPA Northern Monk have created a little 7.2% slice of heaven with this juicy, Citra- overloaded beer. They usually have it in the takeaway fridges at the Brewdog bar at The Hub. 3) MINNOW APA The can is about the most boring thing I have ever seen in my life but wow, this 5% APA is actually the new Gamma Ray. Find it in the Brewdog takeaway fridges. 4) YEASTIE BOYS DIGITAL IPA Yeastie Boys is becoming a seriously popular brewery and this is my favourite one from them. A tasty 5.7% New Zealand-hopped beer with a bitter finish. It’s cheap too at £1.80 in Tesco. 5) BEAVERTOWN GAMMA RAY The only reason this 5.4% APA is not in my top 2 is because I’ve drunk so much of it that I taste it in my sleep. On tap at Woburn Ale House and in cans at Waitrose. 23 complete – it’s ale in a 7) LAGUNITAS IPA I feel like I’m boring you with beers you already know now but this has to be in my top 10. It’s a well rounded 6.2% IPA that doesn’t get sickly, so I always keep a bottle ready to reset my palate during an evening on the fruity pale ales – kind of like an unhealthy half-time break. Try it on tap at Craft and Cleaver. 8) TRAILS AND WAYS This 5.4% New England pale ale from Neon Raptor excites me as it has the rawness of a home-brew. It tastes amazing but contains floaty bits (the official terminology). 9) DUTTY Every time I drink this 4.2% Vermont style IPA I hear Sean Paul’s voice in my head saying ‘Dutty, yeah’, which is a good thing, of course. This beer from Welsh wizards Tiny Rebel is called Dutty for a reason. It’s unfiltered, hazy and murky – just how I like my Jamaican dancehall music. 10) BEAVERTOWN NECK OIL This lovely, light 4.3% session IPA not only lubricates my neck, but my soul too. Buy it for £2.20 a can in Waitrose to ensure your neck isn’t dry this January. 6) ELVIS JUICE New pups Tiny Rebel and Beavertown are my current favourite breweries but there is no denying the bite of the old dog Brewdog. If you like Punk IPA, the logical next step is to pour away all remaining cans and go and buy this 6.5% grapefruit-infused IPA instead. Visit celebratemk.co.uk for more news from around MK January 2019 day’s work. We are lucky in Milton Keynes to be blessed with some great craft beer shops and bars, so pop along to start your voyage of discovery. My personal favourites are MK Biergarten in Wolverton and Brewhouse & Guideline Publications Kitchen at 12th Street,
L O C A L S E R V I C E closely followed by Brewdog at The Hub. Stay brewtiful, folks!
Tom Foxon For more information please contact: on 07540 153368 or email tom@guidelinepublications.co.uk www.guidelinepublications.co.ukGuideline Publications
Do you agree with Jon’s top 10? Do you have a beer that you would like him to review? Email Jon on jon@celebratemk.co.uk
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