The Golden Pints Award 2011

It's wetting it down outside, I'm inside with a bottle or five, Mrs Scoop is playing Virtua Tennis. So I may as well knock out my contribution to the Golden Pints.

Best UK Draught (Cask or Keg) Beer - Dark Arts, Magic Rock. Drank copiously on cask at the General Havelock, Ilkeston and on keg at the Sheffield Tap. Yep, it's so good that I'm happy to take it both ways. Here's an award that Magic Rock won for the beer, displayed proudly in the toilets at the brewery:

Best UK Bottled or Canned Beer - Punk IPA, Brewdog. Just because I was able to take it to the cricket. Look:

Best Overseas Draught (Cask or Keg) Beer - Struise Black Damnation VI: Messy. At Craft Beer Co, Laaaaaaandon Town. With some of my favourite beery people to be with. Let's face it, who doesn't want to drink from a jug of 39% ABV chocolate liquorice smoky whisky goodness? Even if Angelo has has his chops around it already?

Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Beer - Brasserie Thiriez Vieille Brune. A French sour that's better than many Belgians, bought in a Derbyshire pub. Much more about this tomorrow.

Best Overall Beer - Orval. Because it just is. Here's my current order awaiting shipment:

Best Pumpclip or Label - The Kernel. Instantly recognisable. Lets the beer speak for itself.

Beer Festival of the Year - Nottingham CAMRA. Already great, even better this year. A thousand beers in 2012, maybe?

Supermarket of the Year - Marks and Spencer. Interesting variety sourced from interesting breweries. And eye-catching designs by Brandhouse:

Best Beer Book or Magazine - Let Me Tell You About Beer / Oxford Companion to Beer. Both important books; former for being so accessible, latter for drawing a line in the sand which begs to be crossed.

Best Beer Blog or Website - Boak and Bailey. Clarity brought to a world of beery nonsense.

Best Beer Twitterer - me, obviously. Let's have a recount, just to make sure. Nope, still me...

... although as @stevyncolgan is tweet-tastic and may occasionally do so when drinking beer, I'll give him an honourable mention

Food and Beer Pairing of the Year - Pork pie with Brooklyn Local 2. Served by Garret Oliver. Who almost convinced me that this food and beer malarkey isn't really a load of pretentious twaddle. And, let's face it, if anyone's going to convince me, it's got to be him.

In 2012 I’d Most Like To - solve the deep-seated world economic crisis, stabilise the global environment, eradicate hunger and stop lying in end-of-year questionnaires.

Open Category: Person Most Likely To Get A Job Working In A Beer-Related Career In 2012:  I'm hoping that's going to be me. Drop me a line if you;re a brewer / pub group / distributor etc who needs extra brain capacity.


I haven't entered an answer for every question; for some I have no answer to give. But there will be a whole heap of nonsensical awards tomorrow when I present the Scoopies 2011. Until then, beer up me hearties!