Exaggeration would be the best word to qualify my year 2018 in beer and, frankly, I wish I’ll stay in the future far away from the numbers I reached last year. For my own good.
Of course, the 1783 new beers I have tasted look pretty modest in comparison with top RateBeerian fonefan (4516) or the top Swiss beer ticker Thomas “TTT” Schneider (3403). But come on… an average of 4.9 new beers per day?
Nevertheless, I’m pretty proud of having sampled more than one thousand new Swiss beers in one year! A milestone only reached and topped by my fellow beer ticker Marcel Vogt with … some more (never try to get an accurate statistic from an Untappd guy ;-))
The attending of 20 festivals in my country made this possible.
Behind Switzerland (1017), the USA can be found with 167 new beers. Then come England (150), Spain (74) and Germany (49). The same countries as last year.
Unfortunately, the hunt for new countries brought only modest results with only 2 ticks: Guam and Guernsey. I’m currently at 185 different countries and a total of 15’485 beers.
My favorite country in 2018 (with a minimum of 5 beers tasted) has been Sweden. Then follow Croatia, Denmark, Belgium and the USA.
Among the 641 breweries met last year, here are the ones from which I had the most different beers (the top 4 are the same as in 2017, just in a slight different order):
1) WhiteFrontier (28)
2) 523 (22)
3) Cinq 4000 (17)
Blackwell (17)
5) la Nébuleuse (16)
Brew by Numbers (16)
Dr. Brauwolf (16)
No surprise in the category of the most represented beer style, as IPA is in front for the 8th consecutive year with 205 beers (glad you ask: yes, I’m really getting tired of the over-representation of this style). Then come Sour (131), American Pale Ale (102), Saison (98) and Imperial Stout (91). Here were my favorite styles in 2018 (minimum of 5 beers tasted):
- Lambic – Fruited
- Baltic Porter
- Foreign Stout
- Quadrupel
- Sour/Wild Ale
Who says “best” must sometimes say “worst”. Talking about the styles which made me less enthusiastic lead us as always to the same usual suspects: 1) Pale Lager 2) Hefeweizen 3) Oktoberfest/Märzen 4) Dunkler Bock (a bit surprising) and 5) Amber Lager/Vienna.
My top ten breweries of 2018 shows as always an overwhelming presence of Swiss breweries (forgot to tell you I’m partial? ;-)):
1 WhiteFrontier
2 Nine Brothers
3 Cascade
4 NordSud and l’Apaisée
6 Blackwell
7 523
8 À Tue-Tête!
9 S&A Brewing
10 Jester King
This leads us directly to the top 20 breweries from Switzerland (on a scary total of 264):
1 WhiteFrontier
2 Nine Brothers
3 NordSud
l’Apaisée
5 Blackwell
6 523
7 À Tue-Tête!
8 S&A Brewing
9 Cayon’s
10 Degenbier
11 Rufibräu
12 Brasserie du Temps
13 les Garçons
14 Güschu 58
15 Cinq 4000
16 Trois Dames
17 Chien Bleu
18 Brygger Øl
19 BFM
20 Bierwerkstatt Eberhard
I have been particularly efficient at finding new Swiss breweries last year and discovered 89 new ones. The top ten of the new Swiss breweries in 2018 looks like this:
1 NordSud and l’Apaisée (yes, exactly tied for first)
3 Rufibräu
4 Bierwerkstatt Eberhard
5 Brau Rebel
6 La Vadge
7 Brasserie du Dzô
8 Dive Bär
9 Brasserie des Celtes
Braubär
Time now to take a look to my best beers from last year. Here is the top ten overall where Switzerland shows a strong presence:
1 Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Bomb! (USA)
2 Wild Beer Beyond Modus IV (England)
BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2016 (Switzerland)
4 Cayon’s Bad Boy’s Breakfast (Switzerland)
5 Nine Brothers Broken Leg – Apple and Pears (Switzerland)
6 Eberhard / Berner Kollektiv Spezie Rara – Cassis Saison (Switzerland)
Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Chili Hazelnut Break
8 Alvinne / Hair of the Dog Fred Meets Freddy
Alvinne Sour’ire de Mortagne
Evil Twin / Westbrook Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break
Nine Brothers Brett Galaxy Shake
This leads us to the last ranking with my top ten beers from Switzerland:
1 BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien 2016 (Switzerland)
2 Cayon’s Bad Boy’s Breakfast (Switzerland)
3 Nine Brothers Broken Leg – Apple and Pears (Switzerland)
4 Eberhard / Berner Kollektiv Spezie Rara – Cassis Saison (Switzerland)
5 Nine Brothers Brett Galaxy Shake
6 523 Imperial We Trust
7 Blackwell Black Magic
8 Degenbier Unikat – Revolution
WhiteFrontier Ekuanot Amarillo
10 S&A Green Knuckles
I wish you all a wonderful 2019!
cheers
bovbeers.wordpress.com 
Lieber Bov,
einmal mehr herzlichen Dank für diesen Report! Für mich DAS Bier-Highlight des Jahres.
Ich bin (leider?!?) in einem Alter, da rennt man nicht mehr jedem Furz nach, umso mehr schätze ich Dein Summary. Möge Dich Dein Enthusiasmus auch im 2019 treu begleiten, zu Deinem und unserem Wohl!
Gruss Himmy