A look back at 2020

My – not so realistic – goal for 2020 was to reduce my number of new beers to an average of 3 per days. Despite the help of the political restrictions and the cancellation of almost all beer festivals in the country (only 6 out of about 60 took place), I have not been able to reach my goal and eventually score 1299 new beers.
What happened is that I have partially compensated the lack of festivals and a rarer visiting of beer bars with many online orders.

The five countries from which I sampled the most new beers remained the same between 2017 and 2019. For 2020, small changes happened. Of course, Switzerland stays clearly on top with 622 new beers. While USA remains as number 2 (114), Spain (97) appears now before England (82). As always for Spain, I have to thank the incredible Antonio Rey and the many beers he gave me. A change on place 5 also, where Denmark (44) replaces Germany.

And – one happy event of 2020 – I have been able to find a new country (Falkland Islands), courtesy of ttt. So I have now a total of 18’540 beers from 186 countries.

My favorite country in 2020 (with a minimum of 5 beers tasted) has been Russia (clearly a premiere!). Then come the USA (also 2nd in 2019), Sweden (winner last year), Denmark and England.

Among the 453 breweries I met last year, here are those from which I had the most different beers:

1) WhiteFrontier (16 – was also on top in 2019)
2) Boundary (15)
3) le Traquenard; FrauGruber; Edelbrass and To Øl (14)

The ranking of the most represented styles in my new beers of 2020 see the usual suspect on top for the 10th(!) consecutive year:

1) IPA (171)
2) American Pale Ale (114)
3) Imperial IPA (110)
4) NEIPA (91)
5) Imperial Stout (74)

The proportion of IPA and its derivatives (Session, Black, NEIPA, Imperial, …) reaches 32% of all beers I had last year (it was 28% in 2019).

My favorite styles in 2020 (with a minimum of 5 beers tasted):
1) Sour – Flanders
2) Barley Wine
3) Imperial Stout
4) Imperial IPA
5) NEIPA

And here the styles I enjoyed the less (worst on top):

1) Pale Lager
2) Hefeweizen
3) Irish Ale
4) Golden/Blond Ale
5) Pilsner

My top ten breweries overall:

1) Hoppy People (Switzerland)
2) nine brothers (Switzerland)
3) BFM (Switzerland)
4) WhiteFrontier (Switzerland)
5) Trillium (USA)
6) Garage Beer (Spain)
7) Brewski (Sweden)
8) Dry & Bitter (Denmark)
9) Monkish (USA)
10)FrauGruber (Germany)

This lead us to the top 20 breweries in my country (on a total of 185):

1) Hoppy People
2) nine brothers
3) BFM
4) WhiteFrontier
5) le Traquenard
6) Blackwell
7) Riot Act
8) S&A
9) Old School
10) Cinq 4000
11) la Fée Maltée
12) Trois Dames
13) Föhrenbier Manufaktur
14) Tucho Brew
15) À Tue-Tête!
16) Pacifi.ch
17) BlackPig
18) Tonnebière
19) UHB
20) Bier Factory Rapperswil

Last year, I have been able to discover beers from 54 new Swiss breweries. Here were my favorites:

1) Föhrenbier Manufaktur
2) l’Agneau à Trois Pattes
3) Don Nino
4) Monte Brè
5) Brasserie de Choufaille
6) Vie Montagne
7) Edelbrass
8) Brunos
9) Gentlemen Brewers
10) Heero

And here are my top beers for 2020:

1) BFM Degustator – La Pizza Céline
2) Monkish Foggy Window
3) la Pirata Black Block Bourbon Aged
4) BFM Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru – the Summer of 69
5) Trillium New Englander’s Staycation
6) Boon Oude Geuze – VAT 109 Mono Blend
7) Neon Raptor Massive Piranhas
8) Monkish Cousin of Death
9) the Lost Abbey Track #10
10)Dystopian The Last Saison 2019 – BA Chateauneuf

And finally, here are my top 20 Swiss beers:

1) BFM Degustator – La Pizza Céline
2) BFM Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru – the Summer of 69
3) Dystopian The Last Saison 2019 – BA Chateauneuf
4) nine brothers Table Saison 2019 Guava Passionfruit
5) Hoppy People I Love Hops #5 – ❤️ Cashmere Ahtanum Amarillo
6) Hoppy People I Love Hops #8 – ❤️ Citra Ekuanot
7) nine brothers Wheat Wine 2020: Scotch Edition 4.48
8) WhiteFrontier Capra 4.25
9) nine brothers smoke wine
10) nine brothers T&P Vol. 2
11) Old School 10.2 Dieci
12) Hoppy People Clash of the Titans – Red Wine Barrel Edition
13) WhiteFrontier Triple IPA
14) nine brothers Smoked Gose
15) Hoppy People Clash of the Titans – Grand Cru
16) Hoppy People Kompressor 2k20
17) Degenbier Unikat – Cassiopeia
18) Trois Dames Grande Dame (2020)
19) Reinecke Bräu Bigfoot
20) Hoppy People Swiss Federal Stout

That’s it!

cheers and see you hopefully soon!