Of course, sometimes you have to diverge from your favorite booze to reappriciate its qualities. This year that happened on several occasions and some of those were quite memorable as well.

As you have seen on this here blog I’ve been dabbling in beer for a while now. I like beer. It feels a bit like getting to know and appreciate the step that comes before its made into whisky. Apart from that there has been Calvados, Rum, Vodka and Absinthe. Of course some liqueurs, wines and cocktails were present as well.

The most memorable drinks were these:

• Harviestoun Ola Dubh 40. A beer I picked up at Zeewijck in IJmuiden. Stout matured in Highland Park casks in which the 40 year old whisky previously aged. Absolutely fantastic.
• BrewDog beers in general. I really became a fan of this brewery, and a shareholder as well. The highlights are the Punk IPA, Dogma, Tokyo and Tactical Nuclear Penguin.
• Flying Dog’s Simcoe Single Hop IPA and their Raging Bitch. Two very citrussy beers I really love. Unfortunately, the Simcoe variety is pretty hard to get hold of.
• St. George Spirits’ Absinthe. By far the best Absinthe I ever tried. I haven’t tried many, but still.
• St. George Spirits’ Hangar One Vodka. Not that I am a fan of vodka, but was the first ever you could actually drink for taste, instead of just getting hammered real quick.

There have been many occasions that were quite memorable too. I visited some distilleries here and there, and quite some festivals where I had the option to taste other stuff than whisk(e)y.

• Getting hammered at Pike’s Bar & Brewery on the first day of our USA trip.
• Accidently passing by Anderson Valley Brewing Co because we took a wrong turn.
• Visiting Chico, CA and having dinner at Sierra Nevada Brewery.
• Wine bars in Sonoma.
• St. George Spirits in Alameda, CA.
• Zuidam distillers in Baarle-Nassau.
• Tasting some terrific rums at Whisky & Rum aan Zee in IJmuiden.
• Discovering the Beer Temple in Amsterdam (Thanks Rolf).
• Becoming a shareholder in BrewDog.

All in all, it has been a terrific year and I guess next year will keep up the good stuff!