Tomb

I am always envious of the Fast Forward music writers who get to write a New Year’s best-of list. I’ve never had the chance to pen one as the beer writer, even though beer is like songs or CDs — there’s one for almost every occasion and mood.

• Best beer for slumming: Gosser. This is premium beer at a cheap price. It comes in a big can, which is perfect for sneaking onto the golf course or into movie theatres — not that Fast Forward condones or approves of this behaviour.

• Best Calgary-brewed pints: Wildwood Grill and Brewing Company. This pub and restaurant has great food, great staff and, most importantly, great beer. Come to think of it, my New Year’s resolution is to go to Wildwood more often.

• Favourite beer to lose a cold winter night to: Ayinger Celebrator. This high-octane German doppelbock is dangerously delicious. If you are watching a hockey game and drink more than three of these you won’t see the end of the third period.

• Favourite backyard beer to lose a summer day to: Saison Dupont. A Belgian farmhouse ale that was made to cut the thirst of farmhands on the hottest and longest summer days. After two hours of yard work, it’s nice to drink one and pretend I worked that hard.

• Favourite beer to celebrate life’s small triumphs: Orval. This beer is sweet, sour, bitter and champagne-like all in the same sip. It is one of the most magical brews on the planet. For additional magic, pair it with aged gruyère cheese.

• Best newcomer to the Alberta market: Paddock Wood Brewing Company. This Saskatoon brewery makes outstanding beer. I used to think all that came from Saskatchewan was Roughrider fans, jokes about watching your dog run away and NHL players. The best starting point for discovering this flatlander gem is the Czech Mate pilsner.

• Best beer book I read this year: Tim Webb’s 100 Belgian Beers to Try Before You Die. Tim Webb is the funniest and most honest beer writer on the planet; someday I hope to write that well.

• Best Alberta brewery: Alberta’s oldest little guy, Alley Kat. Its Full Moon pale ale has been a staple of mine for years, and the quantity and quality of seasonal beers this brewery offers is outstanding.

• Best beer to steal from a party fridge: Tree Hop Head, one of Canada’s best India pale ales (IPA). I have had kegs of it at the house over the years, and I’m glad my friends drink it, so I can “borrow” it from their fridges.

• Beer I drank the most this year: Indica. This unfiltered, radically hopped IPA is as nice to smell as it is to drink. Even without the Indian god Ganesh on the label, this brew is almost spiritual.