Craft Beer in 2020 - A BAOS Wrap-Up
Well, here we are, friends. We’ve almost made it to the end of 2020. It was a certifiably ridiculous year, but it wasn’t without its big moments in craft beer! The squad has gathered together to reminisce on the best of 2020, and take a look forward at what 2021 has in store for us.
Craig “Cee” Thorn
Certified BrewHead, Host, Administrative Assistant, Rap Singer, #TeamLactose Co-President, #TeamSmoothieSour Future Leader
Photo by LiquidxHappiness.
Top 5 Beers of 2020
Champ Libre Simplicité (édition spéciale)
Pub BreWskey Blueberry Cobbler Brew Juice
Third Moon Conjuration
Hopfenstark x Experience Bière Světlý Ležák
Special mentions:
Sawdust City Binary System 3
Blood Brothers Trans Human State (Pacifica)
Trailway DDH Good Weather
Town Double Couch Full Of Dads
Bellwoods An Imperial Stout With Coffee: Modern Times Amarro & BBA Hambela
Echo Session Ales x Broadway x BAOS Podcast Love Dust
L’Espace Public x BAOS Podcast Bière de Vacances
Top 5 Breweries of 2020
Special mentions:
Style of 2020 - Most Impactful Style of the Year
Obviously, the style that made the most noise was the almighty smoothie/slushie sour. While it was already everywhere in the US in 2019 (perhaps even before then), 2020 was when this style really took hold here in Canada - and primarily in Quebec. When the gods of smoothies, Pub BreWskey, launched their Brew Juice series earlier in the year, it literally changed the game. Not many folks dared to follow suit, however the top contenders in QC were Messorem and Nouvelle France, and later in the year the Ontario gods Third Moon and Rorschach came through with really, really fire versions. I don’t believe any other style was as divisive as the smoothie/slushie sour, and clearly I’m #TeamSmoothie / #TeamSlushie.
Fave Beer Region You Travelled To
Obvi travel wasn’t much of a thing for those folks who actually want to end the pandemic (stay home as much as possible, and wear a mask ffs), but we still managed to hit a few spots this year. We were out in Vermont the weekend prior to the lockdown, which is always a pleasure and I miss it terribly (especially Trader Joe’s!). When we had that lull of around ~50 cases a day in Montreal in July/August, we finally hit Ottawa/Gatineau and visited 5e Baron, my Best New Brewery of 2020. The only other trip we took was out to Quebec City and Gaspé in late August/early September, as Montreal’s cases were low and there were barely any in eastern Quebec. In hindsight, based on where we’re at now, I’m really glad we took advantage. Quebec City was by far my favourite new region - we hit 6 breweries in the city, and were extremely impressed by all of them (we’ll be dropping the vlog soon, it’s been quite a year, fam). It’s certainly going to be a spot we’ll be visiting more often once things are safe again.
Beer Highlight of 2020 / Fave Beer Moment
Being that beer is all about sharing great beverages together, and those moments were essentially stripped from us this year, the community really came together and made the most of it. We saw daily Instagram Live sessions, breweries were throwing innovative virtual tastings (my faves being Nickel Brook’s exceptionally executed events - we’re even making an appearance in their final one for 2020 in December!), and trades seemed to be happening at a much higher rate than usual to ensure beer love was still being spread around. We even moved to Skype podcasts after having our two new series cut drastically short, which in all honesty has been a ton of fun; they’re easier to produce, we’re able to connect with breweries in places we had no plans on heading to, and I’ve been able to bring in so many great friends to co-host with me. The craft beer community turned a shitty year into a manageable situation. Bravo.
Best Marketing / Social Media
The best thing about 2020 was watching breweries successfully pivot when faced with hard times, and nobody did it better than Dominion City. It felt like in the first week of lockdown, they’d already launched Social Media campaigns promoting their contactless drive through pickup, where drinkers can order online, cruise on by and the friendly (and sanitized) DC staff will just place their order in the trunk. They were selling so much beer that they couldn’t keep up, so they introduced Friends of Dominion and sold beers from other breweries that Ottawans couldn’t typically access, including Barncat, Willibald, Godspeed and more. Dominion always, always impresses me and I’m not surprised at all that they were the forerunners - both online and off - during the pandemic.
Predictions for 2021
My #1 prediction is that while smoothie/slushie sours were the style of 2020, that only really happened in Q3/Q4, so I believe that they’ll truly make their mark in 2021. While half the people are furiously yelling “It’s not even beer!”, and the others are like “We really don’t give a shit, they’re delicious!”, I feel like they’ll end up being one of the main gateway styles after NEIPAs. They’re attractive and inviting, they smell and taste like juice, and if haze is already encouraging folks to come to craft beer and discover more styles, then I think this amazing style will bring even more across the divide. The Year of the Smoothie awaits us, and I’m all the way here for it. On top of that, fruited hard seltzers are going to dominate, too - low cal, tasty, and mostly pretty cheap, they’re gonna explode in 2021 (not literally).
Photo by LiquidxHappiness.
Top 5 Beers of 2020
Black Is Beautiful Every participating brewery <3
Echo Session Ales x Broadway x BAOS Love Dust
Oak Park Brewing People’s Beer Lager
Messorem Bracitorium Magie Noire (served in a waffle cone)
Top 5 Breweries of 2020
Style of 2020 - Most Impactful Style of the Year
Pastry Stouts - yummy and ridiculous.
Fave Beer Region You Travelled To
Vermont <3 We made it 4 days before the world shut down. Miss you so much, VT.
Beer Highlight of 2020 / Fave Beer Moment
Impromptu mini-Ottawa beer tour during Cee's Aussie passport renewal, which involved stopovers at Flora Hall, Bicycle Brewery, Small Pony and Dominion City.
Special mention: Finally making it to Hill Farmstead.
Best Marketing / Social Media
Those who took a stand and followed through.
Predictions for 2021
Many more beers that push boundaries, infuriate purists, and make beer more fun.
Nathan “Does Beer” Lefebvre
Head Writer In Charge, Blog God, #TeamLactose Co-President
Photo by NathanDoesBeer.
Top 5 Beers of 2020
Tooth & Nail 5th Anniversary Vim & Vigor
Dominion City x Lost Nation Friends & Neighbours
Half Hours on Earth Range Life
Third Moon Double Bone Tree
Top 5 Breweries of 2020
Willibald Farm Distillery & Brewery
Honourable mentions:
Style of 2020 - Most Impactful Style of the Year
While smoothie beers have undoubtedly made the biggest splash this year AND drawn the most ire (the two often come hand in hand), for me the style that made the biggest overall improvement this year was Double IPAs. They’ve been delivering more bold flavour while becoming less boozy. Hazy doubles haven gotten smoother and creamier, West Coast doubles are bringing the piney punch, dank is more prominent, and the fruit flavours continue to get juicier. Top examples of the year include Twin Pines from Sawdust City, Double Bone Tree from Third Moon, Broken Cue from 5e Baron, Friends & Neighbours from Dominion City, Southern Pine from Willibald, and Sucker Punch from Tooth and Nail.
Fave Beer Region You Travelled To
I’ve never spent more time in my hometown than I did this year, so it was a year of rediscovering the city I call home and everything there is to love about our local beer scene. As always, I can never say enough good things about Dominion City, from the quality of the beer, to the wonderful people, to their outspoken commitment to improving diversity and inclusion in the industry, they continue to be the leaders. They’ve also been at the absolute forefront of pivoting their business model to continue to operate during the pandemic, while truly prioritizing the safety of the public and their employees above all else. Tooth and Nail remain unmatched in quality. Small Pony Barrel Works is a unique and delicious experience. Just across the river, 5e Baron are absolutely crushing it. When you aren’t able to travel, Ottawa is a good city to be stuck in.
Beer Highlight of 2020 / Fave Beer Moment
With a few notable exceptions, beer festivals were starting to get a bit exhausting in 2019. However, 2020 kicked off with a festival that happened to be my most memorable beer moment of the year, and that was Rooted in Place, hosted by my hometown heroes, Dominion City. It was the kind of festival that really just felt like a gathering of friends. It wasn’t over crowded, no one was belligerent, the visiting breweries were as excited to be there as the attendees. It was also one of the coldest days of January and they found a way to make it feel warm and cozy. It was a festival that really just felt like Dominion City. Friendly and welcoming. It was the best damn beer festival I’ve ever attended.
Best Marketing / Social Media
I’ve already gone on record putting forward 5e Baron as Quebec’s best new brewery of the year. One of the reasons beyond just the outstanding beer is their spectacular branding. One of the co-owners Jacob Barrette is a graphic designer by trade and it really shows in their branding with absolutely gorgeous labels featuring eye-catching colours, spectacular images, even the fonts are meticulously chosen to fit the mood of the label. Every aspect of the branding of every beer is deliberate, and it’s used beautifully in their social media. You’d be hard pressed to find a brewery with more attention paid to their branding than 5e Baron.
Predictions for 2021
2020 has been a brutal year on every subset of the hospitality industry, and the beer industry was no exception. 2021 will be a year of cautious optimism as we continue to navigate these bizarre times. The breweries who have shown the most foresight in pivoting their business to be able to continue to serve customers safely will be the ones to weather the storm. I truly hope that the ones who have made the difficult decisions to keep their taprooms and indoor dining closed, or closed ahead of the restrictions, will make it through and be rewarded when they deem it safe to open their doors again. Shout out to breweries like Dominion City, Godspeed and Half Hours on Earth. With the new laws in place, we’re going to see an uptick in independent bottle shops making beer from across the province locally available.
Photo by LiquidxHappiness.
Top 5 Beers of 2020
Messorem Bracitorium “Sous One Autre Forme” DDH IPA
Town Double Couch Full of Dad’s DIPA
Avling Sangfroid
Barncat Artisan Ales Glow Cloud IPA
Blood Brothers Paradise Lost - Soursop & Lychee w/ Sabro DH
Top 5 Breweries of 2020
Style of 2020 - Most Impactful Style of the Year
DDH IPAs or DIPAs.
Fave Beer Region You Travelled To
Ontario - I couldn’t travel thanks to COVID 🙄.
Beer Highlight of 2020 / Fave Beer Moment
Highlights were receiving lots of beer mail for content, super appreciative of my new beer friends! Cee’s beer mails always win tho #hazeboi.
My favourite beer moments were the collaborations like Black Is Beautiful and All Together.
Best Marketing / Social Media
Niagara Oast House Brewers - shouts to Pat
Predictions for 2021
Beer festivals recommence in the last quarter *fingers crossed*.
There will be more large-scale worldwide collaborations like Black Is Beautiful and All Together, that will be just as inclusive for all communities and all causes to spread awareness and raise money for people in need.
That’s 2020 wrapped friends! We wish you and yours happy and healthy holidays! However you’re celebrating this year, please stay safe, wear a mask, and let’s keep being all in this together.
#BlackLivesMatter, this year, next year, always.
See you in 2021, fam!
Love, the BAOS team
Nathan
Nathan is a craft beer enthusiast from Ottawa, ON. He is the Co-Founder of @TeamLactose, he’s passionate about travelling for beer and he loves talking about beer from Ontario, Quebec and beyond.