2015 MEMORABLE BEER LIST---by NEIL

一年就快过，来看看不同城市啤迷朋友们喝了什么印象比较鲜明的啤酒。开场的是长住东京的部落客朋友NEIL。
and so --a year is coming to a close yet again. as a customary way of looking back at memorable beers of 2015, there will be some beer friends from different parts of the world giving their thoughts on beers that left something on the palate and memory.

First up is NEIL--a UK beer buddy and blogger(Tokyo Beer Drinker) living in Tokyo, from the list there's obvious signs of what he likes in a beer and where they are from...:)

here's the list WRITTEN by NEIL:-

Various Anglo Japanese Brewing beers Not so much an individual beer, but the whole brewery. Their beers have only recently started to make their way out of Nagano and I’m happy to have a place near me where I can try them. Their beers are an interesting mix of British style real ales, saisons and some sour beer experiments. I’m normally not a huge fan of real ale type beers as I generally prefer a bit more carbonation, but I think that these ones have been my favourite AJB beers so far. Just very drinkable with plenty of flavour. Their bourbon barrel imperial stout Imperiality was also great. The sour beers haven’t quite done it for me yet, but I’m looking forward to trying more as they keep experimenting and developing.

来自长野县的一家酿坊，目前已经可以在东京喝到这家的不同类别啤酒，结合英国旧式风格啤酒，农场风格啤酒和果酸啤酒特点的酿品非常易喝又充满风味，是NEIL的心头好。另外，桶陈的黑啤也很不错。虽然果酸啤酒还不太对味，不过NEIL还是很期望接下来的实验酿品发展。

Various Kyoto Brewing beers Another exciting new brewery in Japan. Beers are brewed by an American long time resident of Japan and it’s fair to say that they have a heavy Belgian influence with a US twist. I was totally blown away by their first beer Hajimemashite and since then they have not disappointed. They tend to lean towards saisons but their beers in other styles still usually have a healthy dose of Belgium about them. They have recently opened a tasting room and I am looking forward to being able to go there soon. It’s also nice that they are releasing plenty of seasonals and collaborations so there always seems to be something new to try.

NEIL喜欢的另一家新酿坊，由长住日本的美国酿y酒师开展的京都酿坊结合了美国和比利时啤酒特性。第一次喝Hajimemashite时就觉得惊艳. 多数酿品比较倾向农场酿品风格并展现了比利时风格的影响. 近期发展是推出不少季节限定啤酒及合酿。

Verzet Oud Bruin Oak Leaf A bottle shared by a friend. I have really enjoyed Verzet beers in the past and have been to their pub near Kortrijk a couple of times. I had no idea this beer existed until my friend produced the bottle at a tasting and it was great. A tweaked version of their regular Oud Bruin, which is usually my favourite beer by them. Really love oud bruin when it is done well and they have done it really well! Must look to try this again when I’m in Belgium soon.

朋友分享的比利时特色陈年酸啤酒，让NEIL觉得很出色的一支佳酿。

Upright Anniversary Saison One of the highlights of a Portland trip we did this year was Upright brewery. Amazing set up with you drinking basically sitting in the brewery, amongst the equipment. I enjoyed all of their beers but this was the highlight. Apricot, Brett, gin and wine barrels. This was great and I was lucky to have been able to drink it twice this year.

去美国波特兰的亮点发现，经过杏, 琴酒,葡萄酒和酒酵处理的农场风格啤酒, NEIL今年内有幸喝上两回。

Gigantic Pipe Wrench IPA - Gin Barrel aged I never would have imagined that two of my highlights of Portland would have been gin barrel aged beers. This was just amazing though. And Gigantic was another great place to drink. A bit out of town but well worth the trip. I stupidly got this beer confused with Ginormous (purely because it has Gin at the start of the name) and ended up bringing the wrong beer back to Japan with me. The good news is that pretty much all of the beers we had there were great, so it wasn’t really a problem, but I would have loved to try it more than once.

经过琴酒桶陈处理的美式印度淡啤, 不过在酿坊尽兴之后, NEIL误把另一支以GIN名称开头的印度淡啤当作PIPE WRENCH带回日本！

Mikkeller SpontanChokeberry/SpontanDryHop Mosaic A couple of Mikkeller beers for two reasons. I had a really great visit to see friends in Copenhagen in the summer and the SpontanDryHop Mosaic was one of the big highlights of that trip. And that was a trip where many great beers were consumed. A great summer drink. The SpontanChokeberry is on here because we now have our own Mikkeller bar in Tokyo, which I’m very happy about. It was one of the most expensive beers on the menu, but I felt I should try it and I was not disappointed. Much better to drink one good beer than two average ones I reckon. In the past I’ve found the Spontan beers to be a bit hit and miss, but recently it seems that the hits keep on coming.

 SpontanDryHop Mosaic 是NEIL去哥本哈根探访朋友时候的亮点啤酒。
而SpontanChokeberry是在东京“米吧”喝到，虽是价格最贵的一支，也开了。花可以喝两三支一般啤酒的钱喝一支上好的还是很划算。

Bastogne Ardenne Saision Something I was really looking for when I was in Belgium this year and finally I found it at the fairly new shop Malt Attacks. Not much for me to say about it except it ticks all the boxes for things that I like about beer. Sadly, as my luggage was too full, I had to drink this 750ml bottle all by myself sitting in my parents garden on a nice sunny day. So, so sad… 

在比利时一家新瓶子店找到的，是一支完全符合NEIL要求的啤酒。

Modern Time Black House - Cocoa Nibs & Coconut This one is a reminder for me to keep trying new things. Coconut is one of my least favourite things but this was just an amazing beer. Very happy we can get plenty of Modern Times beers in Japan at the moment. They really shine amongst a lot of dull mediocre imports. I liked the original beer a lot and the additions really made it something very special indeed.

美国黑啤，椰子是NEIL不喜欢的食物，不过这支具有椰香的啤酒令NEIL觉得试不同口味啤酒还是乐事。