Beoir's predecessor, Irish Craft Brewer, ran an annual awards scheme to find Ireland's best beer, as voted for by the drinkers. It fell into abeyance in Beoir's first year, but now it's back for 2012.
We would like your nomination for the best Irish beer of 2011.
The rules are as follows:
[b:1f212c2m]Eligible beers[/b:1f212c2m] are any which are both:
1. Brewed in Ireland (including Northern Ireland), [b:1f212c2m]and were[/b:1f212c2m]
2. Commercially available in Ireland (including NI) during 2011.
This includes one-offs, seasonals, festival specials, limited editions and any other beer so long as the brewer is asking people for money for it. It does not include ciders, meads or other non-beer brews.
The competition is dispense-neutral: each candidate is only listed once, regardless of the number of different ways it is packaged and served. Rebadges, inasmuch as they can be identified with any degree of certainty, count as the same beer.
To help with decision-making, this post has a list of every eligible beer at the bottom. I'm bound to have forgotten some, so please post any that are missing to this thread and I'll add them in. And of course if any of the ones listed here are phantoms or rebadges, tell me and I'll remove them.
Voting is open to everyone who is registered on the Beoir forum. If you're a commercial brewer you're allowed vote freely, but if you vote for your own beer we will point at you and laugh (that goes for you as well, Rossa!).
[b:1f212c2m]To vote[/b:1f212c2m]: On or before [b:1f212c2m]14 February 2012[/b:1f212c2m], e-mail the names of your [b:1f212c2m]top three[/b:1f212c2m] favourite beers, ranked in order, to <!-- e --><a href="
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This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The competition will work best, I think, if you choose beers you actually drank during the year, but we won't be holding anyone to that. Remember, they must have been available to [i:1f212c2m]purchase[/i:1f212c2m] during 2011, however. And please include your site username in the e-mail.
Personally, I find the easiest way to decide is to paste the list into a document and then whittle it down, removing beers you didn't have, then beers you didn't like, then beers you didn't love, until you have 3. In order for the vote to be fair [b:1f212c2m]you must name and rank three[/b:1f212c2m]. Votes with fewer nominations won't be counted.
In February the votes will be counted using a positional voting system (numerical weighting, like the Eurovision) and the top three will be awarded prizes. In the event of a tie, the most first preferences wins, and if we're still tied after that... we'll figure something out. We could award more than three prizes, or set up a tie-break taste-off, or ask for another round of votes. It depends on the situation.
While prizes aren't being given in style categories, the runner-up prizes will be awarded on a style basis if they are the highest-placed example of their style.
I'll sticky this thread. Please post any questions to it.
[size=150:1f212c2m]The Field[/size:1f212c2m]
Alternator (Metalman)
Amber (White Gypsy)
Amstel (Heineken)
Ballyblack (Ards)
Barney's Brew (Hilden)
Barrelhead Pale Ale (Barrelhead)
Bay Ale (Galway Bay)
Bay Lager (Galway Bay)
Beamish Stout (Heineken)
Belfast Ale (Whitewater)
Belfast Black (Whitewater)
Belfast Blonde (Hilden)
Belfast Lager (Whitewater)
Bell Ringer (Franciscan Well)
Black Rock (Dungarvan)
Blarney Blonde (Franciscan Well)
Blond (White Gypsy)
Bock (Messrs Maguire)
Bohemia Black Lager (Porterhouse)
Brainblásta (Porterhouse)
BrewEyed Blonde (BrewEyed)
BrewEyed Lager (BrewEyed)
Bruin (White Gypsy)
Buckley's (Carlow)
Burren Black (Burren)
Burren Gold (Burren)
Burren Red (Burren)
Bud Light (Diageo)
Budweiser (Diageo)
Carraig Dubh (Beoir Chorca Duibhne)
Carrig Lager (BrewEyed)
Carysfort Organic Lager (White Gypsy)
Carlsberg (Diageo)
Carlsberg Mid-Strength (Diageo)
Cathedral Quarter (Hilden)
Celebration Stout (Porterhouse)
Champions (Hilden)
Chiller (Porterhouse)
Clotworthy Dobbin (Whitewater)
Coffee & Oatmeal Stout (Dungarvan)
Comeragh Challenger (Dungarvan)
Coors Light (Heineken)
Copper Coast (Dungarvan)
Copperhead (Whitewater)
Croaking Lizard (Franciscan Well)
Crown & Glory (Whitewater)
Cúl Dorcha (Beoir Chorca Duibhne)
Curim Gold (Carlow)
Dark Arts (Trouble)
Druid's Brew (Carlow)
Dubliner (Unknown)
Emerald (White Gypsy)
Fosters (Heineken)
Friar Weisse (Franciscan Well)
Galaxy Pale Ale (Trouble)
Galway Hooker (Hooker)
Galway Hooker Pils (Hooker)
Guinness (Diageo)
Guinness Foreign Extra (Diageo)
Guinness Mid-Strength (Diageo)
Guinness Special Export (Diageo)
Halt (Hilden)
Harp (Diageo)
Haus (Messrs Maguire)
Headless Dog (Hilden)
Heineken (Heineken)
Helvick Gold (Dungarvan)
Hersbrucker (Porterhouse)
Hersbrucker Oktoberfest (Porterhouse)
Hilden (Hilden)
Hop Head (Porterhouse)
Howling Gale (Eight Degrees)
Inishmacsaint Lager (Inishmacsaint)
Jul Ól (White Gypsy)
Kilkenny (Diageo)
Knockmealdown Porter (Eight Degrees)
Linen Hall (Hilden)
M&S Irish Stout (Carlow)
Macardle's (Diageo)
McGrath's Black (Clanconnel)
McGrath's Red (Clanconnel)
Messrs Maguire Brown Ale (Messrs Maguire)
Messrs Maguire Doppelbock (Messrs Maguire)
Messrs Maguire Pale Ale (Messrs Maguire)
Metalman Pale Ale (Metalman)
Molly's Chocolate Stout (Hilden)
Mourne Oyster Stout (Whitewater)
Murphy's Stout (Heineken)
Mustang (White Gypsy)
O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale (Carlow)
O'Hara's Leann Folláin (Carlow)
O'Hara's Red (Carlow)
O'Hara's Stout (Carlow)
O'Shea's Irish Ale (Carlow)
O'Shea's Irish Stout (Carlow)
Opus II (Hooker)
Ór (Trouble)
Oyster Stout (Porterhouse)
Phúca (Franciscan Well)
Pifko Premium (Barrelhead)
Plain MM (Messrs Maguire)
Plain PH (Porterhouse)
Porterhouse Red (Porterhouse)
Pumpkin Ór (Trouble)
Purgatory (Franciscan Well)
Raspberry Weizen (Messrs Maguire)
Raven (White Gypsy)
Rebel Lager (Franciscan Well)
Rebel Red [Castle Red] (Franciscan Well)
Ruby [MM Rusty] (White Gypsy)
Satzenbrau (Diageo)
Scullion's Ale (Hilden)
Scullion's Porter (Hilden)
Shandon Century Extra Stout (Franciscan Well)
Shandon Stout (Franciscan Well)
Smithwick's (Diageo)
Smithwick's Pale Ale (Diageo)
Smoked Ale No. 1 (Carlow)
Solstice (Whitewater)
Stormy Port (Galway Bay)
Strange Brew (Galway Bay)
Sunburnt Red (Eight Degrees)
Temple Brau (Porterhouse)
Three Kings (Franciscan Well)
Three Wells Organic Wheat Beer (White Gypsy)
Titanic Quarter (Hilden)
TSB (Porterhouse)
Tuborg (Diageo)
Twisted Hop (Hilden)
Vanilla Amber Ale (BrewEyed)
Weavers Gold (Clanconnel)
Weiss (White Gypsy)
White Island Wheaten Ale (Inishmacsaint)
Windjammer (Metalman)
Winter's Ale (Eight Degrees)
Wrassler's XXXX (Porterhouse)
