Best Beers in Wales

The annual number crunching is finished and the list of the Best Beers in Wales from the Anheuser-Busch Inbev subsidiary Ratebeer is as follows:

1 Tiny Rebel Imperial Puft Porter - Imperial / Double
2 Loka Polly India Pale Ale Citra Ekuanot IPA
3 Lines Line CD - Double Barrel Farm Blend (Burgundy / Pinot Barrels) Sour / Wild Ale
4 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Imperial Chocolate  Porter - Imperial / Double
5 Lines Line A - New Zealand New England IPA - Session
6 Tiny Rebel / Arbor Bonsai IPA
7 Lines Line A - Pale Oats on Delta Resin IPA - Session
8 Lines Line FA - Primary Brett Imperial stout Stout - Imperial
9 Lines Line A - Dry hopped IPA IPA
10 Loka Polly Double IPA Mosaic Simcoe IPA - Imperial / Double
11 Lines Line ACD - Farmhouse IPA Sour / Wild Ale
12 Tiny Rebel / Siren Didgeridank IPA - Imperial / Double
13 Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropicana IPA
14 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Chocolate Porter
15 Tiny Rebel Loki Lite IPA - Session
16 Tiny Rebel Captain Insano IPA - Imperial / Double
17 Tiny Rebel Hadouken IPA
18 Tiny Rebel / Dark Star Rebel Alliance Saison
19 Lines Line CA - Nelson Saison Saison
20 Loka Polly Stout Citra Columbus Stout
21 Crafty Devil You Love Us IPA
22 Lines Line AD - Double IPA Blend (Nelson, Citra, Chinook & Amarillo) IPA - Imperial / Double
23 Tiny Rebel Dirty Stop Out Stout
24 Tiny Rebel Lock Stock IPA - Imperial / Double
25 Tiny Rebel / Fierce Beer Orange Mocha Frapp Stout Stout
26 Tiny Rebel Sugar Rush Stout - Imperial
27 Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Porter
28 Loka Polly Espresso Breakfast Stout Aurora Stout - Sweet
29 Tiny Rebel Tiny Batch In and Around the Mouth IPA
30 Loka Polly Stout Simcoe Stout
31 Hopcraft Sharks Against Surfers Pale Ale - American
32 Tiny Rebel Cali Pale Ale - American
33 Loka Polly India Pale Ale El Dorado Mosaic IPA
34 Lines Line DE - Blackcurrant Oak BA  Sour / Wild Ale
35 Tiny Rebel The Vader Shuffle Porter
36 Tiny Rebel / Weird Beard Dirty Perle Stout
37 Loka Polly Double IPA Simcoe Waimea IPA - Imperial / Double
38 Hopcraft A Good Rogering IPA - Black / Dark
39 Tiny Rebel Cereal Killer IPA - Session
40 Lines / Fyne Ales Green Lines Saison 3.54 14 Saison
41 Hopcraft Devilfish Ink IPA - Black / Dark
42 Tiny Rebel Bass Drop Stout - Imperial
43 Hopcraft Citraic Pale Ale - American
44 Hopcraft Graveyard Eyes (5.3%) Porter
45 Tiny Rebel Urban IPA IPA
46 Tiny Rebel Peaches & Cream IPA IPA
47 Loka Polly Pale Ale Mosaic DDH Pale Ale - American
48 Tiny Rebel / Dugges Pina Colada Pale Ale Pale Ale - American
49 Tiny Rebel The Full Nelson Pale Ale - American
50 Tiny Rebel Sonic Boom Typhoon IPA - Imperial / Double

No surprise that Tiny Rebel dominate this list, they brew fantastic beers.

Ratebeer also has a list of the top places to drink beer in Wales:

1. Tiny Rebel Cardiff (91 visits)

2. BrewDog Cardiff (87)

3. City Arms (Brains) (84)

4. Hopbunker (84)

5. Tiny Rebel Newport (80)

6. Chapter Arts Centre (78)

7. Clytha Arms (77)

8. Albion Ale House (77)

9. Vinomondo (77)

10. Gold Cape (JDW) (77)

Over at Untappd the list of Best Beers is a bit different:

1. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Imperial Chocolate Stay Puft

2. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Imperial Puft

3. LOKA POLLY Chinook Mosaic Double IPA

4. LOKA POLLY Mosaic Simcoe Double IPA

5. LOKA POLLY Citra Simcoe Double IPA

6. LOKA POLLY Simcoe Waimea Double IPA

7. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co/Siren Didgeridank

8. LOKA POLLY Citra Ekuanot India Pale Ale

9. LOKA POLLY Ekuanot Mosaic Double IPA

10. LOKA POLLY El Dorado Mosaic India Pale Ale

11. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Chocolate Stay Puft

12. LOKA POLLY Citra Simcoe India Pale Ale

13. LOKA POLLY  Citra Double IPA

14. LOKA POLLY Citra Ekuanot Double IPA

15. LOKA POLLY Citra Columbus India Pale Ale

16. LOKA POLLY Chinook Vic Secret India Pale Ale

17. Crafty Devil Brewing Co  Not So Safe As Milk

18. Celt Brewing Ogham Ash

19. LOKA POLLY Citra DDH Pale

20. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Bonsai

21. LOKA POLLY Ekuanot Simcoe DDH IPA

22. LOKA POLLY Galaxy Mosaic India Pale Ale

23. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Tax Man

24. LOKA POLLY Mosaic Simcoe Pale Ale

25. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Captain Insano

26. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Clwb Tropicana

27. LOKA POLLY Amarillo Mosaic India Pale Ale

28. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Stay Puft

29. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Cry Baby

30. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Magic Bus

31. Purple Moose Brewery (Bragdy Mws Piws) Chocolate Moose

32. LOKA POLLY Ekuanot DDH Pale

33. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Rhubarb & Custard Sour

34. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co But Did You Die?

35. LOKA POLLY Aurora Espresso Breakfast Stout

36. Crafty Devil Brewing Co You Love Us

37. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Hadouken

38. Crafty Devil Brewing Co  Safe As Milk

39. LOKA POLLY Hallertau Blanc India Pale Ale

40. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Peaches And Cream IPA

41. LOKA POLLY Simcoe DDH Pale

42. The Waen Brewery Snowball

43. LOKA POLLY Chinook Ekuanot Pale Ale

44. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co In & Around The Mouth

45. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Lock Stock (Tiny Batch Edition)

46. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Power of Grayskull

47. Crafty Devil Brewing Co/Left Handed Giant The Devil We Know

48. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Sweet Emotion

49. LOKA POLLY Citra El Dorado Pale

50.  LOKA POLLY Mosaic DDH Pale

Tiny Rebel again coming top with the list heavily dominated by them and North Wales' Loka Polly. According to Untappd "A beer must have 150 ratings or more to qualify for this list".
Untapped also produce a list of top breweries in Wales, according to them "A brewery must have at least 1,000 ratings and at least 5 beers in their portfolio to qualify for this list." Their top Welsh breweries are:

1. LOKA POLLY
2. Crafty Devil Brewing Co
3. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co
4.Wild Horse Brewing Co
5. West By Three Brewing Co.
6. PIPES™
7. The Waen Brewery
8.  Lines Brew Co.
9. Tenby Brewing Co
10. Grey Trees Brewery
11. Hopcraft Brewing
12. Gwynt y Ddraig (Cider!)
13. Heavy Industry Brewing
14. Purple Moose Brewery (Bragdy Mws Piws)
15. Velvet Owl Brewing Co.
16. Lithic Brewing (Brewery closed)
17. Brew Monster
18. Untapped Brewing Company
19. Mad Dog Brewing Co
20. Glamorgan Brewing Co
21. Mantle
22. Gower Brewery
23. Tenby Harbwr Brewery
24. Cwrw Llŷn
25. Cwrw Ial Community Brewing Company
26. Tomos a Lilford
27. Hallets (Cider!)
28. Hafod Brewing Company
29. Big Hand Brewing Co
30. Bragdy Twt Lol
31. Pixie Spring Brewery
32. Caffle Brewery
33. VOG Brewer
34. Mumbles Brewery
35. Kingstone Brewery
36. Great Orme Brewery
37. Conwy Brewery
38. Tudor Brewery
39. Tomos Watkin and Sons Ltd.
40.  Celt Brewing
41.  Bluestone Brewing Co.
42.  Facer's
43. Brains
44. Brains Craft Brewery
45. Rhymney Brewery
46. Boss Brewing Company
47. Evan Evans
48. Monty's Brewery
49. Bullmastiff Brewery
50. Brecon Brewing

Once again, no Welsh beers make it into the Beer Advocate list of top 100 beers from UK & Ireland

Again, CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, have failed to publicise their Champion Beers of Wales for last year, either on their National Website (winners not updated since 2016!) or on their Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival website or even in a press release. However I found them elsewhere:
Gold - Boss Black
Silver - Grey Trees Diggers Gold
Bronze - Tiny Rebel Cwtch

Best Mild -Rhymney Dark, runner-up Caffle Catchpole
Ordinary Bitter - Rhymney Hobby Horse, runner-up - Purple Moose Cwrw Madog
Golden Ale - Grey Trees Digger's Gold, runner-up - Monty's Sunshine
Best Bitter - Tiny Rebel Cwtch, runner-up - Conwy Rampart
Strong Bitter - Grey Trees Afghan Pale, runner-up - Monty's Mischief
Old Ale - Untapped Ember, runner-up - Purple Moose Dark Side of the Moose
Speciality Beers - Untapped Crystal, runner-up - Purple Moose Ysgawen
Porter - Boss Black, runner-up - Tudor Black Rock
Barley Wine - Heart of Wales High as a Kite

Best Breweries in Wales 2018

Once again this blog comes out of retirement for the annual look at the best and worst that breweries in Wales have to offer. For those of you interested, Brew Wales moved to a Facebook platform some years ago, the blog is now only used occasionally for items that need it such as the Now & Then series or lists like this.

According to the geosocial networking service Untappd, the best breweries in Wales are:

1. Crafty Devil Brewing Co   Unchanged since last year
2. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co   Unchanged since last year
3. Wild Horse Brewing Company   New Entry!
4. Hopcraft Brewing     Up from #4
5. Grey Trees Brewery   Up from #6
6. Lines Brew Co.   New Entry!
7. Tenby Brewing Company   Down from #3
8. Gwynt y Ddraig   Unchanged since last year
9. West By Three Brewing Co. New Entry!
10. Heavy Industry Brewing    Down from #9
11. Mad Dog Brewing Co  Down from #7
12. Otley    Down from #11
13. Purple Moose Brewery (Bragdy Mws Piws)   Down from #13
14. Glamorgan Brewing Co  Down from #14
15. Gower Brewery  Up from #16
16. Untapped Brewing Company   Down from #15
17. Mantle  Down from #14
18. Harbwr Brewery  New Entry!
19. Hallets Down from #12
20. Cwrw Llŷn   New Entry!
21. Cwrw Ial Community Brewing Company   Down from #18
22. Big Hand Brewing Co   Down from #19
23. Hafod Brewing Company  Down from #20
24. Mumbles Brewery  Down from #17
25. Bragdy Twt Lol  Down from #24
26. VOG Brewery     Down from #21
27. Kingstone Brewery   New Entry!
28. Great Orme Brewery     Down from #23
29. Tudor Brewery   Down from #28
30. Conwy Brewery      Unchanged since last year
31. Celt Brewing        Down from #27
32. Tomos Watkin and Sons Ltd.    Down from #26
33. Bluestone Brewing Co.    #Down from #22
34. Brains Craft Brewery    Down from #29
35. Boss Brewing Company    Down from #29
36. Brains      Down from #32
37. Facer's           Down from #36
38. Rhymney Brewery    Down from #33
39. Evan Evans      Down from #34
40. Monty's Brewery    #Down from 35
41. Brecon Brewing    #Down from #37
42. Felinfoel Brewery Co Ltd    Down from #38
43. Sandstone     New Entry!

According to Untappd "A brewery must have at least 1000 ratings and at least 5 different beers in their portfolio to qualify for this list. Their ratings explainer is here.

Once again, Evans Evans Brewery are near the bottom of the list, not that they care as they have a few other things to worry about at the moment.

The best beers in Wales according to Untappd are:

1. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co  Imperial Puft
2. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Chocolate Stay Puft
3. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Clwb Tropicana
4. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Stay Puft
5. Celt Brewing Ogham Ash - the votes for this appear to be for beers brewed before the brand was ruined by Evan Evans Brewery
6. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Captain Insano
7. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Bonsai
8. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Tax Man
9. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Hadouken
10. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Not So Safe As Milk
11. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co In & Around The Mouth
12. The Waen Brewery Snowball
13. Crafty Devil Brewing Co You Love Us
14. Purple Moose Brewery (Bragdy Mws Piws) Chocolate Moose
15. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Safe As Milk
16. Crafty Devil Brewing Co The Devil We Know
17. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Sugar Rush
18. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Peaches And Cream IPA
19. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Bass Drop
20. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Sonic Boom
21. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Fairy Tale Of Cardiff
22. Celt Brewing Seven Flowers (Shapeshifter Series) the votes for this appear to be for beers brewed before the brand was ruined by Evan Evans Brewery
23. Hopcraft Brewing Waen Snowball
24. Hopcraft Brewing Citraic
25. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Beer Money Inc.
26. Mad Dog Brewing Co Petronius DIPA
27. Crafty Devil Brewing Co I Am the Resurrection
28. Wild Horse Brewing Company New England IPA Citra Mosaic
29. Mad Dog Brewing Co Granola Stout
30. Celt Brewing Ogham Willow the votes for this appear to be for beers brewed before the brand was ruined by Evan Evans Brewery
31. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Rock N' Roll Star
32. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Dutty
33. The Waen Brewery Mousse Warning
34. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Dirty Perle
35. The Vader Shuffle Tiny Rebel Brewing Co
36. Lines Brew Co. Double IPA Blend DIPA
37. The Waen Brewery Pamplemousse (late 2016 see Hopcraft Pamplemousse)
38. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Cali American Pale Ale
39. Hopcraft Brewing Mate Spawn And Die
40. Wild Horse Brewing Company Breakfast Cookies Milk Stout
41. Hopcraft Brewing Citra Plus
42. Heavy Industry Brewing Nos Smoked Porter
43. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co XLPA
44. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Lupulin Fiasco
45. The Waen Brewery Chilli Plum Porter (2016 late brewed at Hopcraft)
46. Hopcraft Brewing Sharks Against Surfers
47. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Stupid Sexy Flanders
48. Crafty Devil Brewing Co Mikey Rayer All Dayer

Over at Ratebeer the top 50 list is different again, dominated by Lines and Tiny Rebel

1. Lines Line ACD - Farmhouse IPA Sour/Wild Ale
2. Lines Line CD - Double Barrel Farm Blend (Burgundy / Pinot Barrels) 
3.  Tiny Rebel Imperial Puft Imperial Porter                  
4. Lines Line A - New Zealand New England Session IPA      5             
5. Lines Line AD - Double IPA Blend (Nelson, Citra, Chinook & Amarillo) Imperial IPA            
6. Tiny Rebel / Arbor Bonsai India Pale Ale (IPA)    
7. Lines Line A - Pale Oats on Delta Resin Session IPA                          
8. Lines Line A - Dry hopped IPA India Pale Ale (IPA)                            
9. Tiny Rebel Sugar Rush Imperial Stout     
10. Lines Line CA - Nelson Saison Saison       
11. Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropicana India Pale Ale (IPA)   
12. Tiny Rebel Captain Insano Imperial IPA 
13. Tiny Rebel Loki Lite Session IPA 24          
14. Tiny Rebel Hadouken India Pale Ale (IPA)                            
15. Tiny Rebel / Dark Star Rebel Alliance Saison                        
16. Lines Line FA - Primary Brett Imperial stout Imperial Stout                           
17. Crafty Devil You Love Us India Pale Ale (IPA)                      
18. Tiny Rebel Dirty Stop Out Stout 308                        
19. Tiny Rebel Tiny Batch In and Around the Mouth India Pale Ale (IPA)        
20. Hopcraft Sharks Against Surfers American Pale Ale                          
21. Tiny Rebel Cereal Killer Session IPA                         
22. Tiny Rebel The Vader Shuffle Porter                      
23. Tiny Rebel / Weird Beard Dirty Perle Stout                          
24. Otley Oxymoron Black IPA                          
25. Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Porter                         
26. Hopcraft A Good Rogering Black IPA                       
27. Otley mOtley Brew Imperial IPA                                         
28. Tiny Rebel Cali American Pale Ale            
29. Lines / Fyne Ales Green Lines Saison Saison                        
30. Hopcraft Devilfish Ink Black IPA 20          
31. Tiny Rebel Bass Drop Imperial Stout       
32. Hopcraft Citraic American Pale Ale                          
33. Hopcraft Graveyard Eyes (5.3%) Porter                 
34. Tiny Rebel / Dugges Pina Colada Pale Ale American Pale Ale                        
35. Tiny Rebel Urban IPA India Pale Ale (IPA)                             
36. Tiny Rebel Cwtch Amber Ale                      
37. Tiny Rebel Loki Black IPA                              
38. Tiny Rebel The Full Nelson American Pale Ale                    
39. Tiny Rebel Frambuzi Sour/Wild Ale                         
40. Hopcraft Citra Plus American Pale Ale                    
41. Tiny Rebel Beer Money Inc. India Pale Ale (IPA)                
42. Tiny Rebel Beat Box American Pale Ale 
43. Waen Snowball Sweet Stout                      
44. Tiny Rebel Sonic Boom India Pale Ale (IPA)                          
45. Tiny Rebel Gin & Juice Spice/Herb/Vegetable                    
46. Hopcraft Spanish Main Stout     
47. Hopcraft Mate Spawn and Die American Pale Ale                             
48. Heavy Industry 77 Amber Ale    
49. Crafty Devil / BrewDog Cardiff No Ifs, No Buts, Just Coconuts Stout         
50. Tiny Rebel Billabong American Pale Ale

Again no Welsh beers make the Beer Advocate UK & Ireland list

Once again, CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, decided not to publish their Champion Beers of Wales 2017, either on their national website or on their festival website or even issue a press release of the winning beers but the winners for their 2017 competition are below:

1. Grey Trees Brewery Afghan Pale Ale
2. Boss Black
3. Untapped Ember

Best Breweries in Wales

According to the geosocial networking service Untappd, the following are the best breweries in Wales at the moment:

1. Crafty Devil Brewing Co

2. Tiny Rebel Brewing Co

3. Tenby Brewing Company

4. PIPES™

5. Hopcraft Brewing

6. Grey Trees Brewery

7. Mad Dog Brewing Co

8. Gwynt y Ddraig

9. Heavy Industry Brewing

10. Purple Moose Brewery (Bragdy Mws Piws)

11. Otley

12. Hallets

13. Glamorgan Brewing Co

14. Mantle

15. Untapped Brewing Company

16. Gower Brewery

17. Mumbles Brewery

18. Cwrw Ial Community Brewing Company

19. Big Hand Brewing Co

20. Hafod Brewing Company

21. VOG Brewery

22. Bluestone Brewing Co.

23. Great Orme Brewery

24. Bragdy Twt Lol

25. Boss Brewing Company

26. Tomos Watkin and Sons Ltd.

27. Celt Brewing

28. Tudor Brewery

29. Brains Craft Brewery

30. Conwy Brewery

31. Kite Brewery

32. Brains

33. Rhymney Brewery

34. Evan Evans

35. Monty's Brewery

36. Facer's

37. Brecon Brewing

38. Felinfoel Brewery Co Ltd

39. Plassey Brewery

According to Untappd, "A brewery must have at least 1,000 ratings and at least 5 beers in their portfolio to qualify for this list." Their ratings explainer is explained here.

Impressive that Evan Evans brewery, run by former gay nightclub boss Simon Buckley came in as only the sixth worst brewery in Wales, given the poor quality of their beers I would have thought they would have come in much lower!

Over at Ratebeer, the list is somewhat different with the top 50 beers being dominated by Tiny Rebel

1              Lines Line ACD - Farmhouse IPA India Pale Ale (IPA)       

2              Lines Line FA - Primary Brett Imperial stout Imperial Stout           

3              Lines Line CA - Nelson Saison Saison                       

4              Lines Line A - Dry hopped IPA India Pale Ale (IPA)                            

5              Tiny Rebel / Arbor Bonsai India Pale Ale (IPA)                    

6              Tiny Rebel Tiny Batch Baby’s Got a Temper Imperial IPA                               

7              Lines / Trois Dames Date Line Saison                      

8              Tiny Rebel Loki Lite Session IPA

9              Tiny Rebel Hadouken India Pale Ale (IPA)            

10           Tiny Rebel / Dark Star Rebel Alliance Saison                        

11           Lines / Fyne Ales Green Lines Saison Saison                        

12           Tiny Rebel XLPA Golden Ale/Blond Ale                  

13           Crafty Devil You Love Us India Pale Ale (IPA)                      

14           Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropicana India Pale Ale (IPA)   

15           Tiny Rebel Tiny Batch In and Around the Mouth India Pale Ale (IPA)        

16           Tiny Rebel Dirty Stop Out Stout 279        

17           Tiny Rebel Frambuzi Sour/Wild Ale         

18           Lines Line AE - Munich Table Beer Specialty Grain            

19           Hopcraft Sharks Against Surfers American Pale Ale          

20           Tiny Rebel The Vader Shuffle Porter                      

21           Hopcraft A Good Rogering Black IPA       

22           Otley mOtley Brew Imperial IPA               

23           Otley Oxymoron Black IPA                          

24           Hopcraft Devilfish Ink Black IPA                

25           Hopcraft Citraic American Pale Ale                          

26           Hopcraft Graveyard Eyes (5.3%) Porter  19          

27           Tiny Rebel / Weird Beard Dirty Perle StoutNew 

28           Tiny Rebel Stay Puft Stout           

29           Tiny Rebel / Dugges Pina Colada Pale Ale American Pale Ale        

30           Tiny Rebel Urban IPA India Pale Ale (IPA)             

31           Tiny Rebel Cereal Killer Session IPA                         

32           Tiny Rebel Cali American Pale Ale            

33           Tiny Rebel The Full Nelson American Pale Ale                    

34           Tiny Rebel Bass Drop Imperial Stout       

35           Tiny Rebel Loki Black IPA                              

36           Tiny Rebel Cwtch Amber Ale                      

37           Tiny Rebel Beat Box American Pale Ale                 

38           Tiny Rebel Sonic Boom India Pale Ale (IPA)                          

39           Hafod Dubbel Abbey Dubbel                     

40           Waen Snowball Sweet Stout      

41           Tiny Rebel Gin & Juice Spice/Herb/Vegetable    

42           Hopcraft Citra Plus American Pale Ale    

43           Heavy Industry 77 Amber Ale    

44           Tiny Rebel Grand Regal (Canadian Bourbon) Imperial Stout         

45           Tiny Rebel Billabong American Pale Ale                 

46           Hopcraft Mate Spawn and Die American Pale Ale             

47           Tiny Rebel Lupulin Fiasco Saison                               

48           Hopcraft Spanish Main Stout

49           Tiny Rebel Tiny Batch Hot Box Smoked
50           Hopcraft Oceanic American Pale Ale

Over at Beer Advocate, there is no separate section for Wales, merely a UK & Ireland section and no Welsh breweries make the top 100

Meanwhile CAMRA has not bothered to update their list of Champion Beers of Wales for last year but I found the results elsewhere:

Mild Brecon Brewing - Dark Beacons

Bitter Monty's - Old Jailhouse
Best Bitter Tiny Rebel - Cwtch
Strong Bitter Greytrees - Afghan IPA
Old Ale Heavy Industry - Collaborator
Barley Wines Monty's Magnitude
Speciality Purple Moose - Ysgawen
Porter Tudor - Black Rock
Stout Boss Black
Champion Beer of Wales 2016 Grand Champions
Gold - Tudor - Black Rock
Silver - Boss Black
Bronze - Monty's Old Jailhouse

Three lists of very different results!

Drink Socially with Untappd

Untappd has been running for about a year now and I joined shortly after it came out so having used it for about a year I'd thought I'd better write something about it.
Untappd is a logical extension of social media into the world of drinking, we already have Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare to update via our smartphones and Untappd has take that next step of bringing beer (and cider) into the social media world. Once you have created an account (free) you can type in what beer you are drinking, rate it and share it with friends via Twitter and Facebook. As in Foursquare this also gives you the opportunity to win badges, for instance yesterday was International Stout Day so by drinking a bottle of the excellent Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody's Stout I unlocked a badge:

Other badges feature beers from the same country and badges for the amount of different beers you have tried.
Untappd also lets you friend people in the similar way to Foursquare and you can comment on what beers your friends are drinking as well as 'toasting' their drink.

The application also makes a note of your top beers and this appears on your homepage:

No surprises there - although the last 2 on the list were new discoveries to me, both being found in the City Arms in Cardiff during their American and German beer festivals.

Now I don't use Untappd all the time I'm out drinking, it is dependent on mobile coverage or WiFi networks (there are both mobile and desktop versions available - the mobile site is on an m. site, suitable for Symbian and they claim Blackberry, though Jonas claims he has problems using it on the Blackberry. Its also available as native apps on Android and  Apple IOS. I mostly use it via my Nokia smartphone (Symbian) via the Opera Mobile Browser (far better than any packaged browser the phone came with). Works okay and not had any major problems with it.
The native apps for the iphone and Android allow uses to upload photos as well.

All in all a good little free application for those of us who use social media.