Kmflett's Blog

Beers of 2025?

Its that time of year again when people, mostly beer writers, produce their list of the best beers of the year. Pete Brown has one in the Sunday Times (21^st December) which focuses on beers newly produced or beers he has come across for the first time in 2025. As you’d expect it’s a well chosen list and several beers on it are also favourites of mine.

Several caveats are required. Firstly, I’m not a beer writer. I’m a socialist historian who enjoys beer but writes about it from a political/historical angle. If you’re expecting detailed beer tasting notes, look elsewhere..

Secondly can I remember what beers I was enjoying in January and February 2025. Not really. There are beers, not new, which I regularly enjoy when I drink at home (that is when I’m in Cardiff where pub/public transport options can be limited-in London I walk to or catch a bus to the pub and don’t drink beer at home) Pressure Drop’s Pale Fire remains an excellent beer as does St Austell’s Proper Job. Both are quite widely available and Proper Job is bottle conditioned (although also in can).

Otherwise its really beer styles of the year that I think of. I’m drinking a lot more stouts and porters on draught and in can/bottle. I’ve never liked draught Guinness, although the bottled versions remain decent (if bottle conditioned only in ancient memory). However I do like Anspach and Hobday’s London Black Porter and Kernel’s Stout, both intro beers. I’ll always drink the annual release of Burning Sky’s robust porter and as Pete Brown notes the Fuller’s 180^th anniversary porter is good too.

While I still drink and enjoy them I’m less enthused by murky IPAs (NEIPA) and keep an out for, perhaps what are styled West Coast IPAs but more particularly the original UK version of the IPA style before it went to the US and came back again. Sometimes these beers- see Fullers- are badged as ESBs.

But above all I just like to try new and hopefully interesting and tasty beers. For my generation brought up on a very limited beer range before CAMRA got to work in the mid-1970s, the choice of beer styles and strengths (nothing much above 5% in those days) and the ability to have thirds or two-thirds is worth celebrating.