Drinks review of the year

Hits

David Bremner

There are colleagues and ex-colleagues of Mr Bremner who have ribbed him mercilessly following his rise to prominence in the trade press this year. I was privy to one remark, where he was accused of "getting more ink this year than Posh and Becks".

Well, the Everards marketing director certainly has appeared enough times in the pages of this paper and others, but it's amazing how far a good idea can take you, his idea being Cyclops - a tasting notes system designed to enable even the simplest mind to understand the taste profile of cask ale.

What seemed to yours truly to simply be a good feature idea has now been adopted by 14 brewers across the UK, while Scottish & Newcastle has formally adopted it for its 2007 Cellarman's Reserve programme.

Crouch Vale

A real winner - the Essex brewer's golden ale Brewers Gold was named Champion Beer of Britain for the second consecutive year.

The Great British Beer Festival

'Twas a momentous year for the Great British Beer Festival with organiser the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) moving the show from Olympia to Earls Court. While some moaned the space was now too big (some people are never happy!), CAMRA announced that visitor numbers had surpassed any other year - attendance this year hit 66,000, compared to 47,000 in 2005. The Festival also welcomed its one millionth visitor.

Cider makers

Who would have thought the noble fermented apple juice would have become the hit of the year with consumers? Of course the big story has been the jaw-dropping success of Magners. But other brands, from the widely distributed Strongbow to craft ciders such as Weston's have been enjoying very healthy sales. You only need to see the listing of Aspall Suffolk Cyder in All Bar One to see that this 'revolution' may be more than a flash in pan. Just one request, cider brethren. Could we stop it with the 'over ice me-toos'? Please!

Misses

Cask ale breweries

Another year and another two big names in cask beer are picked off. The loss of Young's and Hardys & Hanson's isn't the end as far as Charles Wells (which merged with Young's) and Greene King (which bought H&H) are concerned - they will continue to brew many of the beers at their own breweries. But as far as cask beer die-hards are concerned this is the end - the original breweries are no more and the source water used in the making of those beers will no longer be the same. As far as they are concerned no amount of taste matching will suffice.National brewers

The retail price of their beers in supermarkets has gone completely out of control and there is nothing they can do about it - apart from getting delisted! This has led to Scottish & Newcastle sending a strongly worded submission to the Competition Commission's inquiry into supermarket pricing.

Smaller regional brewers

Back in March a storm brewed over Progressive Beer Duty. A number of smaller regional brewers such as Adnams and Refresh UK (owner of Wychwood Brewery) stuck their heads above the parapet to express their frustration at being undercut in the market by some newly-formed micros which, in their view, are not interested in the beer market and are only motivated by financial gain.

Last round

Biggest brand launch

Coke Zero. After years of watching Pepsi Max build up a healthy level of sales in the sugar-free cola market Coca-Cola unleashed its riposte in May. The company spent an incredible £10m on marketing in the first four weeks after launch. The feedback from the trade has been mixed.

Biggest trend

Lager and lime. Where did this one come from? That old 1970s favourite has suddenly leapt back into the spotlight thanks to two new brand extensions - Foster's Twist and Carlsberg Edge - possibly trying to pick up on the huge growth of Corona sales in the last year. We wait to see if either has been a hit with pub-goers or supermarket buyers.

Biggest shock

This was surely experienced by members of the Society of Independent Brewers attending their annual conference in March. The attending microbrewers were savaged in a keynote speech by Union Pub Company boss Stephen Oliver, who called on them to "wake up, wise up or get out". There has since been speculation on how Mr Oliver made it out of the conference hall alive…