The Great British Beer Festival, Earls Court 7th August 2007 (copy entry)

All the below test has been copied from the previous entry. In order to fully link each brewer with a searchable 'label' I have had to create another blog entry, as there is a 200 character limit in the labels field. So for the full version, please go to the previous entry.

Nethergate IPA (3.5%): Stunning hop flavour and it tastes stronger than it is. 4
Nethergate Suffolk County Best Bitter (4.0%): Good rounded tasty bitter. 4
Nethergate Umbel Magna (5.0%): Made with coriander, it smells of herbs and tastes of light, delicate porter, an achievement in such a strong beer. 4
Oakleaf Hole Hearted (4.7%): Zesty, hoppy and spicy. 3
Olde Swan Original (3.5%): Smooth and fruity light coloured beer. 3
Potton Village Bike (4.3%): Decent bitter (shame about the silly name) but with a particular hop flavour that’s not my thing. 3
Rebellion Shaken Not Stirred (4.2%): From one of my favourite brewers, but first taste of this is ordinary. However it mellows into a lovely rounded aftertaste. Wonderful. 4
Rebellion Blonde (4.3%): Nasty insipid lagery tasting pale coloured beer. Not my thing. 2
Robinson’s Oldham Bitter (3.8%): Tangy, sharp and fruity. 3
Sharp’s Doom Bar Bitter (4.0%): Ordinary bitter. Usually one of my favourites but served too cold. 3
Sharp’s Eden Ale (4.3%): Dry, bitter and hoppy. Again served too cold. 3
Teme Valley This (3.7%): Straw hoppy taste to this golden ale. 3
Triple fff Summer Is Icumen (6.0%): Light and strong but not backed by hop or malt flavour. 3
Vale VPA (4.2%): A dark golden ale with zesty hop character. 3
Winter’s Golden (4.1%): Mild in flavour with a sharp finish. 3
Wolf Golden Jackal (3.7%): Tasting more like a darker beer this has an excellent balanced hop taste. 4

USA and Rest of the World
Cambridge Brewing Co Bitchin’ Bitter (4.2%): Slightly woolly tasting malty bitter. 3
Cambridge Brewing Co Tall Tale Pale Ale (5.8%): Smooth honey hop flavour but a little too strong to support the taste. 3
Dogfish Head 60 Miniute IPA (6.0%): Citrus yet mellow IPA. Doesn’t taste this strong. 3
Gardner Ale House Facelift IPA (6.3%): Very bitter to start with and served grim and cloudy. Although too strong for me, mellows into a tasty refreshing drink. 4
Sierra Nevada Wheat Beer (4.4%): Very pale coloured wheaty beer served chilled and tasting more like lager. 3
YoHo Brewing Co Yona Yona Ale (5.5%): Tasty malty beer similar to a best bitter. Very pleasant and I don’t think you’d guess it was all the way from Japan.

All the above were draft, and, with the exception of the YoHo beer, from the USA.