Crawley Folk and Beer Festival, 28th - 30th June 2013

Advertised as over 50 beers, ciders and perries, I was hoping to be able to try a lot of these over the weekend. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be there on the Saturday but I made up for this on the Friday and Sunday.

Arundel Stronghold (4.7%): An amazing best bitter. Malty, fruity and in your face. 5
Arundel Sussex Gold (4.2%): A big citrus hop hit but mellow and refreshing. 4
Dark Star American Pale Ale (4.7%): Storming bitter sweet pale ale. 4
Downton Chimera IPA (6.8%): Pale, tangy, morish and bitingly bitter - all in a good way. 3
Exmoor Exmoor Ale (3.8%): Decent session bitter. 3
Goacher's Fine Light (3.7%): Honey tones but a little insipid. 2
Green Jack Trawlerboys Best Bitter (4.6%): Not quite ready but those flavours are in there ready to burst. 3

The band stage at the festival

Hop Back GFB (3.8%): Classy golden ale which could even be a standard bitter with a pleasant malty finish. 3
Hopdaemon Golden Braid (3.7%): Very thin and odd to start but warms in the mouth into a characterful, mellow aftertaste. A beer of two halves. 3
King Sussex Downs Ale (5.1%): Sweet and citrussy with a slightly spicy finish. 3
Kissingate Black Cherry Mild (4.2%): A massive cherry hit without being unpleasantly sweet. 3
Kissingate Mary's Ruby Mild (6.5%): My Friday notes say "A plethora of malt flavours fighting for precedence. A delight." My Sunday notes say "Tastes somewhat odd today, a disappointment." What started as a 4 dropped to a 2 so I'll give it 3
Longman Golden Tipple (5.0%): Refreshing and zesty. A lovely pint. 3
Milton Pegasus (4.1%): Very drinkable well-balanced best bitter. 3
Orkney Orkney IPA (4.8%): A strong hop character to this IPA, with enough strength to really hit that IPA definition but not so much you can't get stuck in. As it should be. 4
Skinners Betty Stoggs (4.0%): One of the very best bitters, in my opinion. 4
Surrey Hills Greensand IPA (4.6%): Sweet and pleasant. 3
Whitstable East India Pale Ale (4.1%): Delicate IPA fruitiness and a light, hoppy aftertaste. 3
Windsor and Eton Conqueror Black IPA (5.0%): Initially very like a traditional light coloured IPA but with a full-bodied maltiness. An eye-opener. 4
Windsor and Eton Windsor Knot (4.0%): The wedding was a while back and the baby's due soon, but the beer is still with us which is unfortunate as it tastes of petrol. 2

The bar was run by a private company and operated on a token system where all beers and ciders were the same price. Although some of the staff seemed inexperienced, they were all very friendly. There was a competition where you marked beers out of ten and handed in your scores, and I was furious because this was drawn before the end, without warning, so I hadn't handed mine in. Not a way to run a competition!

There were 40 real ales on offer and I was pleased to be able to try half of them. I wasn't intending to go for stronger beers but only three of the 20 were under 4% and there were no low gravity ones available at all, yet a lot of IPAs. An unusual but not unpleasant selection. It's rare to find a beer festival with seemingly no CAMRA influence these days. I liked the cask end cards as they had a large graphic of the pump clip then stated the colour of the beer in one word, "golden" or "black", although I was a bit confused by "amber", "bronze" and "copper". Not entirely sure of the difference there!

My beer of the festival was without a doubt the Arundel Stronghold. It's a regular, all year round ale from this local brewer and embarrassingly I've not tried it before. However I will now search it out.

The Jolly Tanners, Staplefield 2nd May 2013

The Broadwood Morris Men were out for a third day in a row so once again I found myself at a cozy watering hole drinking real ale and watching dancing. I had been promised a beer festival but unfortunately it didn't start until the following day, so I had to make do with trying four out of the six beers available at the bar.

Arundel Castle (3.8%): A little woolly but this was the very first drop out of the barrel. Ok but not great.
Wharfebank Tether Blond (4.1%): Pleasant golden ale without a particular hop taste. Good but not excellent.

Longman Old Man (4.3%): Very nice old with hints of black cherry and chocolate, almost like a stout, but with a good balance of hoppiness.

Waen Jenner's Pride (4.0%): Really good standard bitter. Very impressed.

I was very tired and wasn't at my best but the beers were excellent and I was sad not to be able to sample the festival beers sitting enticingly in the garden, untapped in their barrels.

The White Horse, Maplehurst 25th May 2011

This time I was out to watch Chanctonbury Morris Men at one of my favourite pubs.

Andwell King John (4.2%): An excellent malty beer with a very bitter hop taste. The first time I've tried a beer from this relatively new brewer.
Arundel Sting in the Tail (4.7%): Tastes good if you can get away from the unpleasant smell.
Welton's Pridenjoy (2.8%): Top marks to this stunning light bitter which stands up in flavour to beers twice its strength.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): A lovely pint.

Another good night out.

The Beer Essentials, Horsham 7th May 2011

Brighton Morris perform outside The Beer Essentials

© Barry Dewdney - used with permission

Possibly my favourite shop in Horsham, morris dancers were given free beer on Horsham Day of Dance today, arranged by Broadwood Morris Men.

Arundel Sussex Gold (4.2%): Well brewed amber nectar. Lovely.
Dark Star Victorian Ruby Mild (6.0%): Heavenly sweet strong dark mild, a beer to rival Sarah Hughes' best efforts at last! I really hope this is a regular beer as I could get very used to it.

Thank you Graham for organising such an enjoyable day for so many people, and thank you to the absent Gareth for the beer.

"Mild Day" The Malt Shovel, Horsham 3rd May 2008

My local mild event for May Mild Month. Lots of milds, lots of CAMRA members, morris dancers and a talk from the Director and Head Brewer at Harvey's brewery.

Arundel Sussex Mild (3.7%): Lovely open malty taste and a very smooth flavour.
Ballards Mildhurst Mild (3.4%): A traditional bitter mild.
Caledonian Deuchars IPA (3.8%): Unpleasant and soapy. Line cleaner or a clever ploy to get everyone drinking mild today.
Charles Wells' Courage Directors (4.8%): Malty well balanced bitter.
Dark Star Over the Moon (3.8%): A sweet mild with a 'best bitter' flavour.
Hepworth's Iron Horse (4.8%): Sweet, light coloured local bitter, not mild.
Marston Moor Matlock Mild (4.0%): Creamy and mellow; doesn't taste this strong.
Moorhouse's Black Cat (3.4%): Slightly more bitter than others; tasty.
Triple fff Pressed Rat and Warthog (3.8%): Almost a spicy taste to this very drinkable dark beer.
Wychwood Hobgoblin (4.5%): Strong and not much like traditional mild.

The talk by Mike Jenner, Director and Head Brewer at Harvey's, gave a good summary of how the brewery has stuck to traditional beers and respects its history, while embracing technology and changing tastes. It got quite technical at times with various salt contents in the water discussed (Lewes water is lower in sodium that London water).

The future at Harvey's sounds exciting with the creation of a microbrewery to use as a testing ground for new ideas and recreations of some historical brews.

CAMRA members from North Sussex, Western Sussex, Brighton and South Downs, Mid Surrey, East Surrey, Croydon and even as far away as West Kent were in attendance as well as the Regional Director.

The pub did themselves proud, a great day with nine fine beers out of ten.

Pic to follow.

Horsham Beer Festival 29th - 30th September 2007

This year saw a larger festival than previously, with three sessions over the weekend.

As usual, I was serving behind the bar for all the sessions, which gave me the opportunity to sample every one of the fifty real ales on offer.

It’s always a great weekend and this year was no exception. I met up with people that I only ever see at the festival but at last I’m beginning to remember their names now, as well as lots of friends from different areas of life.

I had a tough time deciding on my beer of the festival, and in the end feel I have to mention four that particularly stood out. Skinners Betty Stogs was an excellent bitter, Hepworth's Harvest Ale was a good strong hoppy beer, and Essential Beers Festival Special was delightful golden and moorish. Of course the festival would not have been complete without Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby which is one of the best beers on earth (see picture).

After the event, Gareth, the event organiser who runs the Beer Essentials beer shop on East Street in Horsham (see link on the right), told me that about 4,100 pints were sold and only a little beer was left over from the 84 barrels delivered for the event. This is now being sold in the shop.

Acorn Old Moor Porter (4.4%): Traditional porter. Very good.
Adnams Bitter (3.7%): Lovely dry hoppy session bitter.
Archers Farmers Boy (3.8%): A bit sharp with a hint of smokiness.
Arkells Kingsdown Ale (5.0%): Very malt heavy; rounded and smooth.
Arundel Sussex Mild (3.7%): Gorgeous and creamy if a little sweet.
Bateman's Valiant (4.2%): Very pleasant bitter.
Bath Gem (4.1%): Lovely malty bitter. Tastes stronger than it is.
Brains SA (4.2%): Creamy caramelly taste to this bitter. Very good.
Burton Bridge Golden Delicious (3.8%): Mellow and not too strong. A good beer to drink all night.
Caledonian Deuchars IPA (3.8%): Hoppy but weak beer.
Cotleigh Barn Owl (4.5%): Strong with a bitter flavour which continues to the aftertaste.
Cottage Metropolitan (4.7%): Fruity well balanced mellow bitter. Good but not dark coloured as described in the programme notes.
Downton Red Hop (4.3%): Pleasant malty red coloured bitter.
Elgoods Black Dog (3.6%): You’d have to do well to find a better mild than this at this strength. Even people who profess not to like mild were happily consuming pints of it.
Essential Beers Festival (5.0%): As always an excellent pint. One of my favourite beers.
Essential Beers Festival Special (4.2%): This gorgeous beer was made for the festival by blending Dark Star Hophead (which it tastes similar to but a little stronger) and Dark Star Sunburst. Fantastic beer.
Everard's Original (5.2%): Far too much alcohol and not enough flavour.
Exmoor Gold (4.5%): Slightly citrusy golden beer. Very tasty.
Felinfoel Best (3.8%): A delicate hop flavour to this Welsh session bitter.
Fuller's ESB (5.5%): Good flavour which copes with the high alcohol content.
Garton's Liquid Lobotomy (8.0%): A challenging black beer with a smooth start and tangy aftertaste.
Goddard's Ducks Folly (5.0%): Caramelly strong bitter.
Green Jack Ripper (8.5%): Excellent sweet strong beer with enough flavour to carry the alcohol.
Hadrian and Borders Gladiator (3.8%): Very malty red bitter with a crisp hoppy finish.
Hampshire Pink Elephant (5.4%): Unusual beer with a hint of the taste of red wine but no pink colour. Somehow this was voted “Beer of the festival” by drinkers over the weekend.
Hart Ice Maiden (4.0%): Pleasant bitter but with no distinguishing features.
Harviestoun Ptarmigan (4.5%): Very pleasant beer with a light spicy and zesty flavour.
Hepworth's Harvest Ale (4.5%): An excellent beer with a sharp hop taste. Almost tastes like an IPA.
Hogs Back HBB (3.7%): Mellow citrusy tones to this pleasant bitter.
Hop Back Entire Stout (4.5%): A very palatable and easy drinking stout.
Leyden Black Pudding (3.9%): Lovely creamy well balanced mild.
Moorhouse's Black Cat Mild (3.4%): Tasty mild with a mellow roasted malt flavour.
Oakham JHB (3.8%): Very fresh and citrusy beer with bitter undertones.
Oakleaf Green Gold (4.3%): Pleasant ‘chewy’ hoppy golden coloured bitter.
Old Bear Hibernator (5.0%): Seriously smoky dark beer.
Orkney Dark Island (4.6%): Dark Scottish beer with a chocolatey burnt malt taste.
Palmers Copper Ale (3.7%): Pleasant and hoppy beer.
Ringwood Fortyniner (4.9%): Tasty strong bitter.
St Austell Proper Job (4.5%): Very sweet bitter.
Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby (6.0%): Wonderful. I always look forward to drinking as much as possible of this mild at this festival. One of my favourites.
Sharp's Doom Bar Bitter (4.0%): Well balanced bitter with a good hop taste and hints of caramelly malt.
Skinners Betty Stogs (4.0%): The name put me off a bit but this was a delicious fruity hoppy bitter. An excellent find.
Thornbridge Jaipur IPA (5.9%): A lovely delicate IPA with a big hop and honey taste.
Timothy Taylor Golden Best (3.5%): Darker than most golden beers, this was thick tasting and disappointing.
Titanic Stout (4.5%): Lovely dark, bitter, roasty stout.
Wadworth 6X (4.3%): Fresh and fruity; well balanced.
Welton's Percy Bysshe (7.0%): This tastes like it’s got apples or some other fruit in it, and is good but a little strong with a strange murky brown colour.
Westerham British Bulldog (4.3%): Smells of roasted malt and tastes like excellent bitter.
Wickwar Autumnale (4.5%): A hint of burnt flavour to this popular yet thick dark bitter.
Wells and Youngs Waggledance (5.0%): Warming honey tones with some hoppiness are present in this strong bitter.

The Station, Preston Park, Brighton 15th September 2007

For the first time in any Sussex pub I felt distinctly uncomfortable walking in here. The customers at the bar were rude and made stupid comments, although the woman behind the bar did her best to be welcoming.

Arundel Sussex Mild (3.7%): Incredibly sweet mild. A little too sweet for me but good and smooth.

There was an unusual mural on the outside wall but I didn’t want to spend any more time at the bar, so I didn’t ask for any details. You can just see it in the picture above the bonnet of the white van.

Lewes Beer Festival 23rd June 2007

As I’m now on the mend from my head injury and allowed to drink again, I was able to use my ticket to the CAMRA beer festival in Lewes.

Arriving on the Saturday after a sell-out Friday there were only 35 beers left, which I didn’t think was very well organised. Some ran out before I got to them but I managed to try all the others, 30 in total.

1648 Original (3.9%): Tasty standard bitter. 3
1648 Signature (4.4%): Very dry and a little on the insipid side. 3
Arundel ASB (4.5%): Very malty rounded tasting bitter. 3
Arundel Sussex Gold (4.2%): Interesting light fruity beer. 3
Arundel Sussex Mild (3.7%): Warm, creamy tasting mild. Lovely. 4
B&T Black Dragon Mild (4.3%): Gorgeous smooth rich mild. 4
Bushy Castletown Bitter (3.5%): Tasty, citrusy bitter with a light colour. 3
Bushy Manx Export Bitter (3.8%): Rather unexciting bitter but with a hint of hoppiness. 3
Caledonian XPA (4.3%): Not terribly pleasant bitter pale beer. 3
Custom Beers Chinook (4.2%): Sweet, fruity bitter with a tangy flavour. 3
Custom Beers Quality of Life (4.5%): Hoppy, smooth and tastes pretty strong. 3
Dark Star Mild for May (3.6%): Spicy, tasty mind, a decent drink. Why is it only available in May? 3
Dark Star Summer Meltdown (4.8%): Gingery, fruity light hoppy beer with strong grapefruit tones. 3
Elgood's Cambridge Bitter (3.8%): Excellent dry tasting crisp bitter. 4
Hampshire Wild Thing (4.2%): Incredibly dry, sharp beer. 3
Harvey's Armada Ale (4.5%): Fruity and hoppy in equal measure, unmistakably Harvey's. 4
Harvey's Olympia Golden Ale (4.3%): Just got some before it ran out! Stunningly hoppy. 5
Harvey's Tom Paine (5.5%): Not much of a flavour apart from some caramel, but very strong! 3
Hepworth's Prospect (4.5%): Crisp and hoppy. Nice. 4
King Ace of Ales (4.3%): Interesting tasty hoppy bitter. 3
Ramsgate Gadds No 5 (Best Bitter) (4.4%): Very tasty hoppy bitter. I could drink lots of this. 4
Rectory Dark Knight (4.7%): Pleasant dark bitter with a very strong grapefruit flavour. 3
Rectory Pale Knight (4.7%): Nice light bitter tasting of Goldings hops. 3
Rother Valley Hoppers Ale (4.4%): Not as hoppy as I expected but nevertheless a tasty bitter. 3
Surrey Hills Gilt Complex (4.6%): Delicious, warm and well balanced, with hop flavour. 4
Surrey Hills Shere Drop (4.2%): Not as good as I remember, but a pleasant light-ish beer. 3
Timothy Taylor Ram Tam (4.3%): Unremarkable until the aftertaste which is hoppy and tasty. 3
Welton's Mild and Bitter (3.5%): Revolting, sour off beer. Yuck. 1
White Fagged Off (3.8%): Not pleasant with a taste reminiscent of wood shavings. I think it's supposed to taste of fag ash. 2
Whitstable East India Pale Ale (4.1%): At last, an IPA which is really hoppy and strong! 4

















My beer of the festival was the local Harvey's Olympia. Fantastic.

I asked to take a picture from the gallery of the hall and was shown up by staff. As I was taking pictures I was yelled at by security and removed from the balcony. I really hope you like the pic as I thought it was going to get me arrested!