The Malt Shovel, Horsham 26th October 2006

Went down to the Malt Shovel again to meet some friends and participate once more in the beer festival. This was the first time I’ve been here when there’s been no live entertainment, and for the first time the Sky TV made its presence felt. Who needs to watch golf with the sound on?

Anyway, I tried a few beers. This time, for some reason they didn’t taste so good, and I couldn’t work out if this was me or the beer.

Belhaven 80/- (4.2%): Ok bitter with a slightly flat taste, nothing special
Belhaven St Andrews (4.9%): similar to the 80/- but with a strange aftertaste
Skinner’s Cornish Blonde (5.0%): adequate light beer, but I’m still not totally convinced, I wouldn’t rush out for more of this
Hyde’s Mild (3.5%): very clear, red beer, doesn’t look or taste in the least bit like mild, but quite pleasant in spite of that
Hepworth Pullman (4.2%): tasty bitter, the best so far though that doesn’t say much
Itchen Valley Hampshire Rose (4.2%): interesting, complex taste with a flowery flavour and a hint of coffee
Wells Bombardier (4.3%): tastes like I expect it to (I don’t know, I’ve already had lots to drink)

I was staying in the area, so I didn’t need to worry about trains back to London. Instead we sat around and drank some of those bottles of St Peter’s I bought earlier.

St Peter’s Cream Stout (6.5%): not so good and I struggled to finish it, ok but not as lovely as I know stout can be
St Peter’s Ruby Red Ale (4.3%): pleasant and very drinkable but so much better from the cask

Oh and I know I tried something else but having drunk all that I couldn't remember long enough to write it down. Or maybe I couldn't write by that stage.