The Malt Shovel, Horsham 3rd February 2007

Turned up to hear the band playing at my new local... and thought it was important to test every one of the eight, yes eight real ales on offer. If this hadn't entailed drinking nine pints, I would have been fine the next day. In spite of that, or possibly because of that, it was a good night.

Oakham JHB (3.8%): Very light, almost fizzy fresh beer. Not quite strong enough in my opinion with a hint of dishwater.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): Rounded and pleasant but no taste of hops. Classic bitter which I could easily have drunk all night. Almost a shame there were so many other beers to try!
Brakspear Bitter (3.4%): Thick, dark bitter with an indistinct flavour, but better than it's tasted for a while here.
Adnam's Bitter (3.8%): Very tasty for a low gravity beer. Eminently drinkable.
York Centennial (4.0%): Beautiful delicate light beer. Reminiscent of St Peter's Elderberry fruit beer which is no longer made and sadly missed. Easily the best beer of the night (and believe me, I tested it as much as humanly possible).
Arran Dark (4.3%): Sharp and warm with a mellow aftertaste. The sort of beer that if you're not used to drinking bitter you might really hate, but actually it was fairly pleasant. Wouldn't be my first choice.
Ventnor Pistol Night (4.4%): Very unusual bitter with a warm, incredibly hoppy taste. Improves with drinking. Delicious.
Timothy Taylor Landlord (4.3%): Another decent bitter. Sweet, tasty and deceptively strong.

The staff were jolly and helpful. A real pleasure to be here. I came to hear the band and the pub happened to have eight real ales on, including some 'standard' bitters, light beers and a dark beer.

The Okee Dokee band were great and were appreciated by the clientele. Footage is available on youtube.com.

Who could ask for more in a local?