Horsham Beer Festival 29th - 30th September 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. If this means nothing to you, don't worry, just ignore this entry and read the one below as it contains the same information.

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.

The Great British Beer Festival... (again) 9th August 2007

Found an excuse to pop back to the festival and try a few more beers.

I bumped into a few chatty characters including an interesting man from Hartfield and some "tickers" who have a list of every current beer and tick them off as them drink them. I may just have to find myself a copy of the list and see what percentage of the beers appear on this blog!

British Beers
Hampshire Kings Ransom (4.8%): Very dry and bitter with hints of caramel. 3
Loddon Hoppit (3.5%): Extremely good session bitter. 4
Wood Shropshire Lass (4.2%): Very moorish and drinkable bitter. 4

Rest of the World
Plevna Dark Lager (5.6%): Lovely dark sweet biscuity warming beer but extremely strong! 4
Plevna Severin Extra IPA (5.9%): Gorgeous American style IPA which stands up well to the alcohol content. 4
Both these beers are from Finland.

It seems strange that the UK, which developed the IPA beer style hundreds of years ago, has forgotten how to make it, with national brewers churning out so-called IPA at strengths of less than 4%. One major brand allegedly uses no hops in theirs, just hop oil. It is good to know that other countries are making lovely strong IPAs, presumably with real hops, even if this is now known as "American style IPA".

There seems to be a growing trend for beer festivals to include more and more examples of different beers styles, which is good news, as it means we all get to try porters, milds, stouts, and to a lesser extent, light bitters and barley wines. However there are now so many golden ales that it is becoming harder and harder to find an ordinary bitter, one of the goals of today's visit.

This is in contrast to pubs which continue (with notable exceptions) to stock mainly bitters, with mild making a welcome appearance.

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!