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 White Horse, Maplehurst 30th April 2013

So we were out for the first official morris gig of the season: May eve.

Kissingate Chennai Premium IPA (5.0%): Interesting pale ale with a hop flavour I can't place.
Andwell's Gold (4.4%): Really yummy golden ale. One of the best of these I've had.
Kissingate Black Cherry Mild (4.2%): Very mellow, subtly sweet mild.

Always a good selection at this lovely local and tonight was no exception.

And there was some good dancing too.

The Jolly Tanners, Staplefield 28th April 2011

Came out to see Broadwood Morris Men's first stand of the season and discovered a beer festival.

In the bar:
Golden Valley Kenyon's Original Oatmeal Stout (4.7%): This was off and promptly returned to the bar, where it was easily exchanged for...
Kissingate Akira's Blonde (4.8%): This was the dregs of the barrel but having already changed it, I didn't feel I could do it again.
Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter (4.0%): A lovely pint. Pleased that finally something tasted as it should.

In the beer festival outside:
Elgood's Golden Newt (4.6%): Nutty and astringent decent pale ale.
Hogs Back Royal TEA (5.2%): Fruity and hoppy, a bit strong for the flavour.
Oakham Citra (4.2%): Glorious grapefruit hit. Extremely pale.
Rother Valley Wealden Bitter (3.7%): Stunning session bitter. I wish this were available everywhere.
Skinners Kate Loves Willy (4.2%): Pleasant bitter.
Thornbridge Wild Swan (3.5%): Disappointing weak beer from this usually excellent brewer.

They also had Dark Star Festival and Hop Head, Elgood's Black Dog, Grainstore Rutland Panther, Moorhouse's Black Cat and Woodforde's Wherry available, but since I've definitely tasted these before, I went for the others.

The Greyhound, Tinsley Green, Crawley 22nd April 2011

Here again for the World Championship Marbles that is played every Good Friday. This year there was a beer festival. In fact it's still on, it runs until Monday or until the beer runs out.

Cotleigh Buzzard (4.8%): A dryer, darker version of the Honey Buzzard. Tastes like an Old Ale.

Cotleigh Honey Buzzard (4.5%): Pleasant, strong bitter with a sweet aftertaste.

Cotleigh Golden Seahawk (4.2%): Smells like dark beer but is a beautiful orangey colour. Very bitter but very easy to drink.

Kissingate Storyteller (3.5%): Sweet, light and blonde. A lovely summer easy-drinking delight. The sort of beer people say appeals to women.

Kissingate Moon (4.8%): Tastes like a refreshing fruity soft drink, which at this strength is very dangerous.

Kissingate Warlock's Strong Ale (5.2%): Sweet, fruity, dark and strong. A decent pint.

Kissingate Black Cherry Mild (4.2%): Heavenly sweet dark mild. Can't pick out the cherry flavour though.

Adnams Broadside (4.7%): Delightful, strong and warming. A stunning drop of ale.

Fuller's London Pride (4.1%): Delicious rounded flavour with a lovely straw-hoppy taste. When it's good it's great, and this is.

Shepherd Neame Spitfire Ale (4.2%): Distinctively Shepherd Neame, this is too alcoholic for the flavour. Not one of my favourites.

Wells Bombardier (4.3%): A bit soft and woolly drunk straight after the London Pride. Still a decent pint.

There were three bottled beers (Shepherd Neame Tanglefoot, Marston's Pedigree and Wychwood Hobgoblin) and four draught ciders (Thatchers Cheddar Valley and the local JB's, plus two others), so for a first ever beer festival for this pub, it was a good range and I hope to attend many more. The beer seemed to sell well and the marbles crowd were pleased to have a variety of decent beers on tap.