The Great British Beer Festival - 2003
Aug. 10th, 2003 01:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m31andyOther Years are here: 2000/2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
Well, beer festival was fun. Drank far too much beer. Met up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
cowfishbilly and other old college mates. I, of course, had agreed to meet with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cuvalwen at 2pm anyway. Steve turned up (lj journal to follow, he assures!!!) and then Ralphie from work turned up. It was very strange at times, three worlds colliding! Cuvalwen and Steve came back to mine afterwards for pizza and "The Wicker Man". A good night had by all, I reckon.
Anyway.
Milton. Pegasus. 4.1% "Hops dominate, but this fruity beer has a long fruity/toffee finish." Not bad. Quite bitter, but smelt nice! ***
Cairngorms. Trade Winds. 4.3% "Light golden, wheat and corn with elderflowers giving good hop flavours.." This was lovely. It was cool and sparkling, almost like a lager. The elderflowers came through in the smell and also the taste, surprisingly. Very very drinkable. *****
Hanbys. Cherry Bomb. 6.0% "A rich and fruity beer with a maraschino cherry taste and a potent punch." They weren't kidding about the cherries. Or the punch. This was very drinkable. Very fruity. And tasted more alcoholic than rum! Over all very nice, but definitely NOT a session beer. It tasted like a mix of old perculier and kriek. *****
Spectrum. 42. 4.2% "A hoppy rather pleasant beer. The answer to everything?" As I can't remember much about this beer, I think I will go with nice, but non-descript. ***
Charles Wells, Banana Bread Beer. 4.5% "Dark golden coloured ale, hugs the palate with great intensity. Ripe banana flavour emphasised by a hint of bitterness comes from the addition of fair trade bananas." This was one I went to the festival to try again. Then I found it in my local Wetherspoons at lunch today. One word. Gorgeous! *****
Hartlands, Goucestershire. Medium cider. The only cider I tryed at the festival. It wasn't really a medium, it was verging on the dry, but it was very fruity. Completely still and quite tart, it was a real thirst quencher. ****
O'Hanlons, Organic Rye Beer 5.0% "A crisp, organic rye beer with a unique nutty flavour." Well, this was my second choice in that round. I was wanting the Yellowhammer. I was not too impressed with this. There wasn't a great deal to recommend the beer. It was bland and forgettable. ***
Schultheiss, Berliner Orginal Green. 3.0% "Tart and sharp, quite acidic but uniquely refreshing, can be sweetened with raspberry or woodruff syrup. Low alcohol." I had the green, which was very sweet and also very green. Fairy liquid green in fact. But it was lovely. As fruity as kriek or framboise, but not as tart.*****
Yates, IOW, Holy Joe 4.9% "Light and refreshing with a hint of coriander." Very very nice. Not to coriandery, just a little spicy, but also quite light and refreshing. ****
I was having regrets at not getting through more of the beers. Now I have looked through these, and added in the one I never found out what it was, the second half of banana bread I had, the one Steve bought me and the finishing of Adams pint of banana bread that he didn't like (did I mention that I liked that beer????) I think I would have had to be carried back if I had drunk any more!
Oh, and I better mention the:
Scottish Courage, Imperial Stout 10.0%. No tasting notes for this, it just mentions the fact it is rare in cask. There is a reason for this! It is absolutely gorgeous - a think black liquid which is almost chewable. It has the taste of burnt chocolate and whiskey. You can't drink much though. I restricted myself to three mouthfuls from someone else's half. And I'm dead proud of myself there!
Well, beer festival was fun. Drank far too much beer. Met up with
cowfishbilly and other old college mates. I, of course, had agreed to meet with cuvalwen at 2pm anyway. Steve turned up (lj journal to follow, he assures!!!) and then Ralphie from work turned up. It was very strange at times, three worlds colliding! Cuvalwen and Steve came back to mine afterwards for pizza and "The Wicker Man". A good night had by all, I reckon.Anyway.
Milton. Pegasus. 4.1% "Hops dominate, but this fruity beer has a long fruity/toffee finish." Not bad. Quite bitter, but smelt nice! ***
Cairngorms. Trade Winds. 4.3% "Light golden, wheat and corn with elderflowers giving good hop flavours.." This was lovely. It was cool and sparkling, almost like a lager. The elderflowers came through in the smell and also the taste, surprisingly. Very very drinkable. *****
Hanbys. Cherry Bomb. 6.0% "A rich and fruity beer with a maraschino cherry taste and a potent punch." They weren't kidding about the cherries. Or the punch. This was very drinkable. Very fruity. And tasted more alcoholic than rum! Over all very nice, but definitely NOT a session beer. It tasted like a mix of old perculier and kriek. *****
Spectrum. 42. 4.2% "A hoppy rather pleasant beer. The answer to everything?" As I can't remember much about this beer, I think I will go with nice, but non-descript. ***
Charles Wells, Banana Bread Beer. 4.5% "Dark golden coloured ale, hugs the palate with great intensity. Ripe banana flavour emphasised by a hint of bitterness comes from the addition of fair trade bananas." This was one I went to the festival to try again. Then I found it in my local Wetherspoons at lunch today. One word. Gorgeous! *****
Hartlands, Goucestershire. Medium cider. The only cider I tryed at the festival. It wasn't really a medium, it was verging on the dry, but it was very fruity. Completely still and quite tart, it was a real thirst quencher. ****
O'Hanlons, Organic Rye Beer 5.0% "A crisp, organic rye beer with a unique nutty flavour." Well, this was my second choice in that round. I was wanting the Yellowhammer. I was not too impressed with this. There wasn't a great deal to recommend the beer. It was bland and forgettable. ***
Schultheiss, Berliner Orginal Green. 3.0% "Tart and sharp, quite acidic but uniquely refreshing, can be sweetened with raspberry or woodruff syrup. Low alcohol." I had the green, which was very sweet and also very green. Fairy liquid green in fact. But it was lovely. As fruity as kriek or framboise, but not as tart.*****
Yates, IOW, Holy Joe 4.9% "Light and refreshing with a hint of coriander." Very very nice. Not to coriandery, just a little spicy, but also quite light and refreshing. ****
I was having regrets at not getting through more of the beers. Now I have looked through these, and added in the one I never found out what it was, the second half of banana bread I had, the one Steve bought me and the finishing of Adams pint of banana bread that he didn't like (did I mention that I liked that beer????) I think I would have had to be carried back if I had drunk any more!
Oh, and I better mention the:
Scottish Courage, Imperial Stout 10.0%. No tasting notes for this, it just mentions the fact it is rare in cask. There is a reason for this! It is absolutely gorgeous - a think black liquid which is almost chewable. It has the taste of burnt chocolate and whiskey. You can't drink much though. I restricted myself to three mouthfuls from someone else's half. And I'm dead proud of myself there!
