GBBF - Tasting Notes
Aug. 8th, 2007 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m31andyPrevious Years are here: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
Well, not only have I (just) got up 2006, as promised I found the prior years. So here, for posperity*, are my 2000 and 2001 festival records.
Great British Beer Festival – 2000
No tasting notes way back then – you had to work out the type of ale from the alcohol percentage and the specific gravity. Oh happy days! I also didn’t bother keeping notes of what I liked back then either – but you can see from the list of beers that I wasn’t going for anything too exceptionally rare at the time – most of these brews I’d tried in pubs in London previously.
Beer List
Adnams Regatta (4.3% 1042)
Batemans XXXB (4.8% 1049)
Hoskins Harvest Moon (4.2% n/a)
Ridleys Mild (3.5% 1034)
Branscombe Vale Summa That (5.0% 1048)
Elgoods Black Dog Mild (3.6% 1036)
Gales HSB (4.8% 1052)
Green Jack Canary Pale Ale (3.8% 1038)
Great British Beer Festival – 2001
Tasting notes turned up for the first time and I kept a better record of what I was drinking. Happy smiling faces for the nice brews, sad frowning faces for the bloody awful ones!
Bullmastiff: Gold Brew (3.8%)
Refreshing, predominantly hoppy beer with blend of malt and fruit in taste. Nice enough, dry and fruity. ***
Clarks: Golden Hornet (5.0%)
No tasting notes. This was easy drinking and slightly sweet. A really nice ale.
Cropton: Honey Gold Bitter (4.2%)
Golden coloured refreshing ale. Well-balanced hoppy beer with the honey after-taste coming from Yorkshire honey. Nice. The honey flavour was quite strong.
Gales: Festival Mild (4.8%)
Fruity aroma. Sweet, fruity malty taste with some caramel. Nice, sweet and full flavoured.
Green Jack: Orange Wheat Beer (4.2%)
Amber wheat beer. Light and fruity with marmalade finish. Brewed with fresh orange peel and hopped with first gold. I really liked this, refreshing and sharp.
Heather: Fraoch Heather Ale (4.1%)
Floral, peaty aroma. Spicy, herbal woody flavour and dry finish. This beer is quite a cliché nowadays, but back in 2001 I really, really liked this beer. Especially in cask. This was my beer of the festival.
Isle of Skye: Hebridian Gold (4.3%)
Hope and fruit dominate taste, dry citrus finish. This was a disappointing brew.
Rudgate: Ruby Mild (4.4%)
Nutty rich ruby ale, stronger than usual for a mild. I liked this a lot. The higher alcohol content gave an interesting depth to the beer.
Ciders
Matching Cider Co.: Old Moulder Cider (Medium Dry) No tasting notes. Not bad, but not exceptional.
Crone’s Organic: Original Cider (Medium Dry) No tasting notes. I liked this one a lot.
Hartland’s Cider: Perry (Dry) No tasting notes. Too dry for my tastes.
ETA: *posperity is obviously the bastard love child of posterity and prosperity. Obviously.
Well, not only have I (just) got up 2006, as promised I found the prior years. So here, for posperity*, are my 2000 and 2001 festival records.
Great British Beer Festival – 2000
No tasting notes way back then – you had to work out the type of ale from the alcohol percentage and the specific gravity. Oh happy days! I also didn’t bother keeping notes of what I liked back then either – but you can see from the list of beers that I wasn’t going for anything too exceptionally rare at the time – most of these brews I’d tried in pubs in London previously.
Beer List
Adnams Regatta (4.3% 1042)
Batemans XXXB (4.8% 1049)
Hoskins Harvest Moon (4.2% n/a)
Ridleys Mild (3.5% 1034)
Branscombe Vale Summa That (5.0% 1048)
Elgoods Black Dog Mild (3.6% 1036)
Gales HSB (4.8% 1052)
Green Jack Canary Pale Ale (3.8% 1038)
Great British Beer Festival – 2001
Tasting notes turned up for the first time and I kept a better record of what I was drinking. Happy smiling faces for the nice brews, sad frowning faces for the bloody awful ones!
Bullmastiff: Gold Brew (3.8%)
Refreshing, predominantly hoppy beer with blend of malt and fruit in taste. Nice enough, dry and fruity. ***
Clarks: Golden Hornet (5.0%)
No tasting notes. This was easy drinking and slightly sweet. A really nice ale.
Cropton: Honey Gold Bitter (4.2%)
Golden coloured refreshing ale. Well-balanced hoppy beer with the honey after-taste coming from Yorkshire honey. Nice. The honey flavour was quite strong.
Gales: Festival Mild (4.8%)
Fruity aroma. Sweet, fruity malty taste with some caramel. Nice, sweet and full flavoured.
Green Jack: Orange Wheat Beer (4.2%)
Amber wheat beer. Light and fruity with marmalade finish. Brewed with fresh orange peel and hopped with first gold. I really liked this, refreshing and sharp.
Heather: Fraoch Heather Ale (4.1%)
Floral, peaty aroma. Spicy, herbal woody flavour and dry finish. This beer is quite a cliché nowadays, but back in 2001 I really, really liked this beer. Especially in cask. This was my beer of the festival.
Isle of Skye: Hebridian Gold (4.3%)
Hope and fruit dominate taste, dry citrus finish. This was a disappointing brew.
Rudgate: Ruby Mild (4.4%)
Nutty rich ruby ale, stronger than usual for a mild. I liked this a lot. The higher alcohol content gave an interesting depth to the beer.
Ciders
Matching Cider Co.: Old Moulder Cider (Medium Dry) No tasting notes. Not bad, but not exceptional.
Crone’s Organic: Original Cider (Medium Dry) No tasting notes. I liked this one a lot.
Hartland’s Cider: Perry (Dry) No tasting notes. Too dry for my tastes.
ETA: *posperity is obviously the bastard love child of posterity and prosperity. Obviously.
