Crystal Palace 2nd Beer Festival

Thoroughly enjoyed this event and was very impressed with the organisation was also impressed by the  variety and quality of beers on offer.

The event was done on a voucher basis which sped up serving and meant I knew exactly how many I'd had a the end of the day (having cleared my £19 worth of vouchers)

I'll admit I didn't tick off all the beers I had and had to do a little guess work the next day to cross of the last few, but of the ones I marked my favourites were:

Blue Monkey - BG Sips
http://www.bluemonkeybrewery.com/

Bristol Beer Factory - No7
http://www.bristolbeerfactory.co.uk/

Cross Bay - Nightfall
http://www.crossbaybrewery.co.uk/Cross_Bay_Brewery/Home.html

All of the above I would describe as good session beers, with great flavour and easily quaffable!

I had the Rev James on draft but not sure if it came out quite right - it certainly didn't appeal as much as i'd hoped it would.

I definitely had the Kent Cobnut - which was a bit too roasted for my tastes.

After which I believe I had:
East London Brewery - Nightwatchman
Itchen Valley - Godfathers
St Austell - Tribute
and
Rebellion IPA

To my shame I didn't comment on these but if they'd been horrendous I would've remembered! I'm almost certain I enjoyed the Itchen Valley as much as the ones above!! I've had Tribute many times before and liked it - in fact I'd like to think I might do a brewery tour at St Austell this year!!

Still when you are handed your festival glass this way - whose to complain!! You certainly don't get that at the GBBF!

Brains Brewery

The Rev James (Bottled variety)

4.5 ABV

A really tasty beer, fruity and spicy in the same gulp. Rich in flavour.

http://www.sabrain.com/beers/take-home/the-rev-james

This was on offer at Morrisons as part of their 4 for £5 deal, (which appears these days to be at the better end of the supermarkets promotions prices! Sadly.).

On the bottle it says "The Rev. James is brewed to a traditional recipe and has been described as having a flavour not commonly available these days." and i can't quite put my tastebuds on it but I'd tend to agree. Am I getting liquorice, it certainly has depth!

However, this is a beer to enjoy one or two of and probably not a session beer, for that, if you want to stick with Brains, I'd go for the SA

Recommended reading

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Walks-Into-Pub-Sociable/dp/0330412205/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327700694&sr=1-1

Very good read. Moved along at a good pace from the start of brewing right up to the present day.

Informative without being to heavy.

Found out a good deal about breweries and pubs, and why our beer was/is comparatively weak compared to the continent ... surprise surprise ... government interferance.

Blogger has kept me out since before Christmas

Sorry folks, I hope to get back into it again now!

Shepherd Neame - Spitfire

Was in the Two Brewers saturday (near Selhurst BR station) and had a couple of fine pints of Spitfire. I had intended asking for a Late Red which I had recently had in a bottle, a very fine pint that was too. However, I guess I must have been a couple of weeks too late for that!

Still Spitfire is a fine pint, clear in colour and sharp in flavour. Very distinctive too. I was quite surprised to see they've only been brewing it since 1990!

Goering Goering Gone!

http://www.spitfireale.co.uk/spitfire-adverts/

Windsor and Eton Brewery

Guardsman Best Bitter

Went to the Croydon and Sutton Beer Festival last night and had a real find in this bitter, was my favourite of the evening. Smooth, with just the right amount of flavour as to make it a perfect session beer, not too strong at 4.2% but with plenty of taste

A relatively new brewery - only opened in 2010 but I think its one with a good future if they continue producing Guardsmans.

View the website for a list of pub that stock their beers

http://www.webrew.co.uk/ourbeers.html

GB Beer Festival overall winners

Overall winners 
Champion Beer of Britain - Mighty Oak, Oscar Wilde (3.7% ABV, Maldon, Essex) 
Second - Marble, Chocolate (5.5% ABV, Manchester, Gtr Manchester) 
Third - Salopian, Shropshire Gold (3.8%ABV, Shrewsbury, Shropshire) 

Mild category 
Gold- Mighty Oak, Oscar Wilde (3.7% ABV, Maldon, Essex) 
Silver- Rudgate, Ruby Mild (4.4% ABV, York, North Yorkshire) 
Bronze- Coastal, Merry Maidens (4% ABV, Redruth, Cornwall) 

Bitter category 
Gold- Salopian, Shropshire Gold (3.8%ABV, Shrewsbury, Shropshire) 
Silver- Teignworthy, Reel Ale (4% ABV, Newton Abbot, Devon) 
Joint Bronze- Triple fff, Alton's Pride (3.8% ABV, Alton, Hampshire) 
Joint Bronze- Potton, Shannon IPA (3.6% ABV, Potton, Bedfordshire) 

Best Bitter category 
Gold- Houston, Peter's Well (4.2% ABV, Houston, Renfrewshire) 
Silver- Country Life, Golden Pig (4.7% ABV, Bideford, Devon) 
Joint Bronze- Castle Rock, Preservation (4.4% ABV, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire) 
Joint Bronze- Bollington, Best Bitter (4.2% ABV, Bollington, Cheshire) 
Joint Bronze- Blythe, Staffie (4.4% ABV, Rugeley, Staffordshire) 

Golden Ale category 
Gold- Cumbrian Legendary Ales, Loweswater Gold (4.3% ABV, Hawkshead, Cumbria) 
Silver- Salamander, Golden Salamander (4.5% ABV, Bradford, West Yorkshire) 
Bronze- Holden's, Golden Glow (4.4% ABV, Dudley, West Midlands) 

Strong Bitter category 
Gold- Moles, Mole Catcher (5% ABV, Melksham, Wiltshire) 
Silver- Kinver, Half Centurion (5% ABV, Kinver, Staffordshire) 
Bronze- Adnams Broadside (4.7% ABV, Southwold, Suffolk) 

Speciality Beer category 
Gold- Oakleaf, I Can't Believe It's Not Bitter (4.9% ABV, Gosport, Hampshire) 
Silver- Amber, Chocolate Orange Stout (4% ABV, Ripley, Derbyshire) 
Bronze- Orkney, Atlas Wayfarer (4.4% ABV, Stromness, Orkney) 

Winter Beer of Britain winner (announced in January 2011) 
Dow Bridge, Praetorian Porter (5% ABV, Catthorpe, Leicestershire) 
Holden's, Old Ale (7.2% ABV, Dudley, West Midlands) 
Hop Back, Entire Stout (4.5% ABV, Downton, Wiltshire) 
Marble, Chocolate (5.5% ABV, Manchester, Gtr Manchester) 

Bottled Beer of Britain winners (sponsored by Hotel du Vin) 
Gold- St Austell, Proper Job (5.5% ABV, St Austell, Cornwall) 
Joint Silver- Molson Coors, Worthington White Shield (5.6% ABV, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire) 
Joint Silver- Brown Cow, Captain Oates Dark Oat Mild (4.5% ABV, Selby, North Yorkshire)