Worcester Beer Festival 09
By Dave Manors
Review of a few beers
OK, I realise that this site is mainly American focused, and as such we operate in two completely different drinking cultures. I'll admit that we Brits are very proud, as a nation, of our ability to hold our drink. And something that we are especially proud of is our ability to brew a good drink too.
I should probably state that even those of you that have been to Britain and Europe might not know what I'm talking about. You might have sampled a premium European lager and noticed the substantial difference. You might have even tasted a mainstream bitter here in England (something like Banks's or John Smiths). But I'd be willing to wager that the vast majority of HubPages users are not familiar with traditional English ales.
I'd just like to say, before I go any further that I in no way endorse binge drinking.
When I say traditional English ales I mean beer, be it lager, bitter, stout or mild, brewed from scratch by a man in his garden shed. I mean something that is truly unique. People that aren't fans of beer will almost certainly disagree, but the difference in taste between two ales can be truly astonishing.
And that is what the festivals are all about.
Here in England, if you find a good country pub, you might be able to sample 4 or 5 traditionally brewed ales. What you will find with the majority of pubs though is that they will stick with a few ales and only change the other 2. This means that if you want to try something really different you might have to wait a while until they get it in. And then you could miss it all together by simply not being there on the night.
The beer festivals are a great opportunity for people to try whatever ale takes their fancy. At the one I attended last night there were over 200 beers. As you might expect, they all varied in taste, smell, price, strength, e.t.c. and I didn't get through each one.
Still, as pointless an endeavour as this might seem, I'm going to run through a list of the ones I tried. Below you'll find a total of 10 beers, the description in the program, and my personal feeling about each one.
All drinks were half-pint measures.
The list
Brewery - Beer (strength)%
| Festival Description
| My review
|
|---|---|---|
Allendale - Best Bitter 3.8%
| Traditional amber coloured session beer with a difference. Strong flavour belies the strength. Slicy spicy aroma from Goldings and Fuggles with bitterness from English Target
| Despite the apetising description this beer was fairly bland, although the aftertaste certainly had spice in it
|
Beowulf - Wuffa 4.5%
| Golden, pale beer boasting a tremendous creaminess which marries ingeniously with its flowery bitterness
| This was almost certainly the best of the night, and the description was bang on. The creaminess was really a revelation and I'm glad I tried it
|
Bristol Beer Factory - No. 7 4.2%
| Traditional light brown best bitter. Toffee malt flavours balanced with smooth hop bitterness and aroma
| Although the toffee malt flavours were seemingly nowhere to be found in this beer I enjoyed it nonetheless. As a former denison of Bristol I was very proud of this fine effort from a Bristol brewery
|
Coach House - Blueberry 5.0%
| Golden coloured, brewed with the addition of fresh blueberries and natural blueberry flavouring. Light hoppy aroma and a distinctly fruity aftertaste
| Fruity is an understatement. This smelled exactly like fresh blueberries. The taste was more subtle, but still very noticable. A delightful beer, the combination of blueberries and ale a true winner.
|
Hobsons - Twisted Spire 3.6%
| Blond Ale with light, natural fizz and citrus notes to a sweet, floral aroma. Initially sweet but giving way to a burst of hops, lingering to a dry finish.
| This was my third choice from a page where seemingly every beer was only available on the next day of the festival. Still, I was quite pleased with the very subtle hints of citrus that can sometimes overpower a beer. Thankfully, not in this case
|
Hogs Back - A over T 9.0%
| Full-bodied, tawny-coloured barley wine that is packed with flavour. The malty aroma, with hints of vanilla, lead to a well-balanced taste, where the hops cut through the underlying sweetness and dominate in the finish
| The strength o this beer really ruined the taste. If I were to review this as a "wine" it would also not score very well. There is a reason why beer rarely exceeds 6%. Avoid this beer if you can
|
Loddon - Check-mate 4.8%
| Czechoslovakian style Pilsner brewed with colour Cara malt and Saaz hops. The result is a beer that's appealing to the eye and sensuous on the palate
| A very good Lager style beer. Although the taste was decidedly light it was extremely smooth and a very pleasant addition to this list.
|
Skinners - Heligan Honey 4.0%
| Slightly sweet amber bitter, brewed with West Country malt and Heligan Garden honey
| Another good sweet style speciality beer. Enjoyable all the way through to the last drop.
|
Tom Wood - Summer Days 4.4%
| Cask-conditioned lager style beer with a light delicate flavour
| I felt the description understated the taste on this one. Despite being a lager style beer I found it to be full of flavour and very enjoyable.
|
Wold Top - Against the Grain 4.5%
| A gluten free beer (brewery states that gluten content is less than 20ppm). A no nonsense easy drinking session ale. Smooth and creamy with a good head, lemon citrus flavour, dry aftertaste with evidence of hopiness in the finish.
| Not only the last one on this list but also the last one I drank on the night. A very enjoyable speciality ale and a fine finish to the evening. Gluten free factor realy not noticeable though, which could be a good thing either way
|
But that's not all
You see these events are communal in nature. Each attendee is contributing to the local economy and to small businesses throughout the country. It's the sort of event where local businesses are able to advertise their wares too, because much of the funding to run the festivals (the organisers and bar operators were all volunteers) comes from local sponsorship. This year, the main sponsor was a recently refurbished and very successful town pub/bar. I think it is a foregone conclusion that their revenues will increase after such publicity.
So the next time you're thinking of coming to England, consider spending some time under a huge marquee in the middle of what is essentially a field and trying some traditional English refreshment. You never know, you might like the taste.
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