On Saturday I indulged in another rare treat that life sometimes presents us with - the beer festival. If you've read my blog before you'll know that I'm no stranger to ale. This time the venue was Hove Town Hall near my hometown of Brighton. The festival has been hosted here for a good many years now and they've gotten rather good at it. Beer fests can be disasters if managed poorly and without some expert experience but this is not the case with Brighton.
At 11:00 two friends and I queued along with hundreds of other real ale fanatics to enter into the hall where we receive a free glass, brochure and then join another queue to purchase tokens in sheets of 10p squares to exchange for beer. I opted for a half pint glass to begin with as a) I wanted to sample a variety of beers and b) we're short on half pint glasses at home.
I'm naturally a fan of darker heavy beers anyway, but these are especially better suited to the winter drinker than the crisper light styles which I find make fine session pints on a summers day, I did my best to mix it up a bit though.
I kicked off with a Turner's Ruby Mild - dark mild beer at only about 4%. Next I moved onto a light one, Concrete Cow Pail Ale. This is brewed with lager malts, it was weak and I think most of its charm was in the nose which showcased its excellent balance of hops.
My friend recommended the next one - Hip Hop by Langham. It was... fine, if I had to describe it further I would say that it tasted like, well, beer. OK, hoppy light beer, but that's the best I can manage. I followed it up with a local favourite which given that it is the nearest brewery (worthy of mention) to the festival seemed fitting to have - Kemptown Brewery's Red Ale, brewed in the pub I've been going to with my parents since I was a nipper.
Most of the beers I would have loved to try were gone, it was day 3 of the festival and the keen palates of the serious drinkers had drained the really interesting barrels the night before. There were a couple of beers brewed with New Zealand and Australian hops which are favourites of mine, these were gone. But I did manage to find a real treat in my next beer - Rum Porter by Boggart Hole Clough. To me you can't call a beer a rum porter unless you can really taste the rum, and this delicious dark drink delivered delightfully.
Finally, as we approached 3:00 and the morning session was drawing to a close I purchased a pint glass and decided to finish with another speciality beer. I picked out Umbel Magna by Nethergate Brewery. The description in our festival guide read that it was brewed with coriander and I quite enjoy beers with coriander. I think the herb must have been added a little later in the boil as it came through strong in the nose but not so much on the palate, which to be honest suited me just fine as the rest of the beer was nicely balanced and could have been spoilt otherwise.
Time to leave and make room for the afternoon session. Another great festival very much enjoyed, and two more glasses to fill out our cupboard.
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