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Thursday, 27 September 2007
2007 St Albans Beer Festival
It's been a little while since I met up for a drink with my friend Percy, whom I first encountered in the mailing list of the inimitable whatshouldiputonthefence.com, so when the opportunity arose to meet up at the St. Albans Beer Festival - since I'd never been to one before - I was sure to take it.
Many of my friends had attended festivals big and small, so I had some idea of what to expect, but when I arrived in the main hall, having negotiated the merchandising stands, it was a lot more straightforward then I'd imagined. Essentially, there were two large rows of kegs (is that the correct term?) stacked three high; one stretching across the main floor, and the other on a raised stage. For our £2.50 entrance fee, we received a complimentary programme, which contained lots of adverts and a list of the beers available.
Over the next couple of hours, we sampled a small selection of the beers based on whim, the interestingness of the name and places that we know. We had half-pints of:
- Percy : Apley - Bridgenorth (a tasty, mild beer)
- james : Brandon Royal Ginger (tinged with a wonderful ginger flavour)
- Percy : Daleside - Duff Blonde (almost tasteless! Duff by name?)
- james : Church End - P Reg (another mild beer - nicer than the Duff!)
- Percy : Mighty Oak - Mauldon Gold (a generally pleasant session beer)
- james : Dark Star - Autumn Equinox (hoppy.. tasty, with a little backbite)
- Percy : Alehouse St. Albans - Simplicity (Percy's favourite of the night - lemongrass aroma.. mmm!)
- james : Butlers - Butlers Oxfordshire Bitter (Another fruity bitter - nearly as nice!)
- Percy : Otley - O1 HD (From a pub in Pontypridd, where Tom Jones used to drink, apparently)
- james : White - White Gold (From a brewery in Bexhill-on-sea. I'd not realised there was one!)
- Percy : Alehouse St. Albans - Nine Above Zero (strong, strong beer with a deep bitter taste)
- james : Garton - Chocolate Frog (dark opaque, chocolately, strong.. a fine way to end the evening!)
I made it home - late to bed for work today(!) but I made it in, reassured that despite being Thursday, I'm not working tomorrow, because of the interview on Monday. Speaking of which, I will be hearing whether I got the job on the 5th of October... a little while to wait, but in the mean time, I suppose it's business as usual. Well - not for the next four days, since I've got a long weekend off!
Posted by james at September 27, 2007 10:48 PM
Comments
deeply disturbed that you actually remember what you drank never mind what it tasted like (especially later on). all i can say is always avoid the strawberry ones.
Posted by: jon von bird at September 29, 2007 8:33 PM
oh and the white gold... yep, the brewery is (or was) run by our former MD.... Beer was a bit crap last time i consumed some mind. bit like bexhill
Posted by: jon von bird at September 29, 2007 8:34 PM
