Beer Viking

Well, we’ve got to say the WCBF ’09 was a massive success not just a great venue with great beer but also  good food and wonderful staff. The host Mark and his team at La Gothique did awesome job and we will be back next time. Did we have a hangover? Yes and it rated 17 out of 20 (or 8.5 on the Richter scale of ale). Here’s what we sampled with rankings out of 20.

Brewery Name Beer Name, ABV, Rank, Notes (if any):

• Ballards Midhurst Mild, 3.4%, 10
• Ballards Nyewood Gold, 5.0%, 15
• Ballards Wassall, 6%, no rank just  a star *
• Dark Star American Pale Ale, 4.7%, 13-15, couldn’t agree
• Downtown Elderquad, 4%, 13
• Downtown IPA, 6.8%, no rank just a star *
• Exmoor Gold, 4.5%, ?
• Harviestoun Top Dollar, 4%, 14
• Hop Back Summer Lightning, 5%, 14, love this one a classic we had many times before
• Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby, 6%, 17, beer of the festival!
• Shepherd Neame Ghost, 4.1%, 14, brewed for the fest
• Titanic, White Star, 4.8%, 15, a Belgian-esque golden ale
• Traditional Scottish Ales Ben Nevis, 4%, 10, needed have this next to fire after a long walk and with some red meat
• Twickenham Fine Ales Naked Ladies, 4.4%, 15.5
• Twickenham Fine Ales Sundancer, 3.7%, 15, sweet session brew
• Twickenham Fine Ales Spring Ale, 4.3%, 15.5
• Wolf Granny Wouldn’t Like It, 4.8%

That’s 17 real ales. Wow that was a lot of brew for the crew.