Beer Viking » Beer Festival http://www.beerviking.com Hunting for the Best Beer in the Universe Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 It’s Official – London Has a Thriving 21st Century Beer Scene! http://www.beerviking.com/2010/09/its-official-london-has-a-thriving-21st-century-beer-scene/ http://www.beerviking.com/2010/09/its-official-london-has-a-thriving-21st-century-beer-scene/#comments Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:38:41 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/2010/09/its-official-london-has-a-thriving-21st-century-beer-scene/
Yes, in case you’ve been living under a rock London has a dynamic, innovative and world class modern beer scene. The emergence of the London Brewers Alliance and their inaugural showcase event held last Friday night is more proof that London should be on every beer enthusiasts schedule. During the Friday festivities we tasted the following brews:
  • Ha’penny Brewing Co., Ruby Red, silky mild with hints of cinnamon. Brewrank:15/20
  • London Brewers Alliance Porter ~ 5% special one off brewed as a collaboration by all the brewers. Nice, hoppy. Brewrank: 17/20
  • Kernal IPA, Citra hops. Another great one from our favorite nano brewery. Brewrank: 16/20
  • Redemption Pale Ale, solid. Brewrank: 14/20
  • Windsor & Eton Brewery Best Bitter, smooth malty. Brewrank: 14/20
  • Brew Wharf Fire from the top of a monkey’s head, hoppy madness. Brewrank: 14/20
  • Camden Town Brewery Pale Ale. Brewrank:14/20

It is good to see both Fuller’s (the grand daddy of London brewing) and Meantime (the big innovator) supporting the LDN Brewers Alliance. The only reason we didn’t drink any of their brews on Friday is we have a cellar full of the stuff… Overall the Showcase event was a solid 7 out 10. Next time we hope to see an event guide of some sort and a food selection. Maybe even an entire week of events – are we going to see a London Beer Week in 2011?!

Here’s a good video by the London Brewers:

And here is the current list of all 13 London brewers that are either brewpubs, micros and local/family/regional brewers (sorry no bud or mass produce crud!):
  1. Brew Wharf – brewpub
  2. Brodie’s Beers – micro & brewpub
  3. Camden Town Brewery – micro
  4. The Florence – brewpub in Herne Hill
  5. Fuller’s – regional, family run
  6. Ha’penny Brewing Co. – micro
  7. The Kernel Brewery – nano, look for the bottles at places like the Rake
  8. Meantime Brewing Co. – regional, the innovator
  9. Redemption Brewery – micro
  10. Sambrooks Brewery – micro
  11. Twickenham Fine Ales – micro/medium
  12. Windsor & Eton Brewery – micro
  13. ZeroDegrees (Blackheath) – brewpub

Who will be number 14?

In the meantime here is our first mini guide to other places to experience London’s Great Beer Scene… Including festivals, beer bars, food& beer events etc.

CAMRA Festivals:

Local & Independant Festivals (check Twitter, Ratebeer and other social outlets as well):

Great Beer Pubs/Bars that also do meet the brewer and other events:

Top Beer Stores:

Brewery Tours

London is also a great town for pub crawls – one of these days we will publish some suggestions but check any good beer guide. Happy drinking…

Update: below is a low quality (yes, its from a mobile phone) photo stream from the event.

www.flickr.com

mediaviking's London Brewers Showcase photoset mediaviking's London Brewers Showcase photoset

]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2010/09/its-official-london-has-a-thriving-21st-century-beer-scene/feed/ 0 American Beer Festival 2010 at the White Horse, SW6 in West London http://www.beerviking.com/2010/06/american-beer-festival-2010-at-the-white-horse-sw6-in-west-london/ http://www.beerviking.com/2010/06/american-beer-festival-2010-at-the-white-horse-sw6-in-west-london/#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:28:46 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/2010/06/american-beer-festival-2010-at-the-white-horse-sw6-in-west-london/ We know it shouldn't be a surprise but awesome to hear that the White Horse in West London will be doing their excellent American Beer Festival over 2nd-4th July.  We'll be doing our usual and opening affairs on the Friday afternoon.

Based on our time there in 2008 and 2009, we can totally recommend this festival as a must-visit if you love American Beer and can get to London.  Scratch that, if you love Beer in general and can get to London.

Here's some pictures from the American Beer Festival in 2009.

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]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2010/06/american-beer-festival-2010-at-the-white-horse-sw6-in-west-london/feed/ 0 Beer Festival: 40 Ales from 40 Miles at the White Horse http://www.beerviking.com/2010/04/beer-festival-40-ales-from-40-miles-at-the-white-horse/ http://www.beerviking.com/2010/04/beer-festival-40-ales-from-40-miles-at-the-white-horse/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:05:58 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/2010/04/beer-festival-40-ales-from-40-miles-at-the-white-horse/

Tomorrow lunchtime, BeerViking will be raiding the White Horse 40 Ales from 40 Miles Beer Festival.  It will be running all weekend but if you can make it down it would be great to meet you.

 

Previous years has seen this key London beer fan pub source it’s beers for this festival from a 25 mile radius but by going a little bit further they can now include Dark Star.  Some of the other breweries who will have beer there this weekend are:  Fuller’s, Meantime, Sambrook’s, Twickenham and Brodie’s to breweries further afield like Rebellion in Marlow Bottom, Ha’Penny Brewing in Ilford, Surrey Hills in Guildford or Buntingford in Royston.  Pencil & Spoon also tipped us that new nano-brewery Kernel will have some beers there.

Regardless if you come or not, stay tuned for field reports (apologies in advance if the Hunter decides to show up and jack the proceedings) and also make sure this May Bank Holiday weekend you drink good beer – taking a turn of phrase from our friend Steve Leighton – Life is too short for bad beer.

The White Horse (or Sloaney Poney giving it it’s proper name) is located on Parsons Green, SW6 in West London (it also used to be one of the BeerViking crew local’s for 10 years).  Here is a map to help you find it:


View Larger Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2010/04/beer-festival-40-ales-from-40-miles-at-the-white-horse/feed/ 0 Wandsworth Common Beer Festival: The Myths & Legends Ladder http://www.beerviking.com/2010/03/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-the-myths-legends-ladder/ http://www.beerviking.com/2010/03/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-the-myths-legends-ladder/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:29:38 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/2010/03/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-the-myths-legends-ladder/
This year at the 2nd Annual Wandsworth Common Beer Festival we are promoting two innovations to the beer festival format. First we take the bold move of listing them all in order of strength. As opposed to alphabetically or by brewery. They range from 3% in 0.1% increments all the way up to 10%. Second we are promoting a series of BEER LADDERS that we will publish over the coming weeks (or suggest your own). These alternative lists (or Ladders) that will give you access to beers of similar strength, colour, style or a theme. A bunch of these ‘ladders’ will be official ones printed up and available at the festival. Others are being posted up and we encourage people to post other ladders, suggestions and commets.
The Myths & Legends Ladder (BeerViking unofficial Ladder No1 ):
  1. Minotaur Mild 3.3% – Milton Cambridge: Red/brown with defined roasted malt nose leading to sweet finish
  2. Napolean’s Retreat 3.9% – Allgates Wigan, Lancashire:  A deep golden copper colour. Worth trying
  3. Battleaxe 4.2% – Rudgate Brewery Tockwith, North Yorkshire: More complex than the gravity initially suggests. Gentle bitterness leads to a fruity finish.
  4. Naked Ladies 4.4% – Twichenham Fine Ales Twickenham, London (OFFICIAL GLASS SPONSOR): Hopped with both First Gold and Styrian
  5. Yankee Pale Ale 5.0% – Allgates Brewery of Wigan, Lancashire: American style pale ale with specially imported yeast from USA. Cascade, Chinook and Galena hops combine with the low colour extract of Mari otter malt to give a light colour. Crisp and dry another MUST TRY!
  6. Captain Smith 5.2%  - Titanic. Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.  Red/brown colour. Full bodied. Good strong finish. A truly excellent beer celebrating the captain who famously went down with his ship.
  7. Lotus IPA 5.7% – Ilkley Ilkley, West Yorkshire. (NEW BREWERY): Only started in 2009. A golden coloured IPA with hoppy, lemon and citrus aromas.
  8. Skullsplitter 8.5% – Orkney. Quoyloo, Orkney Isles: Intense velvet nose with hints of apple, prune & plum. Hoppy but balanced with silky malt & fruity spices. Long dry finish.
  9. Thomas Sykes 10%!!!!- Burton Bridge. Burton on Trent…. The one to finish on. What is so surprising AND dangerous is that it drinks really well without being overly sweet or cloying. Careful…you may want another.
  10. Go home now Or maybe finish off with a Dark Ruby Mild (or insert this at No 8, moving Skull to 9 and Skyes to 10)… Sarah Hughes Sedgely, West Midlands 6.0% Dark Ruby Mild A festival favourite and rightly so. Now brewing at enlarged brewhouse to supply the free trade and festival demand. One of Britains best beers. Do not leave without trying. Dark and complex.
You can get Beer Festival tickets here (pre register for a chance to win free beer) and full Beer & Cider list is here.

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]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2010/03/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-the-myths-legends-ladder/feed/ 0 The 2010 Battersea Beer Festival – a short review http://www.beerviking.com/2010/02/the-2010-battersea-beer-festival-a-short-review/ http://www.beerviking.com/2010/02/the-2010-battersea-beer-festival-a-short-review/#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:09:26 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/2010/02/the-2010-battersea-beer-festival-a-short-review/
The 2010 edition of the Battersea Beer Festival in London (Feb ) was another solid event. A great selection of UK craft beer and reasonable International stand of mainly Belgian and German beers. However, I didn't find a single American beer on site – buy maybe I missed something.

I was down on the landlord and brewer day which was cool as I ran into Downton's head brewer and the landlord of La Gothique (home of the Wandsworth Common Beer Festival held at the end of March – you can pre-book tickets HERE!).

Here's what I sampled on the day:
  • Westerham Grasshopper Bitter 3.8% – 15/20, solid session bitter nice hop aroma, smooth (btw – one of favourite brewers in the UK!)
  • Kelda Gole 4% – 14/20, nice goledn dry bitter
  • Bazens Pacific Biiter – 13/14, drinkable
  • Bowman Quiver 4.5% – 14/20 really nice earthy bite and hoppy finish
  • Downton IPA 6.8% – only 12/20 needs work, other beer from this brewer much better
  • Also, got a few tasty beer from the international stand to take home (pls see photo)
My overall view is that the Battersea rates a 7 out of 10 for beer festivals. For my taste its a bit 'old school' and cramped in terms of space. Not a criticism but just my impression. There's also a lack of woman and the food is mediocre at best. At leasts its easy to get to being only a 10 minute walk from Clapham Junction. I will most likely go back next year…

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]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2010/02/the-2010-battersea-beer-festival-a-short-review/feed/ 0 Wandsworth Common Halloween Beer Fest – report of sorts http://www.beerviking.com/2009/11/wandsworth-common-halloween-beer-fest-report-of-sorts/ http://www.beerviking.com/2009/11/wandsworth-common-halloween-beer-fest-report-of-sorts/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:16:41 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/?p=1779 wcbf_No2sm

Well its been almost 3 weeks since the BeerViking crew raided the La Gothique pub for the Wandsworth Common Halloween Beer Festival. Better late than never – here’s our report…

Over 2000 people attended this excellent beer fest – which ran for 3 days. We ran into Steve from Beer Justice and some of the Shepherd Neame team as well… We guestimate that over 125 casks were consumed. The ratio of girls to guys was high with over 40% of the attendees being female. This is a sweet great result for the 2nd beer festival at this venue – a younger, hipper and more female crowd than your average beer fest. This may also have been the 1st festival to have Meantime London Pale Ale on Cask (at a beer festival that is, its on tap at many fine pub around London) – Meantime were one of the event sponsors, btw… Be sure to follow BeerViking on Twitter as there will be more beer and maybe even wine related events on Wandsworth Common coming up soon.

Here’s what we drank…

1. Shepherd Neame Faversham, Kent: Tipping the Admiral 4.0%, October
brew to celebrate Nelsons victory in 1805. Brewrank 10 – not so nice,
but drinkable.

2. Buffy’s Brewery of Tivetshall St.Mary’s, Norfolk: Norwich Terrier
3.6%, Amber coloured with grapefruit notes. Styrian, Mount Hood hops.
Brewrank 12 – reasonable brew.

3. Dark Star Haywards Heath, Sussex: Ocktoberfest 5.2%, Using German
malts and hopped three times. Brewrank 15 – NICE! Dark Star rock.

4. Downton Salisbury, Wiltshire: Pumpkin Ale 4.4%, Special dark version
of Downtons Halloween Brew for this festival. Brewrank 13 – nice
stew like taste of pumpkin.

5. Twickenham Fine Ales Twickenham, London: Strange Brew 4.1%, Dark
golden ale. Hint of spice. Five different hops. Brewrank 15 – golden
syrup with a hint of lime.

6. Wolf Attleborough, Norfolk: Werewolf 4.5%, Red-brown with
pronounced malty bouquet. Brewrank 6 – yuck!

Beers 7+ (maybe it was 12 in total?)… After this the rating notes seemed to have vanished. Well it was Halloween. But I know we drank some Downton Quadhop, Moorhouse Black Cat, More Dark Star Octoberfest (nice!), Japanese Asahi Ale (smooth) and Triple fff Stairway to Heaven (tasty).

Beyond this it did get a bit crazy and we mainly drank dark beers as I recall… Below is our random photostream of people enjoying the Halloween WCBF on Friday Oct 30th. Video of the winner of the Meantime case coming out next.

Halloween WCBF on Friday Oct 30th:

]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2009/11/wandsworth-common-halloween-beer-fest-report-of-sorts/feed/ 0 Wandsworth Common Beer Festival 2: Come Over to the Dark Side http://www.beerviking.com/2009/10/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-2-come-over-to-the-dark-side/ http://www.beerviking.com/2009/10/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-2-come-over-to-the-dark-side/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:43:38 +0000 thetank http://www.beerviking.com/2009/10/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-2-come-over-to-the-dark-side/ One event that is looming large in the Beer Viking diary is the upcoming Wandsworth Common HWandsworth Common Beer Festivalalloween Beer Festival (and not because it’s the first event that we are sponsoring).  It will be from Thursday, 29th – Saturday, 31st October 2009.

The first event from Mark and the team at Le Gothique was in March and was such a roaring success he’s followed it up with his second, this time with a focus on Dark, Winter and Mild ales.

From looking at the full beer list of the 75 ales, we believe he has curated one sweet collection of brews that will be great to try and make it through.

There are several featured breweries, like Downton (proving 7 from their range), Twickenham, Ballards, Shepherd Neame will once again be doing a micro-brew.

The flpa_cacsk_badgeollowing shouldn’t be a surprise to any of our readers but due to the touted generous use of hops (Goldings, Cascade (including a 2nd late hopping) and  Cluster).

One beer we’re keen to try is London Pale Ale from fellow sponsors, Meantime Brewing.  They are calling it a London Pale Ale and watch out for our brewrank on this one.

From a quick scan other highlights are:

  1. Sarah Hughes, Dark Ruby
  2. Robinsons, Old Tom
  3. Orkney, Skullsplitter
  4. Moorehouses, Black Cat
  5. Exmoor, Beast
  6. Batemans, Victory Ale
  7. Buffy’s Brewery, Norwich Terrier
  8. Burton Bridge, Thomas Sykes
  9. Dark Star, Oktoberfest and Porter
  10. Houston, Warlock Stout

Make sure to check out the microsite for the full list and information on tickets.

]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2009/10/wandsworth-common-beer-festival-2-come-over-to-the-dark-side/feed/ 0 Dark Star Beer Festival at the Stand Up Inn http://www.beerviking.com/2009/05/dark-star-beer-festival-at-the-stand-up-inn/ http://www.beerviking.com/2009/05/dark-star-beer-festival-at-the-stand-up-inn/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 20:08:06 +0000 thetank http://www.beerviking.com/2009/05/dark-star-beer-festival-at-the-stand-up-inn/ How to get to this just more than once?

One of Beer Vikings favourite and a leading light in the UK Craft brewery scene,  Dark Star Brewing Co. are hosting a beer festival at their pub the Stand Up Inn in Lindfield, West Sussex.

The poster below is pretty much it for details but it’s running FridayDraw-poster-for-web-flat 22nd May through to Monday 25th May.  Perfect for a Bank Holiday weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lindfield is on the cusp of Haywards Heath and is a beauty of an English village.

More details as we find them out.

]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2009/05/dark-star-beer-festival-at-the-stand-up-inn/feed/ 2 Wandsworth Common Beer Fest ’09 – recap and beer list http://www.beerviking.com/2009/04/wandsworth-common-beer-fest-09-recap-and-beer-list/ http://www.beerviking.com/2009/04/wandsworth-common-beer-fest-09-recap-and-beer-list/#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:43:06 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/2009/04/wandsworth-common-beer-fest-09-recap-and-beer-list/ 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.

]]> http://www.beerviking.com/2009/04/wandsworth-common-beer-fest-09-recap-and-beer-list/feed/ 0 Wandsworth Beer Festival ‘09 – Brewery List http://www.beerviking.com/2009/03/wandsworth-beer-festival-09-brewery-list/ http://www.beerviking.com/2009/03/wandsworth-beer-festival-09-brewery-list/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:55:58 +0000 Doc D http://www.beerviking.com/2009/03/wandsworth-beer-festival-09-brewery-list/ Here is a list of most – will we try to confirm the final list ad even some of the specific beers ASAP – of the breweries that will be featured at the inaugural Wandsworth Common Beer Festival which kicks off this Thursday 26 March 2009!

Brewery Location Website link
Ballard’s Brewery   http://tr.im/gVAn
Batemans Wainfleet http://tr.im/h050
Dark Star Sussex http://tr.im/gVDS
Downton Brewery Salisbury no site can be found
Exmoor Ales Exmoor Ales http://tr.im/h05e
Harviestoun Brewery Alva http://tr.im/h04Y
Holdens Dudley http://tr.im/h04T
Hook Norton Brewery   http://tr.im/gVAL
Hop Back Wiltshire http://www.hopback.co.uk/
Kelham Island   http://tr.im/gVEd
Sambrooks Brewery Wandsworth, London http://tr.im/hAD8
Sarah Hughes   no site can be found
Shephard Neame   http://www.shepherd-neame.co.uk/
Titanic Brewery   http://tr.im/gVA9
Traditional Scottish Ales   http://tr.im/gVA
Tripple fff   http://tr.im/gVEj
Wolf Brewery   http://www.wolfbrewery.com/

 

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