The Great British Beer Festival

Two beer festivals in ten days!  A few Fridays ago, after spending the morning exploring the cathedral precincts of Canterbury, we went to the Kent Beer Festival.  Impressive as that was, it was a mere taster to the main event, the Great British Beer Festival in Earls Court.

The highlight, of course, was the hundreds of beers on offer.  Here's what we tried, along with our notes, which, as you might expect, got sillier as the day went on.

Kipling South Pacific Pale Ale by Thornbridge Brewery, Derbyshire
[We hadn't thought to write down any notes at this point - shame on us!]

Sunchaser by Everards, Leicestershire
Sour nose.  It was at this point that I made a bad drawing of a nose on our sheet of paper.

Chocolate and Vanilla Stout by Titanic, Staffordshire
Becca: Smells like vanilla.
Danny: Super-sweet nose, more balanced taste.  Long vanilla finish.

Honey Buzzard by Cotleigh, Somerset 
Becca: "That's not copper!" [In response to the putative copper color.]  "Not tasting the honey - it tastes of anti-honey?"
Danny: Subtle flavor, increasingly chocolate with more sips.  Soft (weak?) finish?

Norwich Terrier by Buffy's, Norwich
We chose this one, as you might have guessed, in homage to a particular pooch.
More aftertaste than taste.

Triple Chocoholic by Saltaire, Yorkshire
Becca: "Chocolate chocolate chocolate!  Ack!"
Danny: "None blacker.  Washes over you with a wave of goodness."

Pegasus by Milton, Cambridgeshire 
Becca: "Really interesting nose... caramelly.  Toffee, since were in England.  Aftertaste goes on forever."
Danny: "Smooth but bright."

Echte Kriekenbier by Verhaeghe, Belgium
Becca: "Tart.  Definitely on the girly side."
Danny: "Ridiculous foamy head."


Lots more to the beer festival than just beer.  For instance...

Carnival games!

Exhibits of beer ingredients!  It turns out that caramel malt tastes just like Grape-Nuts.  Who knew?

And food!  And no, we have no idea what goes in a breakfast pie or why they would be selling such a thing in the late afternoon.

Also, table football (foosball).  After Becca scored four quick goals against my weak defense, my ball control skills returned and I scored five on the trot to take the game 5-4. 

On the whole, a good way to spend a rainy London day.  The concrete floor and convention center atmosphere may have diminished the real ale charm a bit, but it's hard to complain when the outcome (us getting to try lots of yummy beers at reasonable prices) is so good.