Twickenham Beerfest 2013

As is becoming something of a tradition, we attended the Twickenham Beer Festival on the Friday night this year, and tasted a few old favourites and a few unusual new ales. As usual, this small festival is not terribly well provisioned: there was no shortage of beers, and the usual couple of dozen ciders and perries in a side bar, but apart from one CAMRA merchandise stall, that was about it. No bottled ale, disappointingly (I'm not sure why, when the fine Realale.com is only up the road and sponsors the festival). The food was low-end canteen fare, and began to run out pretty early in the evening. The festival wasn't even that busy by Friday night standards (in former years there would be a line 45 minutes long outside York House by about 8 o'clock), which might have something to do with the fact that there was no signage of any kind visible from the road; but even so there was painfully inadequate seating available (I saw people with sticks and walking frames popping themselves against the bar to stay upright, while queues built up around them).

Not the finest venue and organization, then. What about the beers? First some good ones:

Four London Beerfests

Since the last regular posts on this blog, we have visited four London beer festivals, and usually posted our micro-tasting notes on Twitter (with the hashtag #RealAle). I'll comment here mostly on the venues and the ambiance of the festivals overall, with comments only on the most memorable ales.

Twickenham Beer Festival, October 19th, 2012

Our annual pilgrimage to the Twickenham Beer Festival continues. The venue is spartan and very crowded, with almost no seating available for the more sedate drinker. Food was pretty embarrassing—sub-canteen level swill served on paper plates. They could really do better. Beer range was good, with over 50 real ales on tap (although not all at once) and a cider stall in the foyer, although ciders and perries were not listed in the programme, so it was a bit more hit and miss. There's a large stage in York House, and our companions pointed out that a bit of local live music at some point in the evening would not have been a bad idea.

Twickenham Beer Festival 2011

On October 28-29 2011 we attended the Friday and Saturday sessions of the Twickenham Beer and Cider Festival. It's a nice venue (York House), although there was less seating available than in previous years (despite there also being less stalls: bottled beer seemed to be missing, and the memorabilia stall was basically CAMRA books and a couple of t-shirts). Not much by way of creature comforts then, but we were there to taste the real ale. Here's what I sampled (I didn't get notes from anyone else).

TW1 Beer Tasting (3)

Slightly different proceedure this time: there were six of us tasting (as opposed to three at the previous TW1 sessions), so the aggregate scores are all sucked toward the average by the fact that tastes differ. Beers will be ranked here according to the group preferences, but comments and stars mostly refer to my own tastes and favourites

Innis and Gunn Rum Cask (****.): not really a microbrew or a real ale, but we finished the night with this drink and it took everyone's fancy very nicely. It's a slightly darker beer, about the colour of an Irish setter, with an oaky, whiskey aroma; it has a dark sweetness, not the stickiness of rum, but more the smoothness of a good bourbon. Refreshing despite a strong aftertaste, and very quaffable. Could happily drink this all night. It was SC's favourite. Group score: 26/30 (extrapolated)

Box Steam Funnel Blower (*****): a very dark beer with a chocolatey odour, a sweet and smokey first taste, and a hint of vanilla in the swallow. My personal favourite of the night, a dark porter, stronger than expected, and up there for me with the most drinkable stouts; also ES's joint favourite. (Has anyone visited Box Steam in Wiltshire?) 23/30

Whittington Cat's Whiskers (***..): a dark, russet-vrown ale with lots of loose yeast in the bottle (I don't know if this is typical of the beer, or if it got shaken up on opening, but it slightly decreased my enjoyment of it); the head is both smoky and fruity, and it tastes like a good traditional pub bitter, if a little bit harsh to my throat. This was RV's joint favourite of the evening, however. 22/30

Cheddar Ales Totty Pot (****.): one of my favourites, a very dark, almost opaque beer with a smoky bacon aroma, smelling more like a stout than a porter. A beer for a winter evening, with a sweet but very bitter first taste, a signicant kick of spiciness--a hint of liquorice and roasted cardamon. This should certainly be a more mainstream beer, in my opinion, and I'm going to look out for Cheddar Ales in future. RV couldn't stomach the smokiness, and singlehandedly brought the score down several points. 21/30

Hercule Stout (***..): a Belgian dark ale, but with much less flavour than expected; thick and dark but almost odourless; tones of smokiness, but not too much even for the non-fans of dark beer among us; sweet and subtle on the finish. Quite drinkable, but sadly not very memorable, although SC and RV liked it better. 20/30

Chimera Honey Blonde (**...): one of the beers that didn't really work for me at all, although Chimera is a great label and I normally enjoy honey ale. This was very light, with a hint of lemon and apple in the aroma; a crisp clean bitterness in the aftertaste. Looking at the overall scores, everybody either loved or hated this--it was RV's other favourite, and MR also liked it a lot. 18/30

Vale Edgar's Golden (***..): another one that divided the group (with only myself thinking it average), this outing from TW1 favourites Vale is a clear light ale, sweet but gentle tasting with the slightest hint of honey; slightly watery on the finish, with strong hops but not much else. 18/30

St Peter's Mild (***..): Again, not a bottle conditioned ale and widely available in supermarkets, St Peter's are nevertheless reliable and serve a good variety of beer styles. The Mild is fairly dark, more brown than red, with a mildly smoky odour; it has more stout bitterness than sweetness in the flavour, and is light but drinkable. Everybody scored this completely average. 18/30 (extrapolated)

Cropton Balmy Mild: I sat this round out, but I'm told that this misty amber ale was hoppy with a caramel aroma and hints of chewy toffee in the taste; a bit smoky on the swallow, but overall a little weak. RV reported a cloying aftertaste of processed sugar that spoiled it a bit, but RP liked it a lot. 17/30 (extrapolated)

Duchy Organics Old Ruby Ale (***..): a promising dark amber beer the colour of brandy, with a deep malty and musty aroma; it gave a sharp and very bitter first taste, but on the swallow a slightly unpelasant flavour of decay and too much yeast; average to slightly below average for everyone (ES didn't like it at all). 16/30

Thwaites Very Nutty Black (***..): another more mainstream beer, nonetheless pretty smooth and drinkable (a particular hit with those who don't taste to smoky ales so much). This "export strength" version of the Nutty Black ale is dark, but with a rich ruby, almost cola-like glow with held up to the light; it smells slightly but really not very nutty, and has a smooth and unremarkable ale flavour; it's refreshing and dark, but not overwhelming in any sense. RV liked it, but most of the rest of us were underwhelmed. 16/30

Suthwyck Old Dick (***..): this rich, golden-blonde ale has a hoppy odour, a sparkly, slightly rancid first taste, and a heavy aftertaste that reminded more than one person of the distinctive smell of asparagus-wee. Reactions were mostly average, but MR hated this and brought down the aggregate score quite heavily. 15/30

Kloster Andrechs (****.): we're now at the bottom of the pile as far as the group assessment went, but I did rather like this fine example of a German Doppel Bock styled dunkel. It is dark brown in colour, with an earthy, olive aroma, a thick and almost syrupy smell of malthouse; a lovely malty sweet taste with a struby bitter finish. This beer lost points because most people, although admitting it was very nice, didn't think they could ever drink a whole pint of something this chewy. (RP absolutely hated it, it has to be said.) 14/30

Quintine (***..): we started the evening with this attractively labelled Belgian white-beer, and most people were pretty disappointed. It certainly wasn't terrible, but this cloudy golden beer with odours of fruit and ammonia had a tangy first taste, both bitter and sweet, and a lot less flavour to it that we expect from a Belgian; very little on the swallow, and not much distinctive about it at all (RP was most vocal in his disappproval). 14/30

Black Isle Red Kite (**...): I love the Black Isle brewery, but this soft amber ale had an aroma like peach ice tea, a fizzy, sweet and mild first taste, and lingering sweetness on the swallow. Everyone was pretty underwhelmed (although ES and SC were more forgiving than the rest of us). 14/30

Bottled beer tasting: Twickenham

As before, three of us tasted a variety of bottled real ales, made notes and gave an overall score out of 5. (Where 5 was, "this is a great beer I would actively seek out, recommend to others, and could drink all night"; 4 is "this is a good beer I'd enjoy drinking more of right now"; 3 is "this beer is fine, I'd happily drink it in a pub"; 2 is, "fine, but wouldn't seek it out, or choose it in a pub unless it was all they had on" (Guinness and London Pride are here); 1 is "not very nice at all, would never choose to drink this"; 0 (rare) is "I couldn't even swallow the first mouthful, vile vile vile.") I'll give my score out of five (as an icon), and the aggregate score out of 15.

Twickenham Ales, Naked Ladies: we got a four-pint bottle of this one from  the cask in Realale.com, and it lasted well even 24 hours later. A bright, clear golden colour, hoppy nose, taste like a West Coast microbrew with hints of grapefruit. A bit hoppy for my taste, and kind of mainstream, but a big hit overall. (Shame about the laddish name.) Aggregate 11/15. My score: 4/5.

Hogs Back BSA: (We'd forgotten we had this last year too.) Very clear coppery coloured; smooth drinking, slightly fizzy. Aggregate: 9. My score: 3.

Laverstoke Organic Ale: tacky cartoonish label; a fruity nose and slightly insipid colour; almost like wine; very bitter, a little woody and buttery on the finish. Aggregate: 10.

Cropton Yorkshire Ale: malty and peaty, with an odour like broken thistles; deceptively light; like a German bock; some green sappy sweetness. Not bad, but not great by Yorkshire standards. Aggregate: 9.

Black Swan Mild: dark ruby coloured, very sweet aroma, a smoky first taste but slightly harsh roasted flavour; hint of flame-dried raisins. Aggregate: 11.

Box Steam Brewery, Funnel Blower: billed as a porter, but almost stout in stature. Honey, treacle, chocolate and butter in the flavours, but not without bitterness. Bit of a bite. The group's joint favourite of the night. Aggregate: 14.

Tewdric's Tipple: fruity aroma with a very hoppy taste, but smooth and not too much hops on the swallow; tastes include moss, ocean, and flower. Aggregate: 13.

Meantime Wheat Beer: tart and fruitier than expected, too sweet, cooked for too long, lots of banana and bubblegum. Perhaps unfair because we weren't in the mood for wheat beer, but not a great example of the style. Aggregate: 7.

Meantime London Stout: nice and smoky, very good stout; coarse, rough and authentic. Would drink more. Aggregate: 12.

Moorlands Old Crafty Hen: a rich, fruity and strong ale; great with cheese; majestic; cognac-coloured, smooth, mature and even a little decadent. Not a session ale, perhaps, but the other joint favourite of the night. Aggregate: 14.

Otley, O-Garden: a wheat beer; fruity, spicy, herby; with coriander, grass and holy fuck but nutmeg! Trying too hard to be clever, overall. Not bad beer if you drink it without smelling (but then you can drink vomit if you don't smell it). Aggregate: 5.

Suma, Long Wall Mouse: clean fruity aroma; hoppy and spicy; bitter with touch of tannin; "lively little wench". Aggregate: 10.

Vale, Wychert: a robust-smelling ale, with a sharp first bite. A timber-framed beer with early malts but rounded hops; well-crafted and solid. Aggregate (extrapolated): 12.

Black Isle Scotch Ale: a malty and fruity organic ale, very quaffable. Aggregate (extrapolated): 13.5.

Brakspear Organic Ale: floral, strong tasting, very drinkable ale. Aggregate (extrapolated): 11.

Last year's bottled beer tasting: a residence in Twickenham

These are from notes, very little recollection (a year later). Three of us were drinking, so I'll give my rating, and the consensus score of the group.

Thornbridge Kipling: reminiscent of a North American IPA; a bit too hoppy, but would be good with strong cheese; almost like white wine. Aggregate score: 10/15. My score: 2/5.

Aligator: citrus and grass aromas, pithy taste, hoppy but bland. Aggregate score: 7/15. My score: 3/5.


Ringwood Fortyniner: malty, sweet, "dark" flavours; good yeast. The champion of the night. Aggregate: 14/15. My score: 5/5.

Hogsback BSA: hoppy and very quaffable. Would work well with a variety of foods. Aggregate: 10/15. My score: 4/5.

St Austell Admiral's: fruity and citrussy aroma, both hoppy and malty on the finish. Aggregate: 10/15. My score: 3/5.

Entire Stout: very smoky aroma, almost to choke on, but creamy to taste and quite drinkable. Not sure I was in the mood for something so harsh. Aggregate: 9. My score: 2/5.

Crabbies Ginger Beer: great tasting ginger beer, very sweet. Wouldn't know it was alcoholic. I love ginger beer, but this wasn't such a hit with the ale crowd. Aggregate: 11. My score: 5/5.

Oakleaf Bitter: kind of watery, no strong flavours; very bitter on the finish, but overall, meh. Aggregate 5. My score 2/5.

Vale Grumpling: easy drinking, smooth, frothy, dark ale. Would drink again. Aggregate: 12. My score: 4/5.

Cwrw Mêl: very clean, like a Czech lager. <illegible notes> Aggregate: 9. My score: 3/5.

Sharps Reserve: "serve chilled", but that made it taste like fizzy pop. Try again at room temperate some day. Aggregate: 7. My score: 3/5.

St Austell Proper Job: hoppy aroma, nice taste. HQ thinks this uses West Coast hops. Aggregate: 10. My score: 3/5.