Alastair Hooley comes over all poetic at the Battersea Beer Festival 2008.
Battersea Beer Festival 2008
report
Submitted
by Alastair
Hooley
Having recently moved down to Mitcham
in South London, the
Battersea Beer Festival
is probably my new local festival and is handily
situated about midway between my home and work in Victoria. In fact,
Keats famously
said of the festival:
Battersea
beer, Battersea beer
Oh how I like just
drinking here
Your wondrous ale, both dark and pale
Just 5 mins from
Victoria - by rail
Actually I made that up.
This visit to the Battersea Beer Festival 2008 was the third year in a row that I attended the event and a few of us from work plus my brother-in-law did our usual – took the Friday afternoon off and spent it downing several of the many gorgeous beers on offer.
The Battersea Beer Festival 2008 was held in
the Battersea Arts
Centre, just a
few minutes' walk from Clapham Junction railway station (the busiest
station in
Britain, a sign proudly proclaims).
Anyway, to the beers. As usual, I did the sensible thing and started off with the weaker beers.
Wensleydale Rowley Mild (3.2% ABV) – I always start with a nice weak mild, hopeful that there will be plenty of flavour. This one didn’t disappoint. Plenty of rich and chocolatey flavours.
Naylors Mild (3.4% ABV) – extremely chocolatey. Would probably be more appropriate to heat this up and have it just before bed!
Dark Star Over the Moon (3.8% ABV) – another mild, but probably the strangest one I’ve ever tasted. If I’d had this in a blind test I would have sworn it was a golden ale. Very hoppy, much like the rest of Dark Star’s portfolio, but far more hoppy than I’d expect from a mild. Nevertheless, it was very tasty.
Purple Moose Dark Side of the Moose (4.6% ABV) – Described as "a strongish mild" in the festival brochure, this had a more stoutish flavour no doubt due to the high alcohol strength. Very tasty though.
Crouch Vale Anchor Street Porter (4.9% ABV) – Crouch Vale Brewery is more famous for its fantastic Brewer's Gold which has been twice Champion Beer of Britain. This porter had a lovely smoky flavour.
Crouch Vale Brewer's Gold (4.0% ABV) – well obviously I couldn't turn down the two-times winner! A stunning pint. Plenty of hops.
Downton Quadhop (3.9% ABV) – as the name suggests, an intensely hoppy and bitter flavour which suits my hoppy tastes.
And now we move on to the big boys' beers:
Downton IPA (6.8% ABV) – There are far too many IPAs out there that really aren't proper IPAs – too weak and insufficient hops. The Downton didn't disappoint, however. A gorgeous, traditional IPA.
Moor JJJ IPA (9.0% ABV) – When I saw this on the draft beer list a few days before the festival I was hoping that it would be on on the Friday. Although I'd never had it before, an IPA at 9% wasn't something I could just pass by. Imagine my disappointment upon arrival at the festival and it was nowhere to be seen.
But my disappointment turned to joy, fortunately before I was completely plastered, when it appeared much later on in the afternoon. I only had a half but it must have lasted me a good half hour – this was one to savour. Masses of flavour with a really deep malty taste and hoppy bitterness. The Battersea Beer Festival 2008 brochure described it perfectly:
"Described as triple IPA. Triple the gravity, triple the colour, and more than triple the hops. Deep copper in colour, very strong, over the top in aroma and flavour and if you don’t like hops, don’t even think about it." A classic.
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