National Winter Ales Festival 2010

...Well, a good day was had by all yesterday at the National Winter Ales Fest in Manchester. Before getting into the beers, I'd just like to thank the Venue and the Organisers for such a good festival - it doesn't sound like much to organise the basics such as friendly, knowledgeable staff, a great, spacious venue, and a cracking beer list, but if you go to enough of these events you'll know it is - and CAMRA did really well here. The boys, so to speak, have done good.

Anyway - onto the beer. Despite my initial despair at missing Robinson's Chocolate Tom (but that's what you get for going on the last day - damn having to work!!), my pint of, well, Marble's Pint more than made up for it. I've had this a few times before but I really need to start lobbying pubs in Leeds to get it - such grapefruit on the nose, a burst of tropical fruit on the tongue and a surprisingly restrained bitterness for such a fruity beer. It's wonderful stuff, put a smile on my face, and set the tone for rest of the day.

Despite what you might personally think about Cain's, I am a stickler for their Fine Raisin Beer - so to try it on draught was a real must for me. Dark amber in colour, with an exceedingly malt-cereal body, it's a great beer. The juicy, slightly candied raisin note comes in right and the end, and stops the beer being cloying. A treat.

Other beers to impress me throughout the day were Hawkshead's Organic Stout, which managed to be wonderfully smokey and roasty without being heavy, Bernard's Pilsner, which provided a great, cold zing and cleansed the palate after lunch, and Otley's wonderful 08 - pale, really smooth and refreshing, but then finishing with a big hit of warming alcohol. Perfect for weather like this, and proof that a well-brewed strong golden ale can still be found in the UK.

GBBF List Now Available...

CAMRA have begun emailing out the beer lists for the GBBF – although I’m not attending due to other, non-beer-related commitments, there are a few beers on here that I would have made a bee-line for, and will be worth checking out.
Fuller’s 2009 Vintage Ale will be available on cask – so that’s stop number one right there. Bartram’s Cherry Stout, Hawkshead’s Organic Oatmeal Stout and Dark Star’s Espresso all satisfy my penchant for the dark. From further afield – and this is what the GBBF is about, for me - 32 Vei Dei Birrai’s Oppale, Grado Plato’s Amber Lager Strad San Felice head up the impressive Italian Beer section, with Allagash’s Odyssey, Tuckerman’s Alt & Widmer Brother’s Drifter Pale Ale all being on my list for some time now. Ditto Galway Hooker.
From these shores, Bristol Beer Factories’ Milk Stout should be on, and beers from Triple fff, Loddon, White Shield, Salopian, Highland, White Water all coming recommended. But that’s just me - there’s loads to choose from, as you’d expect.
A shame I won’t get to try, but I’ll live. I’ll enjoy reading the myriad of posts from my fellow bloggers afterwards. Let me know how you get on.