beer festival

[helenic]

I managed to get to the beer festival twice last week after all. Thesis doom notwithstanding, this is the first summer since I was kneehigh to a grasshopper that I haven't had exams, and working my arse of last week was worth being able to take a day off without guilt, I'd say. Friday night was extraordinarily crowded. romauld and I headed down at about 8.30pm, and had to queue outside the main gate; once inside we only found our people because they were loitering right next to the entrance to the beer tent. After lurking and chatting and investigating the beers and introducing romauld to the traditional arts of getting free beer by asking for tasters, buying halves rather than pints so you got to try more beers, and spotting the generous barstaff who don't pay attention to where the half-pint line is on the glass, we went in search of food. I continue to be impressed by the curry tent, which sells enormous portions of simple, decent, spicy, homecooked baltis and keemas for under a fiver. We ate outside on the grass, ruining my two picnic blankets to save ourselves from the rapidly rising mud, but went home before the close as we were both pretty tired.

After R left on Saturday evening I headed straight back out again, and encountered no queues and everyone I knew in the world at the tables just inside the entrance - the mud outside was by now ankle-deep and only the foolish were daring to sit on it. Much drinking and gossiping and catching up ensued, accompanied, of course, by the drinking of large amounts of beer. Following the tradition established by cantabulous last year, various people contributed anonymously to a set of tasting notes, which didn't so much descend into drunkenness as start there and flail around a bit.

Woodforde - Great Eastern
"Smooth as a fifteen-year-old's arse, underlaid by a light hopsy bitterness. Expensive at £2.30/pint, but worth it, particularly when the barmaid gives you substantial free tasters on top of an extremely generous half."

Great Oakley - Wot's Occurring?
"Strongly flavoured light hoppy ale, some sweet notes in the mouthful, lingering taste."

Day's Cottage
"Quite nice."

Oliver's Perry
"Medium sweet - mmm, yummy."

Elgood's - River Lock Stout 4.5%
"Surprisingly light for a stout. Top bollocks for potability."
"Slightly smoky - very drinkable."

Flight of Fancy
"A delightfully elastic bouquet of lawn clippings and dahlia water does not compensate for the fact that the barman took the phrase "half pint" literally.
CUNT.
(^ for the birthday boy)"

Rutherford - IPA
"Simply put, beer in a glass."

Triple FFF Pressed Rat and Warthog [Handwriting: indecipherable. The transcriber denies responsibility for any errors.]
"It's black. It's like the depths of the mire left after the Gods have thrown out the mush from their eutrophia, ossified with the soil of Olympus. Actually, it's dirt dark and satisfying, not divine; but it is named after a Cream song, and therefore I did drink."

Fosters
"It gets the job done."

"What beer?" - Grim

"1. My taste in beer is impeccable. I particularly recommend the Kelpie and the Espresso Stout.
2. My taste in women is impeccable. I am marrying the most beautiful, amazing woman in the world.
3. My taste in trousers has occasionally been brought into question. Those tartan trousers are a bird-pulling machine.
4. LEEERRROOOYYY!"
- Baz, 27/05/06

"My Taste In Beer is Slightly Dodgy, so I recommend the Spiced Mead.
My Taste In Men is Impeccable, so I am marrying the Man in the Tartan Trousers. He's right. He usually is. And he's gorgeous and generally ace."
- Emma, 27/05/06

"I want to be a hippo."
"Mine is not a healthy kind of clean."
"When I think so much of myself, it's really cute!"
"It isn't a proper orgy unless it's got monks."

Oh, and blackmetalbaz and eviltwinemma! SO many congratulations. Not that you don't already know it, but you two are most definitely a Good Thing.

Comments

[oakwonder.livejournal.com]

Expensive at £2.30/pint

*cries*

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Not for Cambridge, I hasten to add! For the beer festival, where most pints are £2.10... not much difference, I know, but we did pay £2.50 entry.

[mostlyacat.livejournal.com]

Ah I have never been to a beer festival. This has to be rectified. I have a beard and I like beer an'all.

[fluffymark]

Oh dear oh dear! Imagine the beer tent at Trowbridge only dozens of times over and you may get the idea. The Great British Beer Festival is held at Olympia in London at the beginning of august every year. You are going to be dragged along, oh yes. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nicolai_/]

Saturday evening I headed straight back out again, and encountered no queues and everyone I knew in the world at the tables just inside the entrance
I think we still broke the Saturday attendance record, though it was indeed not terribly crowded inside. Also we didn't run out of beer, there was still a fairly good selection right up to the end. That also resulted in a pretty good selection for the staff party :)

[the-elyan.livejournal.com]

"It isn't a proper orgy unless it's got monks"

How true - how very true. Once you get the Abbey Habit, things are never the same again...

I have borrowed this line for use elsewhere - non-public, and without pretending the line is my own - but if whoever uttered it wants it back, I will remove it again...