Beer Festival (first time beer drinker!)

tomparker95 · 20 May 2016 at 11:04

Cornish Pilsner is nice, but thats fairly common in pubs I guess though..

Anyone know of a decent festival soon in Brighton/sussex?

Have fun though, and don't laugh at midgets

Eurofighter · 20 May 2016 at 12:09

I like lager mostly, when drinking beer I usually go for the paler ales.

FortuitousFluke · 20 May 2016 at 12:49

Stay away from the mead, that way madness lies. It always seems like a good idea late on the last day when the only beer left is a porter that is more gel than liquid, but don't do it.

Craig R · 20 May 2016 at 13:49

Bickaxe said:
Rather than make a new thread, I'll revive this one....

Off to Portsmouth Beer Festival on Saturday, a nice looking Line Up, some of which I've had before.

Anything in particular you recommend for a mainly dark ale/stout/porter drinker? I'm not a fan of IPA's in general (although Beavertown's Neck Oil is nice)

Are there any near you that a worth a look at?

Beavertown Neck Oil FTW

HazardO · 20 May 2016 at 14:05

Craig R said:
Beavertown Neck Oil FTW

It's good, but I prefer their gamma ray.

Craig R · 20 May 2016 at 16:15

HazardO said:
It's good, but I prefer their gamma ray.

Agreed. Gamma Ray is a belter.

Irish_Tom · 20 May 2016 at 16:24

I've been to the Portsmouth beer festival on numerous occasions — always a good laugh.

The hall itself is quite dark and the live music is varied at best. If the weather is decent, I'd be standing in the outside area eyeing up the hog roast / bratwurst stall.

There's always a good selection of beers from the usual ales and porters, to the experimental flavours. Ginger and lemongrass IPA was lush for 1/4 pint but even after 1/2 pint I'd had enough. There's a dark chocolate and cherry porter which is vile.

It's a personal thing, but I'm really not a fan of over-hopped beers. It seems to be a fad at the moment to make all ales as flowery as possible.

esoteric · 20 May 2016 at 16:35

I went to the 2014 Beer Festival at the Guild Hall, Portsmouth. I used the brochure to find drinks that sounded nice by the ingredients. But nope, most of everything tasted similar and tasted like ****. I defaulted and went after the cider, the strongest they had, which apparently everyone else did as I found out as I went down the list from strongest to weakest.

Would definitely go to another.

HazardO · 20 May 2016 at 16:47

Pro tip: Start weak, get stronger, not the other way round!

Feek · 20 May 2016 at 16:50

HazardO said:
Pro tip: Start weak, get stronger, not the other way round!

I think I said that

Stretch · 20 May 2016 at 16:56

HazardO said:
Cambridge beer festival next week, and I've got Thursday and Friday off work

Is that all

Bickaxe · 20 May 2016 at 17:47

Irish_Tom said:
It's a personal thing, but I'm really not a fan of over-hopped beers. It seems to be a fad at the moment to make all ales as flowery as possible.

Me too, I generally avoid them. Its like drinking a bunch of flowers.