;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
BEFORE the rain!
band?
They're inside!
of beer!
We're inside!
Well, what more can you say? That has to go down as one of the wettest and coldest May Bank Holiday Beer Festivals we've ever had at the Surrey Oaks. Friday started warm and overcast and the Buckland Shag Morris Men were able to entertain us outside. Then Saturday arrived and it got colder and overcast and a little wet. It was inside the tent for the Old Hat Irish Band. More inside entertainment on Sunday from All Shook Up (50's/60's/70's Rock Band) and then on the coldest and wettest Monday for a very long time, the Phoenix Dixieland Jazz Band also had to play the tent!
So did the weather dampen the Beer Festival? Well not really. Amazingly there were 36 Beers available over the weekend and almost all of this was drunk. What was even more impressive was that we had a good return of beer lists, all marked with your favourite beers (Thank You). With this information, we are now able to announce the Beer of the Festival. Here goes:
| POSITION | BREWERY | BEER | FROM | ABV (%) | RATINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Acorn | Gorlovka Stout | Barnsley, South Yorks | 6.0% | 7 "A's" |
| 2nd | Taylors | Landlord | Keighley, West Yorks | 4.3% | 4 "A's" |
| Joint 3rd | O'Hanlons | Yellowhammer | Whimple, Devon | 4.2% | 3 "A's" |
| Joint 3rd | Grand Union | English Wheat | Hayes, Middlesex | 4.4% | 3 "A's" |
Two beers just missing out on the top three were Dark Star - Sunburst (4.8%) and George Wright - Golden Daze (3.9%) which got 2 A's and 1 A respectively. You should also note that it's not just the A's that matter; all scores are taken into account which leads us on to the most bizarrely marked beer, Triple fff - Dazed & Confused (4.6%). Clearly most of you were 'Dazed & Confused' when drinking/marking this beer as it got the full range of marks, A through E!
The Ciders and Perry's were not marked by many people, but with the marks we did receive, the best Cider was Hecks - Kingston Black (7.0%).
And now on to the winner of the two bottles of wine (everyone who returned a beer list was entered into the free draw). The winner was drawn by a member of the Choral Society (a non beer drinker from Wales) and the winner is...... someone called....... 'Colin C'. Sounds like a really dodgy bloke.... does anyone know him?!!!!!!
A big thank you to everyone who came along to the Beer Festival, the weather was hardly inspiring! A big thank you also goes to everyone who worked so hard selling beer, collecting glasses serving in the bar and preparing food. Beer Festivals like this quite simply would not be possible without your help.
There are a few pictures from the festival below. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| In the garden BEFORE the rain! |
Where's the band? |
Here's the Band They're inside! |
The many colours of beer! |
Where is everybody? We're inside! |
You can also click on the images below for the final beer/cider list (Revision B), the Food Menu and the Official Poster.
;)
|
;)
|
;)
|
| Beer Festival - Beer List Revision B |
Beer Festival - Food Menu |
Beer Festival - Poster |
| Click here for the better PDF version |
(Click Image) | (Click Image) |
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDF version and if you've not already got it, you can download it here.
If you would like to see what Beer Festivals can look like when the weather is better, just click on the links below:
Don't forget that most days at the Surrey Oaks are 'mini' (micro?) Beer Festivals. We always have five real ales available, three of which change with every barrel. To see what's coming next, visit the Real Ales section of our website.
And finally.... once again, please raise your pint glasses to our landlord Ken, without whom these wonderful Beer Festivals would not be possible. Cheers Ken!
Last updated: 30th May 2007