The Surrey Oaks - Events

November Winter Beer Festival 2007

FREEZING and WET!

Well, that's one to be ticked off and put in the 'never again' category.

Friday evening started off with temperatures plummeting to below freezing and then on Saturday, just as it became a little bit warmer, yes, you've guessed it, it started raining. Sunday was not much better, a bright(ish) start followed by more rain.

On the plus side, there were some really great dark warming porters and stouts, and a couple of excellent milds. The beer choice was based on "Ken's Favourite Beers" and we all had to agree the beers were really excellent (if a little cold on Friday when some of the lighter beers really did have a 'chilled haze').

The final beer list, revised after the festival finished, can be seen by clicking on the image below. It's a shame that the Acorn - Gorlovka Stout (6.0% ABV) did not want to leave the warmth of its cellar, but at least Sarah Hughes [Dark Ruby Mild (6.5% ABV)] wasn't so choosy and boy was she worth waiting for!

That brings us nicely to Beer of the Festival and guess what? It's a beer that also won back in August 2007. If you've never tried it before, you really should make an effort to seek it out.

BEER OF THE FESTIVAL

POSITION	BREWERY	BEER	FROM	ABV (%)	RATINGS
1st	Dark Star	Hop Head	Ansty, West Sussex	3.8%	7 "A's"
2nd	Surrey Hills	Ranmore Ale	Shere, Surrey	3.8%	6 "A's"
3rd	Hepworth	Old Ale	Horsham, West Sussex	5.0%	5 "A's"

Thank you to everyone who filled in beer scores. There was of course a prize of two bottles of wine for one lucky person who handed in their beer scoring sheet. The winner, drawn out of the hat, was.... Emma Milne. Congratulations!

We can't finish without saying a quick

Happy 60^th Birthday Ken!
So now it's the long wait till a nice warm and dry May arrives and we can do all of this again.....

There are a couple of photos of the beer and the tent (being warmed with radiators and a small jet engine!), just click the images as usual.

Beer Festival Beer List Revision B	Beer Festival Poster	Beer Festival Beer Warming	Beer Festival Tent Warming
Click here for the better PDF version	(Click Image)	(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.

Previous Beer Festivals at The Surrey Oaks have always been a lot of fun. If you're interested to see what they've been like, click on the following links: August 2007, May 2007, August 2006, May 2006, August 2005, May 2005, August 2004, May 2004 and August 2003.

Last updated: 19^th Nov 2007