The Surrey Oaks - Events

May Bank Holiday Beer Festival 2010 - 28^th May to 31^st May

Well hopefully you spotted the banner outside the Surrey Oaks, the shiny and colourful one that replaced our old one that got burnt in our fire last year? Failing that, maybe you checked out our website and discovered that we had a late spring Bank Holiday weekend Beer Festival and managed to come along?

Anyway, the festival started on Friday 28^th May and ran through to Monday 31^st May. We had a really great selection of Real Ales (43 in total!) as well as six ciders and perry's. If you missed the festival (oops!), then this impressive list can be viewed/downloaded below.

We had some reasonable weather too (honest!), with only Saturday being a little drizzly. The temperature could have done with being up a degree to two, but that did not deter too many people; we actually ran out of three beers on Friday Night!

We think you will also want to know the result for the 'Beer of the Festival'? Thank you to everyone who voted and here are the winners:

POSITION	BREWERY	BEER	FROM	ABV (%)
1st	Brew Dog	Trashy Blond	Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire	4.1%
Equal 2nd	Pictish	Sorachi	Rochdale, Gtr Manchester	4.4%
Equal 2nd	Acorn	Nelson Sauvin IPA	Wombwell, South Yorkshire	5.0%

The winner, drawn out of the hat, for the two bottles of wine (for simply handing in marks for beers/ciders/perries) was... Martin Bundy. Congratulations!

If you did not get to the festival, you can click on the images below for the Official Poster (very cleverly designed by Dan Proctor), the Final Beer List, the Beer Tasting notes and the Food Menu. Where better PDF documents are available, these can be downloaded by clicking on the PDF links below the images.

Note: The Tasting Notes have been kindly provided George Davis.

		Beer Tasting Notes Surrey Oaks Beer Festival May 2010	Food Menu Surrey Oaks Beer Festival May 2010
Beer Festival - Poster	Beer Festival - Final Beer List	Beer Festival - Beer Tasting Notes	Beer Festival - Food Menu
(Click Image)	(Click Image or click here for the better PDF version)	(Click Link above or here for the PDF version)	(Click Link above or here for the PDF version)

NOTE: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open PDF files and if you've not already got it, you can download it here.

That only really leaves the entertainment to wrap up the festival. This panned out as follows:

• The Café Racers (Rock & Blues) started things off on Friday, playing to a crowded (if slightly cool) garden. They played quite a few new numbers and this was very enjoyable.
• Also performing on Friday (in-between the Café Racers having a break) were the Buckland Shag Morris Men (and lady!). They played in the garden this time, rather than the road!
• On Saturday we were treated to Kymaera & Guest (Flamenco & Latin). As the weather was a little inclement, they had to play in the Beer Tent. That said, they produced some superb acoustic music and were very popular.
• Then on Monday, it was the turn of the Phoenix Dixieland Jazz Band (Great Trad Jazz). They played and played till they couldn't play anymore! The garden was full (as always for the Jazz) so there's little doubt as to the popularity of this band.

There are also a few pictures from the festival, but we think you know what it's all about by now! Families with children enjoyed the garden, others enjoyed the beer and food and others just enjoyed the whole festival.

Morris Men (not in the road!)	Café Racers (Garden)	Kymaera Latin/Flamenco (why are we in a tent?)	Relaxing Jazz (Under a Marquee)	Monday Garden (End of Jazz)

So that's it, it's over now; it happened too quickly! Actually if you missed this one, you don't have too long to wait before the next one, it's all going to happen again over the August Bank Holiday weekend. If you are interested in seeing what our previous Bank Holiday beer festivals have been like, just click on the links below:

August (2009), May (2009), August (2008), May (2008), August (2007), May (2007), August (2006), May (2006), August (2005), May (2005), August (2004), May (2004), August (2003).

If the festival gave you an insight into the fabulous tastes and varied styles of Real Ales, remember that you don't have to wait till the August Bank Holiday to try some great beers at the Surrey Oaks. We always have has a great choice of real ales, three of which change with every barrel (almost a mini-beer festival!). For details please check our Real Ales section on this website (it's updated regularly). You can also checkout our Twitter page for the latest info.

As ever, we must thank everyone who works so hard to make these Beer Festivals go so smoothly and who do all the work. We must thank the Landlord, Ken for working so hard, assisted by his son Dan and a tired Gabi in the kitchen (don't make him fry any more chips please!). The planning that goes into these fun weekends is huge and sometimes it's easy to forget who really makes these things happen. It goes without saying, once again, Thank you Ken and all your staff for making this such a fabulous Beer Festival!.

Last updated: 2^nd Jun 2010