All Things Beer!

DW had the Wachusett Blueberry when we were Boston (it was on tap), she normally likes fruit beers but didn't like that, and she loves blueberries!

Just goes to show, we're all different in our tastes!

Beer list for Winter Ales Fest... a few favourites, like Fullers ESB and Ossett Excelsior.  Tykeman, I note that your Belgian Blue is on the list, so I will undoubtedly be trying that, and many others!

http://nwaf.org.uk/british-beers/british-beer-list/

Beer list for Winter Ales Fest... a few favourites, like Fullers ESB and Ossett Excelsior.  Tykeman, I note that your Belgian Blue is on the list, so I will undoubtedly be trying that, and many others!

http://nwaf.org.uk/british-beers/british-beer-list/

Thanks for that. Well I won't be having Belgian Blue or any of the Acorn, I go for beers I've not had before at beer festivals, unless it's one I particularly like that is hard to come by!
Not sure how Bradfield Blonde makes a Winter Ales Festival - the brown cow or stout would be better matches!
Brewsters Stilton Porter sounds interesting. The Watermill beers are worth trying, stopped off there last year when we went to the Lake District.

I had a few pints of I.P.A. from the Speyside Craft Brewery yesterday, gorgeous- very hoppy, just as I like it. Mmm.

Just back from 4 days in Manchester and Liverpool, including the 2013 Winter Ales Festival.  The Festival was PACKED on Thursday and we couldnt get seats, so didn't stay as long as we normally would have done, but i ticked off the beers I had, which were:

Bradfield Farmers Belgian Blue 4.9% (well, I couldn't pass this one by, as Tykeman had mentioned it.  I really liked it... and it is actually kind of blue!)
Cross Bay Zenith IPA 5.%
Fernandes Challenger 4.1%
Fullers ESB 5.5%
Heavy Industry High Voltage 4.5% (this was an American style wheat bear with added honey and was lovely...could really taste the honey)
Marble Lagonda 5.0%
Old Slewfoot Friend of the Devil 7.7%
Ossett Excelsior 5.2%
Rat White Rat 4.0%
Thwaites Wainwright 4.1%

So, that was it, really... my friends were all raving about the Thwaites 13 Guns, but I never got round to trying it.

Away from the fest, the beer wasn't really outstanding... particularly in Liverpool, where in the 5 pubs we went to, we only found 1 beer over 5%.  Seems everyone drinks low gravity there, where we prefer a stronger brew.  
One lucky find in Manchester was a small pub opposite our hotel, who had Marble Chocolate Dubbel 8.5% for £4.80 a pint.... the same pint at the Marble Arch was £7.00, I believe.
So we had a really good evening in there and then just conveniently ambled across the road to our beds.  

Another outstanding pint I had was in the wee Microbar in the Arndale Market...it was Spiced Saison from Brodies, and I believe it was 7%.  I could have drunk a lot of that, but we needed to go for our train, so only had the one.

One more day off work and it's back to the grind tomorrow.  

Wow, Tracey, yum!!!! 

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself and sampled lots and lots of goodness!!! 

Glad you enjoyed Tracey, and also please you liked the Belgian Blue.

If on a session I tend to look for beers between 4 and 5%, maybe up to 5.5% but I generally stay away from anything over 6%

Over 5% just makes it a shorter session, that's all! 

One lucky find in Manchester was a small pub opposite our hotel, who had Marble Chocolate Dubbel 8.5% for £4.80 a pint....

Which pub was that one? We are going for a Manchester weekend in April (for the theatre) & hope to have better weather & more pubs than we did last time. Going to try Marble Arch this time as well!

Which pub was that one? We are going for a Manchester weekend in April (for the theatre) & hope to have better weather & more pubs than we did last time. Going to try Marble Arch this time as well!

Oh sorry i missed this!
It was the Joshua Brooks, opposite the Ibis in Princess Street.  It's just a wee local, with a slight hint of trendiness... not really a real ale pub, but they did have a couple of hand pumps and we just got lucky with the Chocolate Dubbel!

In an effort to reduce my carb intake, I've been off the beer for a couple of weeks, but the board in the Bon was too much to resist last night!

I had Ossett Excelsior (my favourite beer!!), Phoenix White Monk (my 2nd favourite!) and Island Hopping, plus they had Hophead Summer Lightning, and a couple of others I'd have quite happily drunk if there hadn't been Excelsior or White Monk!

I gave the cellarman a big hug! 

Mmm Orkney Brewery Dragonhead stout and Williams Bros. 80 shillling.  Mmm. 

Finally managed to replace my beer fridge, previous one died last August and dimensions proved difficult as most were too deep for the counter I was putting it on. Got one from John Lewis for £139.
In the winter it's been fine putting my beer in the back extension doorway where it's cool, but summer I have to just keep a bottle in main fridge for up to a hour before I want to drink it.
So now I can have it set just right....came across this useful article
http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=479

Went to the Rotherham beer festival on Friday. Held at the Magna centre which is an old steel works and now a museum to the steel industry.  6 rooms with bars in - the main huge hall hosting the South Yorkshire bar and a big stage with covers bands playing, a smaller hall with the West Yorkshire bar and another stage where we watched a cracking Status Quo tribute band (chose them over a Bon Jovi tribut in main hall!), then a North and East Yorkshire room, and 3 smaller rooms with Cheshire, Lancashire and West Country beers. A little disappointed as last year they had from more regions and had a Scottish room - and I was hoping to find some Cairngorm brewery ales!
Anyway - my top picks were a local Barnsley brewery - Two Roses, and their beer called Marynka, a pale ale using Marynka hops.
Other notables
Kirkstall brewery's Disillusion IPA
Raw brewery (Chesterfield) - Elements - a bitter, and Citra Black (a black IPA)
Bradfield Brewery (one of my fave local breweries) - Red Diesel - a bitter with red colouring

Sounds good!
Yorkshire was a busy place for fests at the weekend, as my pals were down in Bradford for their beer fest!

We stayed home and had a bit of a blurry weekend on Tempest's new one - Step Back (6.4%).  An odd flavour to start, but you soon get used to it.

Looking forward to the Hawkshead Spring Beer Festival in a couple of weeks time at Staveley.