NEWCASTLE BEER FESTIVAL 2016

Well,  Ive just visited the Newcastle Beer Festival for the umpteenth time. It was held in the Northumbria Uni Students Union and as usual it was standing room only, mainly because there were only a couple of tables and a few stools.

There are 3 problems with this :-

1. You drink more beer standing up.

2  The beers warms quicker in the glass being in constant contact with the hand

3. You invariably have to take your glass with you to the gents.

Luckily, we managed to grab one of the tables so were set for the evening. 

I'm still recovering from the Tiny Rebel Stay Puft ( a marshmallow porter) and the 11.5% Barrel Aged Orkney Porter, among many others.
 

Anyhow , before it moved to this venue it was held in the Kings Building, Newcastle University, with seating in the main bar area and in the adjacent cafeteria. Personally , a much better location but it had become too small.

My last visit to the Kings Building festival was a bit of a disaster however.

It was 2007 and  Mrs Ken and I had been on holiday in Cyprus and our flight back was due in Newcastle Airport at about 6 ish. I had arranged to meet a friend,  who was travelling up from the Midlands on a family visit, at the Beer Festival .  His name was first on my phone ( not a smartphone) contacts list and I put the phone in my bum bag I was wearing on the bus to the airport from the hotel. Unbeknownst to me every time I moved,  the phone was sending out a short text " da da da" This must have gone on for about 30 mins. He was driving up the M1 getting all these texts and having no means of stopping them ( other than switching the phone off of course)

Obviously I switched it off at check in and then on arrival in Newcastle, I texted my mate to say we were here. Mrs Ken then drove home with the cases and  I caught the Tyne and Wear Metro into the city centre.

I got off the Metro and crossed over the street to the festival venue  to find it was closed. They had run out of beer !. I then got a text saying my friend had arrived in  the Crows Nest pub nearby with his wife.  I headed for the pub, gagging for a pint, then was confronted by a bouncer on the door who said, " Do you have any ID please sir ?".

"Your f***ing joking aren't you ?" my mate lip read me saying through the window.

Then I noticed him  and his wife through the window pissing themselves laughing. As an act of revenge for the multiple texts,  he had tipped the bouncer off to  challenge me. Bastard.

 

I CAN DRINK A RAINBOW - A LOOK AT THE COLOUR OF BEER

The appearance of beer is all important. This post looks at beer colour. Most range from pale through amber to dark.  However In recent times Ive come across other colours as well.

One St Patrick's Day a couple of years ago  I was in a pub called The County in Gosforth, Newcastle.  I spied on handpull a beer from Stonehenge Brewery called Luck of the Irish. Always on the look out for something new , I ordered a half. Imagine my surprise when it came out green, with no advance warning from the barmaid. I recall that there was nothing exceptional about this one. Just a standard bitter,  only a different colour.

Time now to report on something with a bit of  a kick to it. So my next choice is from a pub crawl we had around Edinburgh last summer. In a pub called the Guildford Arms I found this one . ( see photos)

It was a Scottish beer called Windswept Maroon - an unfined  blackcurrant wheat beer. The colour was unusual, as was the taste.  I remember the first sip forced my cheeks to suck in till they met in the middle- that would be my face cheeks by the way ! It was 5.2% and I managed to get through it unscathed.

I came across another green beer at the Great British Beer Festival last year. It was called Pot Belly Venom. In the festival program every beer had tasting notes, except this one. All it said was it was green. Great marketing but nothing special about it, like the first one.

 

Ive yet to try a blue beer and  I'm not sure I want to. Ive seen pictures on Tinternet of some sold in  Japan.  Looks like mouthwash.

 
As I'm typing this I've opened a bottle of truly black beer ; Old Engine Oil from Harviestoun. Impossible to see through, just how I like it

This is a 6% porter which I first came across at a local beer festival 5 years ago. For those that are into food/ drink pairings, I had a pint with fish and chips. Probably not what the experts would suggest. I had had a few so the tastes of each probably cancelled each other out.


A previous post looked at the colour of beer bottles. 

Click here if you've not read it :- 

NEW INN CROPTON BEER FESTIVAL

Earlier this year, in May 2015,  Mrs Ken found on T'internet a special offer not to be sniffed at. Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at the New Inn Cropton, including a trip round their own brewery.

The  Great Yorkshire Brewery, perhaps better known as Cropton Brewery, is in the village of Cropton close to the North York Moors National Park and  near Pickering, . The New Inn is the Brewery tap. 


After our tour, we adjourned to the bar for some free sampling ( well why else do it ?) when one of the locals happened to mention that a Beer and Live Music Festival was being held in November. Apparently it has been held for the last 20 years. Given that the first night coincides with my birthday in November, it was a no brainer to book another overnighter to visit their 21^st festival. 

 

At the back of the pub a large marquee had been erected when we arrived mid afternoon. I managed to sneak in before proceedings started at 6pm. At one end was a small stage for the two bands that were to perform later , at the other end  was the beer. I immediately noticed something different. ( Have a close look at the picture below ) Well for a start the casks don't have any chillers, the principle reason being it

was bloody cold ( less than 7deg). Also note no piping to handpulls !. All beer was served by gravity. Chatting to the head brewer later that night, he said it saved a hell of a lot of time and effort just having stand alone casks. Every beer was in perfect condition , just the right temperature. One bonus was that as it was fairly dark later, the barmaids couldn't see the half pint line on my glass so every beer I asked for in the bottom row was served about half an inch above the line. Great !

Obviously the brewery itself showcased their own beers, eight in total being available in the pub's two bars. The brewery with the most beers ( in the marquee) was Wentworths ( South Yorks) with seven, three of which were stouts. One of these, Frambrozen Noir had an aroma and taste of sweet raspberrys. Gorgeous ! There was one North East representative , Camerons Gold Bullion. Having said that , there were choices from all over the UK. 

Now getting back to mine host the head brewer. He was helping out behind the bar while the first band was on ( cant recall their name but very good doing guitar based covers) He was also helping himself to the beers,  one in particular- Vocation Divide and Conquer - a 6.4% Black IPA. Now I don't do black Indian Pale Ale - emphasis on the words Black and  Pale- but everyone who came to his part of the bar was persuaded to try it, He kept saying it was the best beer at the festival, even better that the ones he brewed himself ! I had one just to shut him up. Saw him the next morning in the bar when we were checking out and he looked decidedly worse for wear, more so than me!

Now I believe I may have a Doppelganger ! After the first band had finished we moved into the pub conservatory and sat on a table opposite a couple. Hello she said, I remember you from last year's festival . Me :- Er I don't think so, this is our first time.   The look on her face was priceless. These people who drink to much. Shocking !


I would thoroughly recommend checking out this place to either stay over, visit the brewery or the beer festival or all three !  Its one of the best festivals I have ever been to. There was a cover charge of £3 which included a glass, and every pint was £3 , so good value. People we chatted to return regularly. Great birthday night  ; we will certainly go back next year .

.Check out Pub and Brewery here