GBBF Beer list is up...

Quite nice contributions from the Dutch and Belgian breweries, certainly some stuff you don't see around here too often any more.

De Molen - Hel & Verdoemenis Wild Turkey
De Molen - Rasputin On Speyside
De Struise - Black Damnation

Emelisse + De 7 Deugden look like they're bringing good stuff overall.

 

A more thorough perusing of the list turns up a few goodies I'm sure there'll be enough to keep me happy.

Does anyone know if the beers listed as bottles are sold for take-away, or only for consumption at the fest? I seem to remeber a similar discussion from last year.....

 

All bottles can be taken away.

A word of warning: if you're taking away any American IPAs, have a look at the bottling/best before date first. Last year I ended up paying a hefty amount for two or three eight-month-old IPAs. Not a lot of fun.

 

Yeah - certain breweries from BOE tend to be out of date/on the brink. I've had Odell products on more than one occasion that are past the best before date (by 1 month or so) let alone fresh !


I'd imagine certain US beers are from the same distributor at the GBBF

Others certainly aren't - good to see Green Flash and Deschutes with 3 beers each amongst those listed!

 

Thanks for the advice - I'll bear it in mind...

 

The majority of US bottles have been shipped over as part of the Brewers Association sponsorship, they should be pretty fresh, only about 10% sourced through UK distributors. Late addition, one case only, DFH Red & White.

 

Thats good to know

Cheers!

 

There's loads of US stuff on cask that I've never heard of, let alone tried. I'll look forward to checking some of those breweries out. I really hope the bottles of Firestone Walker Double Jack are fresh. That beer is amazing when on form.

As far as UK omissions go, does anyone know why the likes of Thornbridge, Arbor and Summer Wine are missing? Did they simply refuse to participate? Can we expect them to be later additions? I remember Thornbridge having their own bar last year, so am pretty suprised to not see them on the list at all.

Also, I'm definitely looking forward to trying Greene King's 5X. It might end up being terrible, but at least it'll be a change of pace from all of the twiggy 4% bitters on offer.

 

Arbor are listed, but as with Red Willow and most of the interesting breweries, only have one beer available (their oyster stout).

At least Marston's have 10 on! Mmm-mmm...Love that dirty dishwater taste.

 

The thing to remember about GBBF this year is that it is smaller, the venue is part occupied by the Chinese Media, so with restricted space everything is smaller. Last year 100+ USA Cask beers, this year about 60, last year 150+ bottles on ROW bar, this year 80. And as for UK cask beer orders have been reduced, less space for Brewery Bars (and the cost of accommodation has put many off) an ever increasing number of Breweries to chose from has meant that the majority will only have one beer there.

 

well I've just done the pricing for the American beer, most expensive will be Mystic Old Powerhouse @ £7.20 a pint, bottles range up to £18

 

yes, Old Powderhouse is an 11% breakfast beer.

 

Yeah, drinking a pint of Tsarina Esra at two o'clock, and then drinking further until nine at night, is an awful, awful idea.

 

Could you tell me what the £18 bottle is? I didn't notice any obvious powerhouses on this year's list, like Parabola or Abyss, where both were featured at last year's event.

 

18 quid? Fuck me that's dear.

 

Yeah, but not necessarily on GBBF's end. A number of the rarer American specimens are obscenely priced in their own states.