Your Ideal Beer Festival

I'm going to hit 10 different styles & 10 different breweries :-

Black IPA - W&E Conqueror 1075
IPA - Kernel Citra
Mild - Belvoir Dark Horse
Imperial Stout - Buxton Tsar
Porter - Adventure West
Golden/Blonde - Dark Star Hophead
Strong Ale - Fullers Vintage 2000
Amber - Brew Dog 5am Saint
American Pale Ale - Tiny Rebel Full Nelson
Saison - Ilkley Siberia

 

Great idea for a thread.

At present my Ideal Beer Festival would contian (in no certain order):

Black Isle Small Batch Export Scotch Ale
Fyne Jarl
Harvey's Imperial Stout
Magic Rock Cannonball
Tempest Pale Ale
Innocente Bystander
The Kernel Double SCCANS
Hawkshead NZPA
Traquair House Ale
Moor JJJ IPA

And my 'Dearly Departed' Ideal Beer Festival would contain:

Adnams Extra
Brakspear Bitter
Belhaven 80
Belhaven 90
Maclay 60
Maclay Oat Malt Stout
King and Barnes Festive
King and Barnes Brown Ale
Caledonian Double Amber
Fowler's Wee Heavy

 

If I added original 6% Punk that would put the previous list up to 11.

 

Uk beers ???

 

Batemans mild
Moorhouse mild
Harveys bitter
Tryst Raj
Moor Revival
BBF milk stout
Elland Beyond the Pale
Fyne Fladda Rock
Greene King Strong Suffolk
Molson Coors P2

 

I would have gone along with Bateman's Mild until my last two encounters of it-seems thinnner and blander. But Belvoir Dark Horse is an excellent mild and I would also submit Belvoir Star as a superb example of a traditional bitter. If they were all like this there'd be no talk of "boring brown bitter"
Perverse as I am I find all these golden ales somewhat tiresome and one dimensional.But not all. Keeping it local, Brewster's Hophead we feel just-but only just-shaded the Dark Star version when we tried them head to head.And their Decadence at 4.something% is a revelation of what can be done at this gravity.
Adnam's Extra has been mentioned-does this mean it's available again? If so pencil it in.
Loved Banks and Taylor's Dragonslayer last May- a stronger than average mild which ticked att the right boxes.
Fuller's Vintage on cask is worth murdering the odd coach load of nuns for.But I have difficulty fitting in beers of this strength.And at the other end of the strength scale for bitters, Brakspear's shows just what can be done at a very modest gravity.
Must have something from the Blue Monkey lads - OK it's style duplication but any of them is worth a place. Original, BG sips, Guerrilla Stout , all scrumptious.
Bath Gem has already been mentioned-it's a little different and very, very drinkable.

Not gone a bundle on the stronger stuff. I believe beer is for drinking not sipping (sipping beers are fine to finish off a meal but not for everyday drinking) and at a festival I want to get round them all.With 10 reasonable strength beers that's no problem.

 

Thornbridge Wild Swan. 9-pint minicask. With two halves of Thornbridge Bracia to finish.

 

You not sponsered by 'Punk' tonight then?

 

Pictish Brewers Gold
Yorkshire Dales Garside Smokebox
Fullers Vintage Ale
Kirkstall Black Band Porter
Red Willow Feckless
Taylors Golden Best
Dark Star American Pale Ale
Kelburn Cart Blanche
Greene King 5X
Tigertops Blanche de Newland

 

I had a Punk last night actually. Given its 'variability' its should be rebadged 'Metamorphosis' as its changing all the time.

 

I couldn't drink it all night. Well, I don't fancy 10 pints of it. Not then, not now.

Tonight - I'm drinking Punk. But only because I forgot to put the Tesco American Double IPA in the freezer when I got back.

 

Just found out something really interesting about Maclay 60/-.

 

I remember the 60/- from my early ale drinking years, do tell please Ron!

Edit: can I assume it's yesterdays entry on your blog?

 

That's what I was assuming. I think Ron might have found the 'missing link' as to when Scottish beers actually began to acquire that stereotypically malty low hop quality. Gotta hand it to him.