The beer-drinking event of the year finally landed on 6th August at London Olympia, and ran open to the public for 4 days. I took Wednesday to Friday off work to go down for it with Dan, and dad came up on the Friday to join in the fun. Also recognised a few faces from the past there - from old pubs, people from school - which shouldn't have been too suprising as it's the biggest beer festival in the world, offering 400 real ales spread over 30 bars. The photos for the event can be found in the Gallery .

Having only been to local beer fests I wasn't sure what to expect, but the layout of the place was very good. There were 10 CAMRA-run regional bars, which were like the local beer fests, with about 30 beers from each of the different areas. They were set up with about a dozen beers on hand pumps and the rest straight from the cask, but even on the Wednesday they were running out of the most popular ones.

There were also about 20 brewery bars, like Fullers and Youngs, who could afford to have their own stand with a handful of the beers they wanted to promote. Throughout the 3 days we managed to cover all the regional bars, and on the Friday gave a few of the brewerys a try. Overall the beer was very good - as it was summer, the majority were pale and golden which I usually tend to steer away from - but given the weather it was nice to have some refreshing hoppy beers for a change.

As well as booze, there was more than a plentiful supply of food - and a whole selection of pies, pasties, bratwurst, cheese and olives was sampled over the three days. To even things out the British Heart Foundation were there with machines which told you you were overweight and drank too much, which was nice but hardly suprising....

We managed to try 30 or so beers each (not a lot, but given the heat the drinking was getting difficult!), and here they are:

Day 1

Brewer	Region	Name	ABV	Tasting Notes	Rating
Berrow	Somerset	Topsy Turvy	6.0%	Pleasant - doesn't taste as strong as it is. Dry, light and palatable.	7/10
O'Hanlon's	Devon	Organic Rye Beer	5.0%	Dry, light, nothing spectacular	6/10
Skinner's	Cornwall	Figgy's Brew	4.5%	Smells musty. Smooth and quite sweet but nothing outstanding	5/10
Cannon Royale	Worcestershire	Muzzle Loader	4.2%	Smells of homebrew - bitter and ethanoic. Bitter, unpleasant aftertaste.	4/10
Hanby	Shropshire	Cherry Bomb	6.0%	Very strong scent and overwhelming taste of cherry. Certainly not a session ale, but a taste experience.	7/10
Goachers	Kent	Crown Imperial Stout	4.5%	Quite bitter, but wholesome and full of flavour. Very stouty aftertaste	7/10
Mighty Oak	Essex	Oscar Wilde Mild	3.7%	It's mild....malty but not much else flavour	6/10
Vale	Bucks	Special	4.5%	Quite dark - nice strong, tasty roasted flavour. Also quite sweet - very nice.	7/10
Eastwood & Sanders	W Yorks	Beyond the Pale	4.0%	Sharp, hoppy and gold. A couple out the fridge would be nice - quite like Deauchers IPA	7/10
Quick tasters: Bullmastiff Snarlsberg Lager 7/10, Cotleigh Golden Eagle 7/10, Holden's Golden Glory 6/10, Weetwood Ambush Ale 6/10, Crouch Valley Brewer's Gold 5/10, McMullen AK 6/10, Tring Ridgeway Bitter 4/10

Day 2

Brewer	Region	Name	ABV	Tasting Notes	Rating
Black Isle	Ross-shire	Red Kite	4.2%	Strong malty flavour with a smooth aftertaste	5/10
Caledonian	Lothians	Tattoo	4.2%	Crisp, refreshing pale ale - good session beer	6/10
Brown Cow	N Yorks	How Now	4.5%	Pale, citrusy, sharp and goes down nicely. Could have a few of these	8/10
York	N Yorks	Sizzler	4.3%	Amazing bouquet of fruity flavour. Takes getting used to, but an initial sharpness is followed by a pleasant smoothness	6/10
Glentworth	S Yorks	Light Year	3.9%	Hoppy,light, but not a great deal of flavour	5/10
Belvoir	Leics	Beaver Bitter	4.3%	Chestnut brown, full of malt, with a sweetish hoppy aftertaste.	6/10
Hardys & Hansons	Notts	Olde Trip Ale	4.3%	Another quite dark one, with a tasty liquorice smoky flavour	6/10
Butts	Berks	Le Butts	5.0%	Light, tasty, not bad	6/10
Wychwood	Oxon	Fiddler's Elbow	4.1%	Strong flavour but not great	5/10
Ballards	Hamps	Midhurst Mild	3.5%	A very nice mild - very full, smoky flavour that's not overpowering	7/10
Hop Back	Wilts	Entire Stout	4.5%	Black, rich, gorgeous flavour. Notsickly or sweet, but a fantastic stout. Lovely homely aftertaste.	8/10
Quick tasters: Porchester Slingshot 6/10, Bridge of Allan Lomond Gold 5/10, Heather Grozer 3/10, Black Sheep Emmerdale 5/10, Durham Cuthberts Cross 4/10, Hexhamshire Devil's Elbow 5/10, Wylam Summer Magic 5/10

Day 3

Brewer	Region	Name	ABV	Tasting Notes	Rating
Caledonian	Lothians	Deuchars IPA	3.8%	Great hoppy flavours - almost as good as the bottled variety	6/10
Brown Cow	N Yorks	How Now	4.5%	[as before]	8/10
Hambleton	N Yorks	Goldfield	4.2%	Full of flavour - some malt coming through the hops	6/10
Pictish	Lancs	Brewer's Gold	3.8%	Malty with a hint of citrus	5/10
Woodfordes	Norfolk	Nelson's Revenge	4.5%	Powerful flavour with a liquoricy sharp malty aftertaste	5/10
Everards	Leics	Terra Firma	4.5%	Gorgeous, smooth malt flavour. Lovely semi-sweet aftertaste	8/10
McMullens	Herts	Country Best Bitter	4.3%	Nice session ale. Good balance of bitter with smooth	6/10
St Austell	Cornwall	Hicks Special Draught	5.0%	Smooth, chestnut, nice.	6/10
Rudgate	N Yorks	Ruby Mild	4.4%	Nice	6/10
Scottish Courage	N Yorks	Imperial Stout	10.0%	Strong, dark and full of flavour. Great stuff	8/10
Quick tasters: Maypole Wellow Gold 6/10, Goffs Tournament 5/10