The 22nd Pig's Ear Beer Fest - one of the more renowned events of the beer-drinking calender - landed at the start of December in Stratford. After turning up in the East End and discovering we were in the ethnic minority, we made our way through the gales to the town hall. Fighting through the crowds on the stairs and hall we got close to the bar - took 10mins to find a space between all the old gits drinking against it, but beer was eventually bought.

There were 112 beers, but as we'd gone on the last day not a huge number were left and quite a few weren't those in the guide (but at least they'd got some more beer in instead of running out!) Food was from a canteen and wasn't bad.

Despite blagging a chair to timeshare on (the advantages of having a crutch....hope Dan still brings it, even when he doesn't need it anymore!) we didn't stay too long. Having the strongest beer ever brewed as my second half (by mistake!) may not have been the best idea in the world......

And, as ever, after leaving the fest to go for a quick couple of beers before heading back, we ended up in Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square for a further 5 hours of pub crawling :-P Well...if they will put a pub on every corner, what do they expect!

Brewer	Region	Name	ABV	Tasting Notes	Rating
Oakham	Peterborough	JHB	3.8%	Light in colour but quite flowery and musty	6/10
Shoes	Hereford	Farriers Beer	14%	Smells like wine homebrew or port, tastes phenominally strong, but is strangely pleasant and sweet.	7/10
Acorn	S Yorks	Festive Ale	4.7%	Dark, smoky and very drinkable	7/10
Ridgeway	---	Desiatka	3.9%	Quite light with musty full flavour	5/10
Milton	Cambs	Babylon Stout	4.4%	Very fizzy start with long-lasting smoky taste	7/10
Warwickshire	Warks	Thunderbolt IPA	8.5%	Incredibly sweet and thick	---/10