The first beer fest of the year for me - The London Drinker 20th Beer and Cider Festival - took place over Wed-Fri 17th-19th March 2004. Mr T and myself had the day off to go down on the Friday - which, despite being the last day, still had a remarkable proportion of beer left.

Arriving at Kings X early, we got to the Euston Flyer pub just as the doors opened - which must have looked pretty desperate to the staff - but we got off to a reasonable start with a Fuller's Chiswick each. After supping it for an hour we wandered down the road to join the queue of heavily bearded and balding fat men in what can only be described as gale-force conditions. Despite my best attempts to convince Dan that waiting in The Dolphin opposite was a better plan, we got in after a long, cold 15mins...

There was a good selection of beers, and a nice programme to help us along (unfortunately no tasting notes, but hey...) After getting through about 6 or 7 halves the flavour of beer was beginning to weigh heavy, and we wandered across the road for a couple of vodka + Red Bull pick-me-ups (and a cheeky game of pool :-) ) Buzzing from that, we returned to the fest for some serious drinking action.

It was definitely one of our finest sessions - with 13 different beers drunk each - a similar number when we went to the same fest 2 years ago. And like 2002, it all got a bit messy after leaving - with more V+RBs in the Dolphin, ale and alcopops in the Weatherspoons in Stevenage (nice mixture...!) and lager + Smirnoff Ice in Dan's local.

Suprisingly, we didn't make it to the Hitchin Beer Fest the next day......!

Brewer	Region	Name	ABV	Tasting Notes	Rating
Fullers	London	Chiswick	%	Amber and very dry. Not a very fresh pint	5/10
Icene	Norfolk	Fine Soft Day	4.0%	Smells very fruity and tastes quite citrus/orangy. A somewhat hazy gold colour. Disappointing acidic flavour	6/10
Crouch Vale	Essex	Anchor Street Porter	4.9%	Flat stout with a roasted flavour, but not a lot of it	7/10
Blanchfields	Essex	Raging Bull	4.9%	Light brown with a malty aftertaste. A bit musty	6/10
Abbeydale	S Yorks	Absolution	5.3%	Light in colour but full of flavour. Warming and fruity. Drinkable but quite strong	7/10
King	Sussex	Kings Old Ale	4.5%	Smells like wine brewing - a gorgeous rich stout. Bizarre taste of Chinese prawn toast (?!). Lasting pleasant aftertaste	7/10
Ring O Bells	Cornwall	Bodmin Boar	4.3%	Slightly thick and sweeter. Quite pleasant	6/10
Six Bells	Salop	Cloud Nine	4.2%	Golden, slightly spicy. As with Kings, it smells like wine brewing and has the same lengthy aftertaste	7/10
Spectrum	Norfolk	Spring Promise	4.5%	Amber session ale. Not distinctive, but very drinkable	7/10
Winters	Norfolk	Storm Force	5.3%	Quite syrupy in texture, slightly sweet in taste. Very drinkable	8/10
Dark Tribe	Lincs	Galleon	4.7%	Light brown, quite thick. Not bad	6/10
King	Sussex	Red River Ale	4.8%	Dark chestnut	7/10
Salopian	Shrops	Proud Salopian	4.5%	Light chestnut session ale - somewhat musty aftertaste though	6/10
Pitfield	London	Shoresitch Stout	4.0%	Standard stout - pleasant, roasty, but nothing special	7/10