This was our first visit to the Medway beer festival, and it certainly won't be the last - it was definitely one of the best I've been to. Running from 28-30th October, we went to the first session on the Friday, taking a half day off work. It took a bit of walking from Chatham station but was easy enough to find, and we stopped off in quite a nice pub to quench our thirst on the way there.

So why was it such a great event? Because it had everything a fest should have:

- Beer list on the web in advance
- Great selection of well kept ales (55 ales, 8 ciders, 26 belgian and 6 Trappist beers)
- Plenty of room
- Loads of seating
- Great fest food (hotdogs, bacon baguettes etc)
- High quality, useful tasting notes handout
- Cheap (£1.50 entry + glass; £2.50 non-CAMRA)
- Bars spread out, preventing over-crowding

Other festivals should take note!

Only a few beers sampled as we decided to go for full pints and a bit of a crawl afterwards:

Brewer	Region	Name	ABV	Tasting Notes	Rating
Everards	Leicester	Beacon Bitter	3.8	Light, quite bitter and dry	6/10
Camerons	Hartlepool	Strongarm	4.0	Chestnut, malty and fruity. Very moreish	8/10
Roosters	Knaresborough	Yankee	4.3	Pale yellow and fruity - lychees really come through	7/10
Harveiston	Dollar	Ptarmigan	4.5	Very hoppy and sharp on the first taste - becomes quite offensive	4/10
Nethergate	Clare	Old Growler	5.0	Black and unbelievably smooth and warming. Stout without the watery or in-your-faceness	8/10

Look forward to next years!