Every year we venture down to Reading’s Beer Festival, looking forward to sampling a little of everything we can manage to fit into our stomachs (especially the pies!). Well it used to be the hog roast, but it was a little disappointing last year, so now it’s the wild boar and mushroom pies! Yummy!
In the previous years I have tried some very tasty beers, ales and mead’s (I am not a cider fan). Probably since those dreaded teenage years of getting ridiculously drunk on white lighting & TNT and now the smell of any cider makes me want to hurl.
Unless you know your ales, it feels like lucky dip at times
Either last year or the one before, my sister bought me this German beer that I cannot remember the name of and nor do I want to remember its name. MY GOD it was foul! It tasted like the sediment you get at the bottom of a well-used BBQ drip tray with a hint of burnt sausage. It makes me very wary now of some those unusual varieties. So it can be a little like lucky dip which to pick, I am so glad they let you try a little sip before you buy, so I now try everything first. Saying that, I did try the BBQ drip tray beer prior to ordering it, but it must have been diluted with lingering sediment from the last drink (well that’s my excuse!).
This year’s changes to the festival, no one liked!!
Nobody seemed keen on the new entrance policy, splitting the event into two sessions. In previous years we really liked being able to turn up just after lunch, then sit out all afternoon in the sun but now they have changed it to close at 3pm and reopen at 6pm which is really annoying. The prime time is between 3-6pm, I am sure there was a reason but in our opinion it sucked! Sherrie was planning to write a letter of complaint just how dissappointed she was with these changes (hehe).
The layout of the one large tent in an L shape and the outdoor seating area did not create the same atmosphere as previous years; it all felt a little segregated. The last gripe on my list is this new system that was supposed to reduce the queues… LOL no we had to queue for almost half an hour before it even began to move! We all felt this new system should be scrapped!! We would all rather pay an extra pound and leave it as it was….if it ain’t broke, dont fix it!
Brewing my next batch of beer
Well it got me thinking about what to try brewing next, as I am running low of the last homebrew batch, only 8 bottles left out of the original 22. I would like to try brewing mead or maybe something a little stronger this time! Though sometimes I think the Beer festival is lost on me, as I never know what to pick from the booklet/program and I always forget to mark them off with some form of rating, to know what’s good or not for next time. A master brewer I shall never be! Just a part time ammatuer lol!
Suggestions what to brew next?
If you got any ideas or suggestions on what I should try brewing next OR if you know the name of the so called “BBQ drip tray beer” I mentioned earlier, please post your comments below. Not that I ever wish to taste it again, but it would be interesting to know what it was called.
Piers Caswell
