2005 Great British Beer Festival
Great British Beer Festival Tasting Notes....
Other Years are here: 2000/2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
I think I really ought to get the 2006 notes out a lot quicker!!! As usual, official tasting notes are in italics. Thanks go to my work colleagues who joined me on the Thursday night and to cuvalwen and quirkus who also came along. My little sis was my partner in crime on the Friday, where we didn't get so much reviewed as we were too busy trying the best of Thursday and the wonderful mead on sale!
B&T Edwin Taylor’s Extra Stout (4.5%)
A pleasant bitter beer with a strong roast malt flavour. This was a very nice beer. Very thick, dark and chocolatey. ***
Bateman Valiant (4.2%)
A delicious golden beer, clean, crisp and zesty. A classic beer, especially for my origins. Nice, clean and smooth. ***
Cairngorms White Lady (4.7%)
Bavarian style white beer, orange in colour. With orange and coriander to give a fruity flavour with a hint of spice. This is the same brewery that produces Tradewinds, one of my favourite light beers. With a slightly spicy white beer, I thought they would be on to a winner. Unfortunately this beer had a bland taste. Very disappointing. *
Hampshire Lionheart (4.2%)
A golden ale with fresh fruit and malt fragrance. Full drinking with a subtle hoppy finish. While this beer has a lovely fragrance, it has an overpowering hoppy after-taste. **
Kelham Island Pale Rider (5.2%)
A full bodied, straw pale ale, with a fruity aroma and a strong fruit and hop taste. One my favourite beers, this is a refreshing drink, hoppy but not overly so with a pleasant sweetness. ****
Orkney Dark Island (4.6%)
Full-bodied, well-balanced with roast malt, fruit and caramel. This is a lovely beer, full of flavour and character. It is very dark and chocolatey. ****
Oulton Ales Sunrise (4.0%)
A thirst-quenching summer beer. A clean tasting beer, light and refreshing. ***
Shepherd Neame Goldings Summer Hop (4.5%)
Light scented beer. Powerfully floral and scented aroma with a biscuity taste. A very nice, smooth beer from one of the largest breweries in the UK. As a summer ale, it was served chilled. This probably repressed some of it’s flavour and aroma, but proved that it was eminently drinkable on a hot summers day with a barbeque or similar. ****
Charles Wells Banana Bread Beer (4.5%)
Dark golden coloured beer hugs the palate with great intensity. Ripe banana flavour intensified by a hint of bitterness comes from the addition of real Fair Trade bananas. I think I’m on a quest to drink this at every GBBF that I go to. For the third year running, I tried and loved this. Too quirky to call a classic, but a beer that should be sought out, none-the-less. *****
White Shield Brewery White Shield (no abv)
A complex nose kindled by heady aromatic hops, smoky grains and the faintest whiff of stilton. A feast of fried bananas, treacle toffee, bitter chocolate, and a peppery pinch of paprika fires up White Shield bitter-sweet warmth. With such a review, I was really looking forward to something special from this beer. Unfortunately, although very nice, the beer was nothing exceptional. **
Wychwood Breakspear Downpour (4.5%)
A golden honey ale with a ripe fruity aroma. Brewed with wheat, it has a full flavour, hint of dryness and a dry hop bitterness. An interesting ale, hoppy, and pleasant. ***
Cider
Cornish Orchards Medium (Cornwall)
Not bad, a little on the sweet side. ***
Greggs Pit Medium (Herefordshire)
Given an “8” on the stall, this was a really pleasant beer, on the dry side, but eminently drinkable. ****
Other Years are here: 2000/2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
I think I really ought to get the 2006 notes out a lot quicker!!! As usual, official tasting notes are in italics. Thanks go to my work colleagues who joined me on the Thursday night and to cuvalwen and quirkus who also came along. My little sis was my partner in crime on the Friday, where we didn't get so much reviewed as we were too busy trying the best of Thursday and the wonderful mead on sale!
B&T Edwin Taylor’s Extra Stout (4.5%)
A pleasant bitter beer with a strong roast malt flavour. This was a very nice beer. Very thick, dark and chocolatey. ***
Bateman Valiant (4.2%)
A delicious golden beer, clean, crisp and zesty. A classic beer, especially for my origins. Nice, clean and smooth. ***
Cairngorms White Lady (4.7%)
Bavarian style white beer, orange in colour. With orange and coriander to give a fruity flavour with a hint of spice. This is the same brewery that produces Tradewinds, one of my favourite light beers. With a slightly spicy white beer, I thought they would be on to a winner. Unfortunately this beer had a bland taste. Very disappointing. *
Hampshire Lionheart (4.2%)
A golden ale with fresh fruit and malt fragrance. Full drinking with a subtle hoppy finish. While this beer has a lovely fragrance, it has an overpowering hoppy after-taste. **
Kelham Island Pale Rider (5.2%)
A full bodied, straw pale ale, with a fruity aroma and a strong fruit and hop taste. One my favourite beers, this is a refreshing drink, hoppy but not overly so with a pleasant sweetness. ****
Orkney Dark Island (4.6%)
Full-bodied, well-balanced with roast malt, fruit and caramel. This is a lovely beer, full of flavour and character. It is very dark and chocolatey. ****
Oulton Ales Sunrise (4.0%)
A thirst-quenching summer beer. A clean tasting beer, light and refreshing. ***
Shepherd Neame Goldings Summer Hop (4.5%)
Light scented beer. Powerfully floral and scented aroma with a biscuity taste. A very nice, smooth beer from one of the largest breweries in the UK. As a summer ale, it was served chilled. This probably repressed some of it’s flavour and aroma, but proved that it was eminently drinkable on a hot summers day with a barbeque or similar. ****
Charles Wells Banana Bread Beer (4.5%)
Dark golden coloured beer hugs the palate with great intensity. Ripe banana flavour intensified by a hint of bitterness comes from the addition of real Fair Trade bananas. I think I’m on a quest to drink this at every GBBF that I go to. For the third year running, I tried and loved this. Too quirky to call a classic, but a beer that should be sought out, none-the-less. *****
White Shield Brewery White Shield (no abv)
A complex nose kindled by heady aromatic hops, smoky grains and the faintest whiff of stilton. A feast of fried bananas, treacle toffee, bitter chocolate, and a peppery pinch of paprika fires up White Shield bitter-sweet warmth. With such a review, I was really looking forward to something special from this beer. Unfortunately, although very nice, the beer was nothing exceptional. **
Wychwood Breakspear Downpour (4.5%)
A golden honey ale with a ripe fruity aroma. Brewed with wheat, it has a full flavour, hint of dryness and a dry hop bitterness. An interesting ale, hoppy, and pleasant. ***
Cider
Cornish Orchards Medium (Cornwall)
Not bad, a little on the sweet side. ***
Greggs Pit Medium (Herefordshire)
Given an “8” on the stall, this was a really pleasant beer, on the dry side, but eminently drinkable. ****