Eastbourne Beer Festival

It comes round once a year in October and this was my fifth year of attendance. Eastbourne is renowned to be something of a sun-trap and this year was no exception, although the skies did 'open up' for a while as I left the station for the 20 minute walk to the venue at the Winter Gardens. But the skies soon cleared and we were bathed in sunshine for most of the remains of the day.

The Harvey's brewery horse drawn dray was parked outside.

My brother joined me once again for one of the year's really pleasant interludes: sampling from a huge selection of real ales, ciders and perry, enjoying typical pub grub and some splendid entertainment from the Long Man Morris Dancers and The Wakin' Snakes - a very talented band playing blue-grass and folk music.

Long Man

Wakin' Snakes

The entry ticket entitles you to a free Festival glass - well, it would be difficult without one! For the record the following is the list of the beers I tried (only a half-pint each!):

Cromarty Brewery Kowabunga 4.6% ABV

Hook Norton Oxfordshire Brewery Old Hooky 4.6% ABV

Purity Warwickshire Brewery Mad Goose 4.2% ABV

Rudgate York Brewery Battleaxe 4.2% ABV

Phoenix Manchester Brewery Wobbly Bob 6.0% (my favourite, an amber beer with a malty, fruity aroma)

Rectory Hassocks Sussex Brewery Rector's Revenge 5.0% ABV (and which some wag had renamed Rectum's Revenge!)

Thornbridge Derbyshire Brewery Jaipur IPA 5.9% ABV

My brother enjoyed himself; we always have a great laugh when we get together.

And he took a candid shot of me perusing the Tasting Notes.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable day....

The Eastbourne Beer Festival

An enjoyable interlude today as I met up with my brother for a session at the Eastbourne Beer Festival, held at the Winter Gardens. This was my fourth consecutive year of attending and on each occasion the weather has been quite remarkable. After yesterday's torrential rain the bright spells today were most welcome.

One is totally spoilt for choice at this particular festival with a selection of more than 120 real ales on offer and a multitude of ciders and perries. We had tickets for the 11:00am to 4:00pm session and enjoyed a variety of the beers on offer and were entertained by two bands: Pocketsize, a group of three with a terrific female lead vocalist, so reminiscent of Alison Krauss, performing material in the Americana/Country genre; and Wakin' Snakes, a terrific rock/folk ensemble with great vocals and an accomplished banjo player.

For the real ale aficionados, here is a record of my selected beverages:

• Ginger Tosser 3.8% from Skinner's Brewery in Cornwall
• Betty Stogs Bitter 4.0% from Skinner's Brewery in Cornwall
• British Bulldog 4.3% from the Westerham Brewery in Kent
• Lancaster Bomber 4.4% from Thwaites Brewery
• Battleaxe 4.2% from the Rudgate Brewery
• Hobgoblin 4.5%from the Wychwood Brewery
• Landlord 4.3% from the Taylor Brewery in Yorkshire
• Fortyniner 4.9% from Ringwood's Brewery in Hampshire

I hasten to add that my consumption over 5 hours was in half pints only! A most enjoyable day and it was good to see my brother again (he lives in Kent).