A site for real ale lovers (and other drinkers) to share experiences.
2002
SANDROCK 5th ANNUAL BEER FESTIVAL
Boundstone, Farnham. SU 829 445
Saturday 2nd March 2002
Quite a few more of us attended this festival but exactly who is a mystery.
This was the first time we came across Apache Rose Peacock, which we found an absolutely stunning beer.
And, most unusual for a pub beer festival, they had some draught French beer on!
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Triple fff | Apache Rose Peacock | 4.2 |
| Carlow | Moling’s Red Ale | 4.3 |
| Brassiere De LeSoif | Reboutex | 4.2 |
| RCH | P G Steam | 3.9 |
| Wolf | Edith Cavell | 3.7 |
| Abbeydale | Absolution | 5.3 |
| Beckett | Whitewater | 4.3 |
| Oakham | White Dwarf | 4.3 |
| Carlow | Curim Gold | 4.3 |
Attended by:-
PV & ROC plus mysterious others
INDEPENDENT BREWERS BEER FESTIVAL XIII
Farnborough Recreation Centre, SU 868 553
Saturday: March 2002
Thirteen is meant to be unlucky and this proved to be the case for Andrew as Clark’s lost the catering franchise at the recreation centre soon after this event and with no venue the Indie Brewers Beer Festivals came to an end.
They were very good while they lasted.
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Orkney | Dark Island | 4.0 |
| Spinning Dog | Top Dog | 4.2 |
| Teme Valley | Spring Wot | 4.7 |
| Hart | Winter Knights (Wheat) | 4.0 |
| Shoes | Canon Bitter | 4.1 |
| Dunn Plowman | Kingdom Bitter | 4.5 |
| Hebridean | Clansman Ale | 3.9 |
Attended by:-
PV, ROC, KOC, TM, RN & PC
FARNHAM BEEREX
Farnham Maltings SU 841 465
Thursday 25 th April 2002
Everything is back to normal. Beer consumption is back up and brewery choice is very good mixture of old favourites and newcomers.
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Arkells | JRA | 3.8 |
| Bartrams | Green Man | 4.0 |
| Belvoir | Whippling Golden Bitter | 3.6 |
| Black Sheep | Best Bitter | 3.8 |
| Blue Anchor | Spingo Best | 5.3 |
| Caledonian | Deuchars IPA | 3.8 |
| Hop Back | Best Bitter | 4.0 |
| Itchin Valley | Pure Gold | 4.8 |
| Potton | Bunny Hop | 4.1 |
| Scattor Rock | Golden Valley | 4.6 |
| Triple fff | Extra Stupidly Happy | 5.0 |
| Warwickshire | Best Bitter | 3.9 |
| Wickwar | Coopers WPA | 3.5 |
| Wye Valley | Dorothy Goodbody’s Golden Ale | 4.2 |
Saturday 27th April 2002
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Arkells | Kingsdown Ale | 5.0 |
| Arran | Dark | 4.3 |
| Beartown | Bear Ass | 4.0 |
| Belvoir | Beaver Bitter | 4.3 |
| Black Sheep | Best Bitter | 3.8 |
| Blue Anchor | Spingo Best | 5.3 |
| Branscombe | Vale Branoc | 3.8 |
| Donnington | XXX | 3.6 |
| Moor | Summerland Gold | 5.0 |
| Moor | Withy Cutter | 3.1 |
| Oakham | JHB | 3.8 |
| Oakham | White Dwarf | 4.3 |
| Rebellion | IPA | 3.7 |
| Willy’s | Coxswain | 4.9 |
| Willy’s | Last Resort | 4.3 |
Attended by:-
PV, MG, ROC and reprobates just do not come close to describe this lot
6th CROSSWAYS INN BEER FESTIVAL
Churt, SU 855 382
Saturday 20thJuly 2002
This festival had been going for a number of years but this was the first time we managed to get there. What had we been missing? There was an extremely good beer list, which was apparently usual for this venue. The Number 19 bus to Hindhead would become a regular annual journey.
What was unusual was, we made comments on the beers tried. One and only time this happened in all the years we had been going to festivals.
| Brewery | Beer | % | Comment |
| Church End | Poachers Pocket | 3.5 | Easy drinking |
| Green Tye | Union Jack | 3.6 | Malty, chewy, crap |
| Belvoir | Whippig Gold | 3.6 | Twangy |
| Brunswick | Down the Hatch | 3.7 | Pleasantly sharp |
| Eccleshall | Hot Shot | 3.8 | Faintly medicinal |
| Old Chimneys | Hairy Canary | 4.0 | Lemon & ginger flavour |
| Hoskins & Oldfield | Bangkok Gold | 4.0 | Light bog standard bitter |
| Church End | Shakes Beer | 4.0 | Good best bitter |
| Brunswick | TLC | 4.0 | Light twangaletto |
| Lichfield | Hop ‘N’ Bothered | 4.2 | Refreshing spectrum |
| Townes | Stavely Cross | 4.2 | Smokey burnt cheese |
| Lloyds | Churt Golden | 4.3 | Light barley, fully hopped |
| St. Bernardus | St. Bernardus | 5.5 | Excellent Belgium white beer |
Attended by:-
PV, ROC, KOC, TM, RN & PC
GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL
Olympia, London TQ 242 790
Tuesday 6th August 2002
Paul V now gave up any attempts to try the British beers and just went European.
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Fruh | Kolsch | 4.8 |
| Zion | Kolsch | 4.8 |
| Coreff | Blonde | 4.2 |
| Schlenkerla | Lagerbier | 4.6 |
| Keesman | Herren Pils | 4.6 |
| Fischer | Helles | 5.3 |
| Verhaeghe | Echte Kriek | 6.8 |
| Breznice | Jantar | 5.8 |
| Andechs | Spezial | 5.9 |
| Neder | Schwarz Anna | 5.2 |
| Pelgrim | Stoombier | 5.5 |
Attended by:-
PV & DF
Saturday 10th August 2002
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Gilden | Kolsch | 4.8 |
| Recken | Pilsner | 5.0 |
| Spezial | Rauchbier | 4.7 |
| Augustiner | Edelstoff | 5.4 |
| Hartman | Felsentrunk | 5.1 |
| Kloisterbrau | Braunbier | 5.3 |
| Kneitinger | Dunkel | 5.0 |
| Schlenkerla | Rauchbier Marzen | 5.1 |
| Norbert | Dark | 5.7 |
| Cantillon | Kriek | 5.0 |
| Keesman | Herren Pils | 4.6 |
| Andechs | Spezial | 5.9 |
| Recken | Export Pils | 4.7 |
| Mahrs | Pilsner | 4.8 |
Attended by:-
PV, ROC, KOC, TM RN & PC
RED LION 6TH ANNUAL BEER FESTIVAL
Aldershot, SU 874 500
Saturday 1st September 2002
Although we had no doubt attended the previous five festivals run by Dave since taking over ‘The Red’, only a couple of our beer lists survive.
If the day went as usual (and there is no reason to suppose it did not), then Paul V would have been serving in the garden beer tent from midday until four o’clock. At some time during this period, the rest would have turned up.
Mick from B&T, who quite often turned up with his crowd sometime during the day, would have supplied a lot of the beers.
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Titanic | First Class | 4.1 |
| Holden | Bitter | 3.9 |
| B&T | Barley Mow | 3.8 |
| Abbeydale | Moonshine | 4.3 |
| Hart | Captain Morley | 3.9 |
| O’Hanlons | Wheat Beer | 4.0 |
| Cannon Royall | Sabrina | 4.6 |
Attended by:-
PV and some others. DF was of course running it.
9TH WOKING BEER FESTIVAL
Woking Leisure Centre, TQ 007 578
Saturday 9th November 2002
In addition to the British beers listed below, we also tried a draught foreign beer. It was a ‘Blond’ and 6% but unfortunately the rest is illegible due to prior excess consumption.
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Banks & Taylor | Dragonslayer | 4.5 |
| Broadstone | Gold | 5.0 |
| Cairngorm | Avimore Gold | 4.5 |
| Cairngorm | Highland IPA | 3.6 |
| Caledonian | Golden Promise | 4.5 |
| Crown | HPA | 3.9 |
| Eastwood & Saunders | Beyond the Pale | 4.0 |
| Grand Union | Gold | 4.2 |
| Grand Union | Grand Union Bitter | 3.7 |
| Grand Union | Kolsch | 5.0 |
| Hopdeamon | Skrimshander IPA | 4.5 |
| King | Horsham BB | 3.8 |
| Tiger Tops | Just Jane | 3.6 |
Attended by:-
The usual crowd