And Then There Was Beer...

I do love a good beer festival, and here in Darlo we're blessed with two each year. March is the date for The Spring Thing, a beer & folk music event running for four days. We usually go on the Thursday, the first day, when beer is at its freshest and most plentiful - who wants Sunday's left over dregs?

It's always a bit of a challenge for me to choose a handful of beers to try from the 50+ on offer, so I usually go for the styles that I like best - very dark beers (stouts & porters) and very strong beers. If there's a very strong, very dark beer then all the better.

Things didn't start as planned though - this beer caught my eye as soon as I went up to the bar, and being a lover of proper Belgian Kriek I thought I'd give this young pretender from Yorkshire a go. I thought it best to try it early too, before my palate was tainted by too much bitterness from the other beers ahead.

Saltaire Cheeky Kriek, 4%, 7/10

I gave it 7/10, a mark that was skewed by the fact that it was the first beer and I had no idea how good or bad the following ones would be - a tough call to give your first drink too high or too low a score. On reflection by the end of the evening, I'd got it spot on. It was very much like a traditional British bitter but with cherry aromas and a subtle cherry flavour hidden behind the bitterness. It was nothing at all like its Belgian equivalents, and wouldn't stand up to any sort of comparison to them in a side by side tasting. On its own merits though, it was a decent enough drink.

Next up 4 Kings, the strongest ale on show and also (consequently?) the most expensive. This didn't disappoint, being smooth and full of flavour and tasting very much like a much stronger barley wine. Could I risk a 10/10? Best go for a 9 just to save space for anything potentially better.

Battledown 4 Kings, 7.2%, 9/10

After that some Inn Stable from the Heart Of Wales brewery. Disappointingly cloudy in appearance, it at least didn't taste spoiled, certainly no hint of being tainted by yeast. It didn't taste great though, lacking the depth of character of the 4 Kings despite being only marginally weaker. 6/10 for that then.

Heart Of Wales Inn Stable, 6.8%, 6/10

As always I'd decided to go for the pint glass and drink halves. This gets you a good deal more beer than using a half glass as no one fills it too carefully.

When is a half not a half?

Next up Ulverston Bad Medicine, one of the darkest beer I was to have tonight and (possibly because of that) the best. It was absolutely spot on, not too heavy or cloying and with just the right amount of bitterness. Its own write-up was spot on - "A surprisingly light winter beer, strong but easy to drink". 10/10, no doubt about it.

 Ulverston Bad Medicine, 6.3%, 10/10

Things could only go downhill after that I suppose, and so they did, progressively so. Starting with the Wall's Dark Horse, marketed as a stout but not having enough body, being more of a porter to me. Still, I like a good porter, but unfortunately this wasn't one. It wasn't too bad though, so 6/10.

Wall's Dark Horse Stout, 4.4%, 6/10

So on to Just A Minute "Darkest Moment", a "full blown black stout with chocolate & coffee aroma lasting a slight liquorice finish". If they'd just written "tastes foul" they'd have been nearer the truth. I was reluctant to give it too low a mark as there were still futher beers to go, so 4/10 it was.

Just A Minute Darkest Moment, 4.3%, 4/10

Then on to Special K, had to try that as one of the lads I was with's wife is called Kay... Wish I hadn't, it was even worse than the Darkest Moment, though possibly that was because I'd switched to a light ale after all the dark. Whatever, it was hard to finish it off it tasted so bad to me. Just 3/10 for that one then.

Cleveland Special K, 5%, 3/10

Its only saving grace was that it was at least 3 times as good as the appalling Burnside Black Katz (no photo), something I had to try as I have a black cat and Sunderland AFC are called The Black Cats. This not only smelled foul, it tasted as bad as it smelled. Surely it was off and shouldn't have been up for sale? More like black katz pee. 1/10.

I think I had more poor beers here than at any other Darlo beer festival. Bad choices on my part, or bad choices on the part of the organisers? Who knows. No complaints though, it was still a cracking night out, good conversation, good atmosphere and even bad beer is better than no beer!

Muddybums + 1