A wonderful day out in Sheffield 9.2.08 gave us the following ales. DEVONSHIRE CAT York Saaz 4.0 SWIM INN Acorn Bloomfield 4.5 WELLINGTON BAR Thornbridge Gildas 6.5 Mighty Oak Rabbies Ruin 4.4 Millstone Cat & Fiddle 4.0 Salamander Minx 3.8 Salamander Vixen 4.0 WELLINGTON CELLAR Salamander Jester 4.0 Glentworth Stargazy Gold 4.2 FAT CAT Kelham Isaland 45 RPM 4.5 Tigertops Uber Weiss 4.8 KELHAM ISLAND TAVERN Alehouse Winter Wonderland 4.3 White Rose Tight Head Prop 4.2 MOON Abbeydale Epiphany 4.6 Globe Comet 4.3 GEORGE IV Castle Rock Preservation Fine Ale 4.4 Wentworth Venture 3.6 HILLSBOROUGH Church End Half Cut 4.3 Bridgnorth Lager Bier 4.8 BANKERS DRAFT Saltaire Blackberry Cascade 4.8 Gill
Tewkesbury beer festival weekend 1.2.08
We took the caravan to Sunset View; an ostrich farm at Shutonger near Tewkesbury on Friday 1.2.08 as it is handy for catching a bus. Our friends were already there, so we set the caravan up and went to the local pub, the Crown, to have a drink. It was a pleasant local pub, but there was not much of a choice for real ale as only Bass was served. I went onto Guinness, and found although cold, it was good.
Saturday morning we went out to catch the bus, but I had got the times wrong and we were very early, so I decided to see how long it would take to walk in. I left the others waiting for the bus, and it was a pleasant walk with a footpath all the way into Tewkesbury. It took 25 minutes, and I had just reached the Tewkesbury sign when the bus passed me.
We met up and had a wander round the market before going to the festival. It was a Winter Ales festival and we were expecting some strong and dark beers. Having found seats, we started, and all the beers we had were well served and very pleasant to drink. Bravely we had a half of the 15% ABV North Cotswold Arctic Winter Warmer, and it was so strong, it tasted like a sherry to me. We had a 7.6% and a couple of 6% beers and the rest were normal strong beers. It was a good festival, and we enjoyed the bacon sandwiches available to help the beer down. I had a total of 17 beers, and afterwards we went for some fish and chips before I walked back to site with our friends, leaving my husband to catch the bus. We all arrived back at site the same time.
It had been a great weekend and on the Sunday the weather got a bit rough with the wind becoming very gusty, so we went to see the ostriches in their field before packing up for the trip home.
