Ales @ the Welsh Beer Festival in Putney...

As per my last blog, sorry I'm taking so long these days, I seem to have more obligations than I used to! Anyway, I made 2 visits to The Bricklayers Arms (website) over the weekend, and had quite a fun time, though with family obligations, I couldn't drink too much, which was probably just as well...

For those who haven't read my previous reports on The Bricklayers, it is, as my brother says, my "local pub in Putney". Sometimes I visit, and there are hardly any ales available from their 10 handpumps, but on other visits, like last weekend, they had approximately 100 ales on stillage, with most of them in their beer garden (some of them in the photograph below), and more on handpump inside, or waiting to be connected up in the cellar, 'twas good, though, sadly, nothing from Tiny Rebel Brewery, shame! Anyway, I only drank 11 of them (which meant I missed out on nearly 90!), mostly half-pints, a few pints, and a few repeated that I particularly enjoyed, but I'll start with the ones that come at the bottom of my list and work my way up... 

OK, so scoring at the 'average' scale, to begin with, came a pale golden bitter with a hint of cider, being a bit tart, and from a VERY new brewery (so they have time to improve), Tomos a Linford Cmrw Canu (4%). Next, slightly above average, was the 4.3% Jacobi Red Squirrel, dry, with a hint of roasted barley and nutty aftertaste. 9th was Pixie Spring Deliverance (4.5%) an "American style pale ale", very dry and bitter, but I was disappointed there was less grapefruit in the taste than I expected! Then came Grey Trees Diggers Gold (4%), more US hops, a golden bitter and very subtle citrus aroma and taste. 

Then came a 'black IPA', and from Brains too, not usually my favourite brewer, I have to admit, but this wasn't bad! Their Black Mountain (5%) does what it says on the label, though a very deep red in colour actually, roasted barley aroma, plenty of body, bitter with a dry aftertaste. Then, from Caffle, came a paler ale, Darker Side of Pale (4.4%), nearly a bronze colour, not much aroma, but decent bitter. In fifth place was the unfined Axiom New Dawn (4.2%), clearer than I thought it would be, and a pretty good pale golden bitter too. Next was Big Hand Havoc (5%), pretty good, though it tasted nothing like the tasting notes, being very dry with a hint of roasted barley in the flavour, not like an APA at all! 

The top 3 were all very good, and my scoring was finely balanced, but... drum roll... in third, I put Otley APA (4.3%), not labelled as a rye beer, but my tasting notes say it is, with a hint of elderflower too, nice one! In second, with a lovely fruity aroma and dry aftertaste, came the very good 4.5% Celt Double Dose, but my winner, of not much more than a 10% sample of all the ales remember, was the Borough Neath Full Blast... A fruity aroma, I got plum as well as citrus, and very dry and bitter, I did like this 4.7% ale, cheers!