FILO, Hastings, Easter Beer Festival

The beer festival started on Thursday evening, I visited yesterday (Good Friday) and it is due to finish on Easter Monday. The Full list of ales available can be downloaded from the FILO's website (site) and many of the available ales can be seen in the photograph below.

Mike, the landlord, who was in fine form, was serving in the festival bar in the conservatory towards the rear of the pub, which houses the ales and ciders below, and 2 ales, the Castle Rock Harvest Pale Ale and Pig & Porter Red Spider Rye, were being served from handpumps in the bar, together with the 4 of their own ales I have recently reported on. Except for the 2 stronger guests (£3.50 a pint) the guest ales were all £3.40 a pint, and their own ales at their usual prices, starting at £3.00 a pint for the FILO Crofters (3.8%).  I shall only report on the 5 ales I drank yesterday.

The 5 ales I sampled were the Pig & Porter Ashburnham Pale Ale, a 3.8% bitter with a hint of roasted malt; an old trusted favourite of mine, Oakham JHB, a pale hoppy 3.8% bitter; also, Oakham's even better Bishops Farewell, a 4.5% pale and hoppy bitter, with good body and a grapefruit aroma and taste, excellent as ever; Milk Street Beer, fuller bodied at 5%, a bit sweet, with a slight citrusy aroma, I'll borrow Mike's description of 'mango', and a dry aftertaste; and my personal favourite 'beer of the festival', the Salopian Hop Twister, 4.5% and here was hops and aroma 'in your face'! This had a peachy aroma, with grapefruit too, and tangerines in the flavour, and with a dry aftertaste, I loved it, it was excellent.

Try to get there before they run out of ales, certainly the Hop Twister, and the food looked excellent too, cheers!

18th September, Bohemia Road and back to Hastings.

The Tower, just down from Bohemia Road above St Leonards, Hastings... and Louisa the landlady wasn't here again, starting to get a complex!

Anyway, great value real ales here, 1648 Britannia (4.1%), Hastings Blonde, and 2 Dark Star ales, Hophead at £2.30 a pint and APA at £2.40! Good company, chat, ales (I drank 2 pints of Hophead, unsurprisingly), I'm fast becoming a fan of this pub, shame it's up that hill!!

The Dripping Spring, just along Tower Road from The Tower, hasn't changed landlord/landlady yet! Usual suspects, Sussex Best, Wye Valley HPA, Ringwood Fortyniner and Black Sheep Best, plus Youngs Gold and Castle Rock Harvest Pale Ale, 3.8% of memories from my local being the Tyne Mill (Castle Rock pubco) New Barrack Tavern at Hillsborough in the early years of this century, which, of course, I drank for old times sake.

The North Star, just off Bohemia Road, and the delightful Paisley serving up the ale, and friendly chat with her and another barfly. The food has changed here, in that, hot food is only served on Wednesday Curry Night now, and rolls are served up from about 1pm every day except Sundays, when gratis food is provided after 3pm when the meat raffle is over.

 

Ales? 2 regulars, Taylor Landlord and Sussex Best, and 3 guests, Jennings Crag Rat (4.3%), Ripple Steam Best Bitter (4.1%, see website) and Rudgate Jolvik Blonde (3.8%), my choice today, a pale, dry bitter.

As usual, 4 local ales at the White Rock Hotel, down opposite the beach and pier, of which, I drank the Dark Star Kiwi, 4% and amazing fruit aroma as soon as your nose reaches the rim of the glass! Kiwi fruit tends to be a bit delicate, flavour wise, not really sure if it was the kiwi, or flavours from the hops used (more likely), but very fruity, pale, slightly 'hazy', and it's meant to be, the informed and always friendly Kerry told me, dry and bitter, I thought sweet for a while, but actually slightly 'tart' when I concentrated on the flavours, I liked it, indeed!

 

Oh yes, 3 other ales too... Harveys South Down Harvest Ale (5% and discussed in an earlier blog when I tried it at the Dolphin), 1648 Britannia Ale (4.1%) and Rother Valley Ebulem, 4.5% and an 'elderberry porter', a very dark ale. 

Finally, the Dolphin, at Rock-a-Nore, Hastings 'Old Town', the super efficient and always lovely two sisters, Laura and Louise working behind the bar today, and the usual regular ales, Sussex Best, Dark Star Hophead and APA, now Youngs Special, and Riptide back on again, and a new one, Sharp's Red Ale from Cornwall, 4.1% and the pump clip adds 'Eden Project' to the name, apparently, some ingredients are being sourced by the Project for a few special brews like this one. The Red Ale is very easy to drink, deep red colour, a bit sweet, with a cherry fruity and dry aftertaste, not really hoppy enough for me, but others were chucking it down!

 

Cheers :-)