FILO Beer Festival Report 17-21 April 2014

I visited the beer festival at the First in Last Out (FILO), High Street, Hastings, only on the first day, Thursday 17th. Due to circumstances, on the day, I only sampled 7 of the 20 ales available, and their own have been reviewed by me before, so were not included this time. In order of strength, below are my reflections on those 6 festival ales, and I was surprised at both my favourite and least preferred ales... 

First, I tried the Elgoods Spring Challenge (3.7%), which was 'pale and refreshing', as the tasting notes said, and with a dry bitter aftertaste, a pleasant start at 6.5/10. Then, I drank the Dark Star Seville (4%), their first ever 'fruit' beer, first brewed 3 years ago, and including a hint of bitter orange, as you'd expect. I'd tasted this at the previous beer festival reported on this blog, and had been a bit underwhelmed. This time, however, I got a lot more flavour, and it was quite bitter and dry, and very good, obviously improved with time settled in the cask, 8/10. The third ale, in turn, I was disappointed with, surprisingly, as I usually enjoy Roosters beers. This Roosters, 41 Degrees South (4.1%), was pale and fruity, dry and bitter, but neither quality was as pronounced as I expect from this brewery, 5.5/10. 

The fourth ale was Hop Back Spring Zing (4.2%), which was very pale, dry and bitter, very refreshing, and very good too, 7/10. Nine Standards Silver Standard (4.3%) was a wee bit different, described as "a classic pale ale", and the hoppy aroma and taste did make me think English hops, though I have no idea what was used, though I'd guess Fuggles if questioned, but please don't quote me on that! It had a light malty aroma, was quite a dry bitter with a nutty aftertaste, not bad at 6/10. My final ale, or finale, was the slightly stronger Cairngorm Wild Cat (5.1%), all the way from Scotland! This had a malty aroma with a hint of burnt oats, and received 6/10 too.

Today, I sampled my seventh ale, Elgoods Golden Newt (4.1%), which was also pretty good, and I think I may have had this before. The malts used seem to include lager malt, at lest that's what my tastebuds told me, and this is, apparently, dry hopped. The dry aftertaste supports the dry hopping, and there was a fruitiness about it hat I just couldn't quite distinguish, but, considering this is near the end of the cask, in very good nick and got 7/10!  

Consequently, I was surprised that the Roosters came last in my marking, perhaps my high opinion of the brewery made me more critical as a judge? Whatever, the local Sussex brewer, Dark Star, came out tops in this small sample, their Seville being much more to my taste, even more so than it did when I tried it for the first time a couple of weeks ago!

Cheers!   

Wednesday 11th July 2012 - Back to the Dolphin.

OK, I was there Tuesday night too, but had to return and drink my old favourite Hophead! 

The usual 3 regulars, Hophead, Directors and Sussex Best were all on, plus the seasonal regular Dark Star APA...

Plus two other pale hoppy ales were on as guests also, Elgoods Golden Newt (4.1%, a little too biscuity and 'sweet' for me with my ever increasing fondness for bitter and dry ales, though certainly the Newt was being drunk by many regulars and visitors!) and Triple fff Brewery Moondance, another excellent grapefruity pale and dry 4.2% bitter, loved it!

Cheers!

Dolphin, Hastings 3rd June

OK, for a change, I wandered eastwards, along the beach in the evening sunshine, and ended up at the Dolphin at Rock-a-Nore, presumably an Anglais interpretation of 'Northern Rock' (?), and started with my usual Dark Star Hophead, but more was available than I realised...

The 3 regulars, and summer 'special' were all on, ie Hophead, Directors (is it just me, or does this taste more 'malty' than it used to, have Charles Wells altered the recipe, it's like drinking liquidised Caramac!?!), Sussex Best, and the excellent Dark Star American Pale Ale (APA), plus 2 guests, the new localish brewer (Littlehampton), Anchor Springs Riptide (4.1%, a medium coloured traditional South Eastern bitter, pretty good) and Hop Back Summer Lightning, another old favourite... 

Consequently, following the Hophead, I tried a pint of the Summer Lightning, I had to compare the two for research purposes, of course, and I found that Summer Lightning still can hold it's head up high, but not quite to Hophead height, despite being stronger at 5% compared to 3.8%, which is some achievement for the Sussex brewer. The tasting notes in the Good Beer Guide for Summer Lightning read "Finely balanced, it has an intense bitterness, leading to a long, dry finish." Very true, though I would add a slight nutty flavour too, presumably to do with the hops used, but it still doesn't come up to the bitterness of Hophead, a crackin' ale, indeed, but not as bitter and dry, ie what I like ;-)

In amongst the convivial atmosphere and good company, which included Adam, behind the bar, and Mark (landlord) and Kevin among many this side of the bar, I also drank the APA, however, I have to concede that I still prefer the Hophead, but only by a 'short head' (in horse racing 'terms', not pubco fiddling the amount of beer they serve up 'terms'; which certainly isn't the case at the Dolphin, where you always get a proper measure). 

Incidentally, they ran out of the Riptide, this evening, but will have Elgoods Golden Newt coming on soon, a 4.1% golden ale, which I am looking forward to, probably after the weekend, cheers!