It was that time again last week – the time for us to enjoy a tipple or six of interesting, different and sometimes awful beers. The Great British Beer Festival was on at Olympia and here is what happened.
We were unsure at first if we were going to go but it’s tradition. so we just had to! On Wednesday (the first full day) we headed over to Olympia in Kensington with the dog! A special treat for the beer loving pooch (you have to get permission for dogs and we had it!)
We got through the mass of milling CamRA volunteers that loiter in the foyer, got the mandatory bag check and our token for a glass – we chose the half pints (it’s always a more interesting design and shape and we are never going to drink an entire pint whilst there are 528 beers to sample. Foreshadowing, we didn’t get through them all! – and got out our list, we went through it and picked out the beers of choice and a diversifying mix they are, Ash likes them dark and Bob likes them sour (the beers that is!) with a splay of Red Ales and a special IPA or two.
(Below are our opinions and often they are only one sided, Bob can’t drink dark beer without dying the next day! She would occasionally like to try, but for health reasons she avoids them!!)
So, once we were de-coated and the dog was on her harness, we set off to the first of the massive bars. The halls of Olympia are set out with long bars in the centre, which are numbered and given some odd names. The Town Mouse, Tafarn, Schernkerla and The Goat and Tricycle and also smaller, specialist or brewery specific – Vocation, Tribute, Abbot, Siren, etc as well as the Cider and even the Gin and Wine bar!
We picked the first beer and set about sipping and wandering, there isn’t a lot to see, but it’s not about the visuals, but more the taste of all the variety of IPA, NWIPA, NEIPA, West Coast IPA, Pale, Lager, Blonde, Reds, Darks, Milds, Strongs, Browns, Lembik, Sours, Stouts, Porters and Barleys, plus a few randoms and maybe the conversations between friends and strangers as you sit and enjoy you drink of choice.
We chatted with other drinkers, exchanged stories of previous year, one pair of guys we talked to had been frequenting the Great British Beer Festival since the 80’s, when it travelled the country, heading to Manchester, Brighton, Bristol and more and are still going, with their list and extensive notes and put us newbies to shame!
We spoke to a fair amount of dog owners, who came to talk to our four-legged companion and show us their rescues, their cross-breeds and their pedigrees, in photos and we think every member of the CamRa voluntary staff came over to tell us there were water bowls for the pooch and mostly just to say hello to her!
But what about the beer? Well we did our best sampling halves, a third seemed to slight a measure and with the list whittled down to mostly the Vegan choices – due mostly to lactose overloads in most Stouts and Porters, we still had a large enough selection to chose from, unfortunately, due to the way the bees are put on, a number of our choices weren’t available on the day, so we didn’t manger to try the Creme Bearlee or the On the Saison, Clockwork Orange, Marcus Aurelius, or the Imperial Morrisman’s.
But we did taste these…
Stubborn Mule – Who Gose There –
Ash – 2
Vile
Bob – 8.5
One of the best drinks of the day – finally a drink that was not mango! The Ginger gave a nice spicy aftertaste too.
Windswept – Strong Stout
Ash – 8
Like many of them it was fizzy and less creamy and smooth – One of the better beers for me.
Bob – 0
I didn’t taste.
Bowler’s – Mangoes into a Bar
Best named beer of the day award!
Ash – 4
It wasn’t bad – a palette cleanser
Bob – 5.5
Very watery mango drink – I mean it was ok but more like squash
Aeronaut Brew – Mango Lime Sour Planet
Ash – 0
Didn’t try
Bob – 7
It was ok but I don’t really remember it
Tom’s Tap – The Might Stout
Ash – 6.5
I wanted to try a different stout but this is the one I ended up with (as it was the only one on at this booth) it was meh fizzy but highly ordinary
Bob – 0
Didn’t Try
Alveena – Freddy Bosbes
Ash – 0
Oh holy fuck!!
Bob – 2
I like sours but this was horrible – the initial taste was ok but then the aftertaste was vile (think battery acid)!
Tilquin – Gueza A’Laciem
Ash – 1
It was better than the battery acid
Bob – 7
This was I think was the best drink for me and thankfully it didn’t taste like all the rest.
Beartown – Peach Melbear Sour
Ash – 0
Didn’t try
Bob – 5
Another watery mango/peach flavor not memorable but not abysmal
Burning Soul – Dark Necessities
Ash – 7.5
It was another one of the drinks that blended in but a little better I guess being that I still rated it above 7
Bob – 0
Never tried it
Leigh on Sea – Crowstone
Ash -8
Thats pretty good – It was a black IPA – probably the only beer I would try again
Bob – 0
Didn’t try it
Runaway – Strawberry Bush Sour –
Ash – 0
Didn’t try
Bob – 7
I couldn’t taste strawberries at all or any kind of sour but it was easy to drink
Brummie Brewery – Brummies Stout –
Ash – 5
Thats interesting – Odd flavor
Bob – 0
Didn’t try it
Siren – Illuminati –
Ash – 3
Horrible, flat- no!
Bob – 2
Meh it was flat and fizzy I don’t really understand
Siren – Mango Milkshake –
Ash – 3
Those two beers from Siren were a bad idea!
Bob – 2 – TOO HOPPY it was disgusting!!!!
Arpus – Mango x Pineapple Coconut Smoothie Sour
Ash – 7
It was good – not sour – it was a creamy smooth easy to drink taste
Bob – 10
Hands down the best beer of the day – in fact one of the instant favorites of all time – it tasted like mimosas – YUMMMMMMMMMMM!
Well there you go that was the GBBF, come back next year for the next one! But in the meantime come back for more posts on places to go and things to do in London, also if you want to see our day out you can watch it on YouTube along with all the CMHoL Sections and more.
Climbing Moss 
One thought on “GBBF 23”