How was the Beer Fest?

Good fun! Of course, the story might be different for attendees of the Great British Beer Festival now that it's tomorrow morning. But, last night at the event, we were all a sea of smiling faces, with hearty laughter rumbling from our bellies.

The festival was a series of bars arranged by British region with a few other category bars thrown in for good measure: brewery bars, family brewers, "Bar Nouveau" (new British beers), real ale in a bottle, real cider and perry, and foreign beer. Vendors selling t-shirts, sausage, roast pork, Cornish pasties and the like were also on hand.

Among my favorite drinks last night (and there were quite a few favorites), two delicious brews are most memorable.

The hands down best of the night was Batemans Valiant, about which my two drinkmates were in agreement. This delicious golden beer was clean and crisp with just the right amount of zest. Really, it was one of the most refreshing beverages I've ever tasted.

Coming in at a very close second was Bazens' Brewery's Black Pig Mild, which has one of the coolest labels I've ever seen. Its just-the-right-amount-of-chocolatey-goodness made for a smooth and easy to appreciate drink that would go down easy with just about any meal at just about any time of the year.






The Great British Beer Festival runs until 5 August at Earl's Court.