Beer on the Wye XVII

 Off to Hereford this afternoon for the first day of Beer on the Wye, and a lovely sunny day for it!

The bus got me to Hereford shortly before one, and Beer on the Wye opened to the general public at 2pm, so I had time to take some stuff to a charity shop (I usually go to the RSPCA, as it's close to the bus stop where I get off), and find something to eat before I started drinking.  I found a little crepes stall just inside the entrance to the Market - I just had a plain one with lemon and sugar to try it out, and it was delicious.

I do not have a large capacity for beer these days, so my approach has to be pretty well targetted.  So although there were over 149 different draught ciders on offer, 90 of them from Herefordshire, I wasn't going to try any of them - or the 53 World Beers, partly because I am very much out of practice at knowing what the different beer styles are like.

That leaves the 134 beers, so there was plenty for me to choose from.  I was drinking thirds, too, so I could try as many different beers as possible over the afternoon.

As soon as I stepped into the marquee, I spotted the barrels of Uley beer.  I have happy memories of a CAMRA coach trip to the Uley brewery, which ended with the brewer playing his accordion while we sang, so I started off with the excellent Old Spot, a 5% ruby ale  (several of my choices were on the strong side).

Also at that end of the bar was Jaipur, from Thornbridge, which I'm pretty sure I remember winning best beer of the Festival a few years ago - this one is a Pale Ale, very well hopped, and 5.9%.

After that I was in the mood for something completely different - Moonraker Mild, from Empire brewery in Huddersfield, which was only 3.8%, and not hoppy at all.

My fourth choice was a porter from a brewery called Wildcraft in Norwich.  It was flavoured with cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, and my mouth went 'Wow!'  It was also 5%, and my favourite of this year's Festival.

Finally, I'd noticed a new distillery housed in an old toilet block near the swimming baths on my way into Hereford.  This is Goldenwake Distillery, and they had provided a barrel of Honey Ale, which is technically a mead made with hops!  It's 4.4%.  I tend to think of Moniak Mead as the gold standard of meads, and this one was quite a bit lighter than that, but very thirst quenching, and I would certainly try it again.

By that time, I was sharing a table with a retired truck driver and his friend who had come down for the day on the train from Birmingham - I took my own stool, which was a wise move.  We had a very pleasant conversation about the beers.  One of them was enjoying Absolutely Cherried, a cherry porter from 4TS brewery in Warrington, and the other was enjoying the dark mild from Bank Top in Bolton.

According to Mark Haslam's introduction to the programme (he's the Festival Co-ordinator), this might be the last Beer on the Wye to take place by the Rowing Club.  There's a scheme afoot to develop the riverside, and if it goes ahead there won't be room for the beer festival's marquee!

The Festival continues this year over the weekend, with a variety of bands on Friday and Saturday evenings, and Hereford Big Band, playing music of the 1930s and 40s, from 2pm on Sunday afternoon.