Back up north for the 47th Newcastle Beer Festival.

Newcastle beer festival is an event on the calendar that is rarely missed. Back in my younger years it was the first beer festival I ever went to and I distinctly remember being near the front of the que to get in on day one. These days I'm just grateful to make it and get the glass. 

For me Newcastle beer festival is still one of best beer festivals around. The banter is always class, it has the usual live music and small array of quirky stalls selling other stuff and then their's the nostalgia factor of seeing all the old brewers like Allendale, Cullercoats and Northern Alchemy that I got to know from way back when. More importantly they do a pretty good job at picking a diverse line up of beers and this years 47th Newcastle beer festival was no different.

 With a hit list too big to cover in the one day. This years starting point would be none other than this years Battle of the beers (Best Bitter category) winner; Hadrian and Border Things Can Only Get Bitter ESB at 4.5% which had a very pleasant balance of floral hops and caramelised malt with nuances of forest fruit. 

As opposed to having one overall winner (like in the competitions earlier days) battle of the beers is now awarded over two categories/beer styles by two different brewers. This was a rule brought in to hinder the probability of a single brewery winning overall champion year on year and making the outcome too predictable (smiling right now). 

 The other category (Chocolate ale) was won by Thirsty Moose Cocoa Swirl 4.2% which was worth a try but wasn't really my kind of thing. Then again I have rarely been a fan of the chocolate stout/porter formula.  

The rest of the day went splendidly, featuring an impressive array of beers including Durham Brewery 13 Heavens 4.3% which was very light and clean with fruity tropical notes to the fore. The Glasgow based Simple Things Peated Brown ale (5.5%) was big and smooth with lots of peaty, toffee, fruity wholesomeness and Allendale's new collaboration IPA with US based Suncreek; Sun Squishy IPA 6% was very grapefruit forward and uncompromising. 

The Newcastle university student ran Stu Brew have been know for some pretty adventurous beers over the years. Panic Masters, a 4.5% pale/speciality ale fermented with Kveik yeast and dry hopped with Ahtanum and Loral hops was certainly worth a try. It has an interesting profile of sweet fruity-floral then dry sherbert going on and to me it would probably be better on keg. In a similar fashion Northern Alchemy Nothing to be feared 4.3% Nettle tea ale was another peculiar number. The words; botanical, sweet, vegital and musty come to mind, very alternative but certainly pleasant. 

 

One of my favourite beers of the festival was Vaux Charles Street Brown 4.6%. A characterful US hop driven American Brown ale. Lot's of hop pine, caramel malts and a dry roasted malt finish. This was a class beer but the beer of festival for me was from the upstairs keg bar; Otherworld Rosy at 7%, A multi-faceted barrel aged fruited sour beer. Think the lightness of fresh cherryade meeting serious deep bourbon like oaky notes. Drinkability meets depth and class.

It was good that the majority of beers were still available despite it being day three. But sadly this year no Daleside or Rooster's beers were on offer. None the less that pretty much sums up the highlight of this years Newcastle beer fest. Although I didn't manage to catch up with as many old faces as I would have liked, or got to try all the beers on the most wanted list, it was a class day overall.