We arrived at about half 6 and it was already rammed full of people. Undeterred we headed to the Imported Beers bar and had a look at the overwhelmingly long menu. Luckily, we were interrupted by one of the volunteers who asked me whether I would like something ‘very VERY hoppy’, ‘burnt tyres and christmas pudding’ or ‘bananas and cloves’. I sensed the latter was going to be a German Weissbier and took a half (unadventurous I know, but you have to ease yourself into these things). It was indeed, beautifully thick with a strong aroma of bananas and shrimp sweets, I could have sipped this all night.
Of course I immediately returned for a half of ‘very VERY hoppy’ (which turned out to be Outstanding Brewing Co Imperial IPA) and my goodness it was. It was like sucking on a sloe, very dry, but with a little shout of bitterness at the end.
From there we headed to the tombola. I just can’t resist a tombola; thank god we didn’t have much change on us. On the bright side we each won one of these…
…which they assured me was still valid, but wouldn’t let me use at the Strong Beers bar, despite my pleas. Instead I used mine on a Black Dog Schooner (4.2%), which was a fairly standard, but decent pint. Golden, hoppy and fruity. I wasn’t racing back for another, but it was perfectly drinkable.
After the first successful tombola, we had to have another go, which is when I won this…
I just have to come out and say this: dear god, the eggyness. I thought there was nothing worse than the waft of egg, until it was the waft of egg and honey combined. I’m going to be kind enough to assume this was a bad bottle and leave it at that.
After that it all got a little hazy, but I think I can congratulate CAMRA on another well organised event. From the team at the front desk to the bar staff to the food it was all very professionally put together. Looking forward to the London Drinker already!
The Crafty Beeress 