Favourite beers from the Great British Beer Festival?

[OldThumper]

Hi all,

I was wondering if many people went to the annual great british beer festival in London last week? If you did I think it would make an interesting thread to list your favourite beers.

For me, I discovered an American Pale Ale from O'Dells called St Lupulin and I was simply blown away by it. Quiter simply one of the nicest beers I have ever had. It is very similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale but a bit more hoppy with may be a little more aroma I think.

http://www.odellbrewing.com/beers/seaso ... e-ale.aspx

I bought 3 bottles back with me but at £3 each for 330ml it is quite expensive. I would love a recipe for this! So, if you like SNPA check this one out in bottles if you can find it.

Darkstar brewery did very well and I had the Hophead (fab) but the award winning American Pale Ale had sole out by the time I returned.

what was everybody's else favourites/recommendations then?

[Scooby]

Would have cot me over £60 to get there so I don't really want to know what I missed

[OldThumper]

Sorry Scooby!

If it is any consolation it cost me £25 on the train + £85 for a hotel for me and the missus for the night!

I considered the festival as "research"

[booldawg]

I went their and I was as sick as a dog with Flu. Was there for 5 hours and only managed 3 pints I even had to get a hall pass to go out and find a pharmacy to get some flu capsules - shouldnt have gone really.

Anyway for the hour that I felt vaguely human for I did enjoy 2 halves of Whitewater 'Northern Brewer' We were sat near the Scots/Irish/Welsh section and that was the nearest! Unbeleivable they had absolutely no Scottish beers even at 11am on Saturday.
The first ale I had was the Mild off the SIBA winners bar which was quite pleasent.

[Invalid Stout]

My top three were Bateman's G.H.A., White Shield Brewery P2 Imperial Stout, and Bristol Brewery Milk Stout. I wrote about them here: http://refreshingbeer.blogspot.com/2009 ... diary.html

I would have liked to try more US beers, but at upwards of 8% ABV each they're not the kind of thing you can drink all afternoon. I did however have a chat with a charming chap on the US bar about water treatment, hops, beer gravity and whether the US fashion for very hoppy beers had peaked. Only after the festival did I find out he was the head brewer and co-owner of Victory Brewing Co.

I don't like to think about how much it cost me to get there, but I justify it by thinking about how much I save by homebrewing

[steve_flack]

The two nicest ones I had were Brains Dark (which was much better than the Champion IMO) and Lagunitas IPA (bottled). I had a cracking draught Kriek too - Echte Kriek which is a Flanders Red with added cherries. Very nice but you wouldn't want a pint...if you know what I mean.

Just to make you all sick - It cost me a zone 1 oyster journey (£1.60) to get there. I've got a train season ticket so that was already paid for.

[Subsonic]

Hey Old Thumper, I posted the same thing in the recipes section. I had the Dark Star beer at my local a few days before the comp and commented how bloody good it was. I had been to Texas and had a few IPA's at the Dixie Cup. I was so impressed I got home and named my 'brewery' Kentish Lone Star as homage to the Lone Star in the States. Dark Star IPA caught my eye here and I have been raving about it ever since. The colour and hoppiness was spot on. I WANT A RECIPE FOR IT!!!! Let me know how you get on as this in on my list for next brew day. Subsonic.

[Scooby]

I don't like to think about how much it cost me to get there

I dread to think I'm only 15mins from the station and then 1hr from Paddington. I hope it wasn't pro rata.

[tadbrewer]

i managed to get ther...

must admit ther were some good beers, bar the lambic one which i coulnd't finish. would like to say that my two faves were leeds brewery funfair and brewers gold.

[mysterio]

Still can't believe i've never been to a GBBF, well anyone sponsor me ?

[Scooby]

Still can't believe i've never been to a GBBF, well anyone sponsor me ?

Earls Court is a cr@p venue for a beer festival mysterio, it's a dismal place to drink beer

[OldThumper]

Like Invalid Stout, I also thought the Bristol Brewery Milk Stout was a good one!

It was good to see the option for a third of a pint as well even if I did not take that one up

[Invalid Stout]

Still can't believe i've never been to a GBBF, well anyone sponsor me ?

Took me 20 years to get around to it!

[Invalid Stout]

Earls Court is a cr@p venue for a beer festival mysterio, it's a dismal place to drink beer

Do you fancy suggesting a nicer venue of a similar size not too far from central London? Your options are kind of limited when you have to accommodate 70,000 drinkers.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Do you fancy suggesting a nicer venue of a similar size not too far from central London? Your options are kind of limited when you have to accommodate 70,000 drinkers.

Why does it have to be London?