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Maidstone Beer Festival 2005 (CAMRA Beer Festival)

Beer (sort)Average Score (sort)No. Samples (sort)
Cheriton (see now the entry for Flowerpots) - Pots AleExceptional1
Harvey's - Southdown Harvest AleExceptional1
Mighty Oak - English OakExcellent1
Moor - Old Freddy WalkerExcellent1
Burton Bridge - Damson PorterGood1
Dark Star - Over The MoonGood1
Inveralmond - ThrappledouserGood1
Loddon - Gravesend Shrimpers BitterGood1
Oakham - Khyber PassGood1
Beowulf - Heroes BitterAcceptable1
Newby Wyke - Bear IslandAcceptable1
Ossett - Pale GoldAcceptable1
Pilgrim - XXXX PorterAcceptable1
Whitstable - Whitstable BitterAcceptable1

Visits Details

03 Sep 2005 (Ian)
Went with Martin to start with and sat in the marquee and then met up with SilkTork and sat in the orchard overlooking the hops, oast house, barn and farm house. Extremely pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Beers were in good nick too.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Harvey's - Southdown Harvest Ale5.00ExceptionalDark copper, typical Harveys yeast nose apple fruit, good malt, really nice finish,very distinctive. Excellent beer. Suggested by SilkTork
Cheriton (see now the entry for Flowerpots) - Pots Ale3.80ExceptionalUsed to have this a lot at The Mogul in Dover but haven’t had it in a bit and had almost forgotten how good this beer is. Terrific 3.8% session bitter. Dark gold really nice intense hop aroma, with some aramel and a bit of fruit to carry it through with some red berry fruit flavours and a crisp enjoyable hoppy dry finish. Excellent
Mighty Oak - English Oak4.80ExcellentMid brown good mix of malt and hop, nice hop aroma quite a good mouthfeel, nice dry hop finish. Good best bitter
Moor - Old Freddy Walker7.30ExcellentBlack colour beige head. Choc/coffee/liquorice aromas, good in mouth with drying finish and some dark fruit. Good strong dark beer which doesn’t allow the strength to over run it.
Dark Star - Over The Moon3.80GoodRuby colour, bubbly beige head, dark fruity malt aroma with some hop. Good in mouth, bit grainy, with OK finish which is dry. Some acids with a bit more fruit on the end. Not the best Dark Star beer, but still good
Burton Bridge - Damson Porter4.50GoodVery dark ruby, tan bubbly head, not overly fruity nose, bit tarry, but ok in mouth, nice understated fruit with drying finish. Some coffee, touch of vanilla, damsons kick in later on. Very nice actually
Loddon - Gravesend Shrimpers Bitter4.10GoodDark copper with bubbly beige head. Really nice hop nose, good malt balance. Not a bad best bitter. Good in mouth well made. Nice biting hops on end
Inveralmond - Thrappledouser4.30GoodDark copper colour, little white head. Hoppy mineral sulphur/spice inmouth with spicey hop finish. Good, very drinkable
Oakham - Khyber Pass5.50GoodBrowny copper, slight haze, Oakham distinctive nose, bit maltier and deeper than their blonde beers. Slightly spicey in mouth, finish is spicey hop
Whitstable - Whitstable Bitter3.80AcceptableCopper, thin white head, very perfumed aroma, bit of green apple, ok in mouth some hops on end. Not bad, bit too acidic
Newby Wyke - Bear Island4.60AcceptableSlightly hazy gold thin white head, citrus hop with some berry aroma. Spicey hoppy citric finish not quite there and a bit rubbery
Ossett - Pale Gold3.80AcceptableDark gold, some US hop aroma, bit of hay but a bit dull. Hoppy, citrus finish
Pilgrim - XXXX Porter4.10AcceptableBlack, thinnish beige head. Some coffee, some tar, oily almost in mouth with dry finish. Quite chewy with a bit of caramel but overall too acidic
Beowulf - Heroes Bitter4.70AcceptablePale gold, very hoppy with citrus flavours. However this is a bit metallic and the lemon fruit is a bit soapy. Lets it down

About the Maidstone Beer Festival 2005

Summary of Beer Scores

 Total
Exceptional2
Excellent2
Good5
Acceptable5
Poor-

The pub is found in Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3AU.

Annual beer festival held at the Museum of Kent Life just off Junction 6 of the M20. Museum itself is excellent to wander around and the entrance to the museum is included in the beer festival fee. Festival itself is held in a marquee with limited seating, but large grass area outside holds most of the visitors. Around 95 beers plus ciders and perry. Attracts a large proportion of families due to the museum connection.

We have visited this pub once, seen 14 different beers and tried them all.

Map location

Postcode: ME14 3AU