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White Cliffs Beer Festival 2009 (CAMRA Beer Festival)
| Beer (sort) | Average Score (sort) | No. Samples (sort) |
|---|---|---|
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - IPA |  | 3 |
| Goacher's - 1066 Old Ale |  | 2 |
| Spectrum - Old Stoatwobbler | | 2 |
| Dark Star - Victorian Ruby Mild |  | 2 |
| Humpty Dumpty - Porter | | 2 |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Handel | | 2 |
| BlackFriars - Old Habit | | 2 |
| Brunswick - Father Mike's Dark Rich Ruby | | 2 |
| Newby Wyke - Distant Grounds IPA | | 2 |
| Milton - Mammon |  | 2 |
| Eastwood & Sanders - 1872 Porter | | 1 |
| Museum - Worthington's White Shield | | 1 |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Jaipur | | 1 |
| Country Life - Devonshire Ten-der | | 1 |
| Frome (formerly Milk Street) - ! Beer | | 1 |
| Hopdaemon - Leviathan | | 1 |
| Oakham - Attila | | 1 |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - DogBolter Dark Porter | | 1 |
| Westerham - Extra Special | | 1 |
| Grainstore - Rutland Beast | | 1 |
| Orkney (Sinclair) - Skull Splitter | | 1 |
| Sarah Hughes - Snowflake | | 1 |
| Three B's - Shuttle Ale | | 1 |
| Belvoir - Old Dalby Ale | | 1 |
| Grain - Ported Porter | | 1 |
| Holland - Dutch Courage | | 1 |
| Milestone - Donner & Blitzed | | 1 |
| Otter - MacOtter | | 1 |
| Ascot - Winter Reserve |  | 1 |
| Old Bear - Old Tyke | | 1 |
| Tipple's - Crackle Winter Ale | | 1 |
| Tower - Old Navigation | | 1 |
Visits Details
07 Feb 2009 (Ian)
I came back on the Saturday, to try to knock off some of the beers that I didn't have room for on the Friday. The Saturday session is far less fast and furious with a few people with sore heads and more families and couples. A relaxed feeling in the main hall with an ecletic mix of music on stage.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - DogBolter Dark Porter | 5.60 | | Excellent really, after a couple of poor beers, this was great. I bought it and drank it walking down the hall to the glass return desk. Great dark fruit. Damson, dark plum. Good condition. Lovely. |
| Three B's - Shuttle Ale | 5.20 | | Bit of a haze on a copper/russet body. Thin beige head. Still in pretty good nick, ratehr good fruit/malt. Some earthy hop finish. It's pretty good. Nice bit of sparkle and very decent fruit. |
| Brunswick - Father Mike's Dark Rich Ruby | 5.80 | | Thick dark, dark brown with very thin beige head. Some thickness in mouth, some choc, some dark fruit. Some dryness. Good thick mouthfeel. |
| Belvoir - Old Dalby Ale | 5.10 | | Chestnut colour, lasting bubbly head. Toffee caramel on aroma. Some earthiness on finish. It's alright, some decent fruity malt. Toffee is pleasing. Just a bit bettern than average. |
| Holland - Dutch Courage | 5.00 | | Clear pale chestnut colour, lasting beige head. OK, some malt. Some hop, bit of acidity. Bit earthy. Average premium bitter. Again, not exceptional, but decent, some good flavours from the malt and ok sparkling dryish finish. |
| Old Bear - Old Tyke | 6.00 | | Chestnut colour with thin beige head. Attractive strong malt aroma. A little musty/dusty in the mouth. Starts well, but then fades. It's not all that good. Too musty/dusty. |
| Tipple's - Crackle Winter Ale | 6.50 | | Very dark ruby colour with thin darkish beige head. Cinnamon, spice all over it. Better in mouth, some bitter dark choc, some spice sting on finish. Settles down into a pretty well made beer, still too much spice for me though. |
| Tower - Old Navigation | 7.00 | | Bleachy acidic aroma, some fruit in mouth, damson and sour plum. Somewhere between an old ale and bleach. Lots of damson fruit. Poor. |
06 Feb 2009 (Ian)
Met up with Andrew, Brian and Pete at the train station and got into the queue about 12.35. Great afternoon/early evening meeting up with Dubbel and Blair as well as SilkTork from Ratebeer, Martyn from the Butcher's Arms and assorted Dover people. Later on my work colleagues from Eurotunnel also put in an appearance using the very good pre-festival ticket system. Beer quality and condition on the whole was very good as always. Thornbridge Jaipur was beer of the festival as it ran out the quickest.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goacher's - 1066 Old Ale | 6.70 | | Smells of stilton and sweaty socks and some really good sourness. That is good. Most distinctive beer here. Again I bottled this and drank it on the way home. |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Jaipur | 5.90 | | Andrew said "it tastes of jif." He's wrong. Simply 5/5. Wonderful assertive hop. I had it twice. |
| Oakham - Attila | 7.50 | | Normally my first beer of the festival turns out to be the best. I haven't had this since having it years ago at the Oakham brewery tap in Peterborough so I was really anticipating having it again, plus it was Camra Winter Beer of the Year 2009. Slightly hot aroma, lots of hops. Slightly syrupy in mouth, lots of yellow grapefruit on finish and leafy hop. Lovely |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Handel | 6.60 | | Very Belgian aroma. Good pear drop fruit. Good grainy malt in mouth. Lovely finish. Bananary esters. Really interesting, lovely fruit. Bit of spice on finish. More esters on finish. Excellent. |
| Westerham - Extra Special | 5.00 | | Lovely copper/amber attractive colour, good lasting beige head. Tangerine fruit. Yeast character is excellent. Good yeast, good biscuit malt, nice balancing hop and a hot tangerine lasting crystallised fruit finish. I had this again on Saturday on the train on the way home after I had bottled it. |
| Country Life - Devonshire Ten-der | 10.00 | | Ruby colour, thin beige head. Some vomit on aroma. Doesn't taste of 10%, good fruit. Nice sourness. It's good, bit of dark choc. Choccy dark fruit improves as it goes on. Really opens up. |
| Grainstore - Rutland Beast | 5.30 | | Ruby/chestnut colour, thin beige head. Great condition. It's a bit toasty, good beer. Not that bad. Decent sting on end. Tasty and toasty. |
| Dark Star - Victorian Ruby Mild | 6.00 | | Very deep ruby colour with bubbly cream head. Some syrupy malt on aroma. It's good. Good condition. Really nice fruit, damson and dark plum. Not really my style of beer, but very nice nevertheless. |
| Humpty Dumpty - Porter | 5.40 | | Black with dark brown edges, and lasting bubbly dark beige head. Roasted aroma, some choc. Lots of coffee and choc, really roasted. Excellent condition, strong flavours. But not over the top. Soft espresso coffee at end. Bit powdery in mouth. Nice though. |
| Newby Wyke - Distant Grounds IPA | 5.20 | | Yeast and some hops on aroma. Hops are ok. It's ok, some peppery hop. Fine if unspectacular. |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - IPA | 8.00 | | You really can smell the hoppy leafy Cascades on the aroma. Aroma's good, but the syrupy alcohol doesn't work. Needs 6 months ageing in a bottle I would guess, a bit like the No Tomorrow IPA which I think really did improve in the bottle. Too hot on the end. |
| Grain - Ported Porter | 5.20 | | Bit fishy on aroma. Liquorice all oer it. No port as far as I can tell. Bit powdery in mouth. It's just to much liquorice for me. |
| Ascot - Winter Reserve | 5.20 | | Too much cinnamon and spice on aroma. Too perfumed, pretty poor. |
| BlackFriars - Old Habit | 5.60 | | Green apple aroma, fruity in the mouth, maybe not fully brewed out, bit yeasty, bit unready. Poor. |
06 Feb 2009 (Blair)
I'd been excited about this for months and it didn't disappoint. It was great to see Ian again and finally meet Andrew, Dubbel and such. The beer line-up was incredible, the atmosphere fantastic and the entertainment was good too. I don't remember the last couple of hours, but I see that as a sign of a great night!
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastwood & Sanders - 1872 Porter | 6.50 | | Probably my beer of the festival. Thick and creamy with chocolate and liquorice and a nice amount of roasted malt. Stunning. |
| Spectrum - Old Stoatwobbler | 6.00 | | A close second place for this one. Dark chocolate and berries dominate. This was gorgeous. I feel guilty not giving it top place but the 1872 just pips it. |
| Hopdaemon - Leviathan | 6.00 | | This wasn't as good as it was at the Man of Kent last year, a little more watery in the mouth. Still a great beer though, rich, creamy, chocolatey and fruity. Really complex. |
| Brunswick - Father Mike's Dark Rich Ruby | 5.80 | | Black mild, quite sweet with nice roasted malt flavours. Another good one. |
| Dark Star - Victorian Ruby Mild | 6.00 | | Strong, dark mild. Really good chocolate and roast malt flavours. I have to admit I was mildly disappointed (excuse the pun) although that's just a testament to how great dark star are when a 4 out of 5 beer is a disappointment. |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - IPA | 8.00 | | Eddie produced this beer completely unanounced. Very few people knew he was brewing it so it was a really nice surprise. It was also a really nice beer. |
| BlackFriars - Old Habit | 5.60 | | Roast malt and plums with a little coffee at the end. Good stuff. |
| Orkney (Sinclair) - Skull Splitter | 8.50 | | Hoppy and very fruity, doesn't disguise the strength very well though. Overall good. |
| Milton - Mammon | 7.00 | | Interestingly I've got this marked down as good in my notes. I've got to admit I'm questioning myself after seeing Andrew's review of this beer. However, I found it to be rich and flavoursome if a little on the dull side. |
| Sarah Hughes - Snowflake | 8.00 | | Strong and very sweet, quite a generic barley wine really. But it was still very tasty. |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Handel | 6.60 | | A belgian-style ale apparently. Yup, I'm not going to argue. Sweet, with banana and caramel. |
| Milestone - Donner & Blitzed | 5.40 | | A little synthetic, a little sour. Alrightish. |
06 Feb 2009 (Andrew)
Well that was probably the best Dover Beer Festival I've been to since the first one Ian and I attended where people pitched up next to us and had a picnic. It was good to finally met up with Blair and Dubbel and the beer quality this year was excellent too. I had a good chat to Martyn from the Butchers Arms in Herne and a quick chat with the landlord at the Man of Kent in Rochester too. All in all a very good time.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goacher's - 1066 Old Ale | 6.70 | | As Ian said, the best beer here. Rich with a hint of plum skin. Toasted straw and astringent with a hint of cob nut. Martyn decanted it too with made it even better. |
| Museum - Worthington's White Shield | 5.60 | | Buscuity malt with raspberry and white pepper. Good deep resonating finish |
| Spectrum - Old Stoatwobbler | 6.00 | | Sour, rich, acrid, roasted and well ballanced |
| Humpty Dumpty - Porter | 5.40 | | Sour subtle and burnt. Lovely |
| Frome (formerly Milk Street) - ! Beer | 5.00 | | Mandy was her name, so I had to have this didn't I. Pale beer with sherbet and lemon. Sharp but smooth. |
| Newby Wyke - Distant Grounds IPA | 5.20 | | Cloudy amber beer with hoppy sweet well balanced rich pepper hop |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - IPA | 8.00 | | Not my usual kind of beer at all but strong, subtle, tart astringent, pale and mottled. I liked it |
| Otter - MacOtter | 5.00 | | Everyone agreed that this was just bland |
| Milton - Mammon | 7.00 | | Medicinal. Dilute savlon. This was horrible |
About the White Cliffs Beer Festival 2009
Summary of Beer Scores
| Total | |
|---|---|
| 8 |
| 13 |
| 8 |
| 8 |
| 6 |
The pub is found in Dover, Kent, CT16 1DL.
The White Cliffs Winter beer festival. A CAMRA Winter beer festival held in the magnificent historic Maison Dieu building.
We have visited this pub 4 times, seen 32 different beers and tried them all.
Postcode: CT16 1DL