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St Albans Beer Festival 2005 (CAMRA Beer Festival)

Beer (sort)Average Score (sort)No. Samples (sort)
Tunnel - Tradewinds IPAExceptional1
Station House - 1st LightExcellent1
Mighty Oak - Maiden OverExcellent1
Nethergate (was Nethergate Growler for a while then name reverted) - Umbel MagnaExcellent1
Evan Evans - Harvest HomeExcellent1
Potton - John Cunningham Night FighterGood1
Titanic - M G YGood1
Grand Union - One Hop GalenaGood1
Cheriton (see now the entry for Flowerpots) - Best BitterGood1
Mersea Island - SkippersGood1
Station House - 3 ScoreAcceptable1
Wickwar - Autumn AleAcceptable1
Peakstones (formerly Peakstones Rock) - NemesisPoor1
Picture 1. St Albans Beer Festival 2005, St Albans, Hertfordshire

Visits Details

01 Oct 2005 (Ian)
Saturday session. Got there at opening time and met up with some friends from Ratebeer.com. Although some of the beers had already gone, there was still plenty left to try and the Reserve list beer started to come on too. Not overly full, but nice relaxed atmosphere. Foreign beer bar in the basement was very popular. Good beer festival and I will come back again next year.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Tunnel - Tradewinds IPA4.60ExceptionalCloudy copper colour which lets it down on the appearance. Intense hop and IPA aroma. Bit more watery in the mouth than a US IIPA but has the same characteristics. This beer was virtually next to our table all day, but we only tried it towards the end. Now this is what I call an IPA
Mighty Oak - Maiden Over4.20ExcellentVery dark brown/ruby colour with beige head. Good stout with coffee/choc flavours throughout. Good body and nice lasting finish of espresso coffee. Very good stout.
Nethergate (was Nethergate Growler for a while then name reverted) - Umbel Magna5.00ExcellentDark ruby colour with good spicey caramel and smooth in the mouth. Really quite like it, but not a lot of coriander, definite spicey edge with a bit of bacon?
Evan Evans - Harvest Home4.30ExcellentRusset colour. Bit cloudy with bubbly beige head. Good hop nose. Cascade hop flavour with some chocolate. Very good beer with hoppy/choc finish. Some orangey citrus
Station House - 1st Light3.80ExcellentProbably the hoppiest UK beer I had at the festival. Hazy gold colour. Rich, very extreme hop. Really bitter. I like this a lot. V hoppy finish. Wow!
Titanic - M G Y4.40GoodOrange copper colour, bubbly off white head, sherberty/grapefruit hop aroma, possible US hop influence. Good in mouth with hop/grapefruit finish. Yes, good 1st pint of the festival
Mersea Island - Skippers4.80GoodRed/ruby colour with lasting beige head. Good earthy hops, I quite like this. Bit of honey sweetness and good hop finish. Will look out for this brewery in the future
Potton - John Cunningham Night Fighter4.00GoodDark ruby colour with lasting beige bubbly head. Nice choc malts and quite fresh. Very dry finish.
Grand Union - One Hop Galena4.50GoodI would love to do a horizontal tasting of all of these One Hop beers as I think that they are a great idea. This one had a golden orange colour with bubbly white head. Really good hop nose with good citrus and green hop flavour. SilkTork was banging on about the brewery, but I don’t care, these are cracking beers
Cheriton (see now the entry for Flowerpots) - Best Bitter4.20GoodAnother cracker from this top brewery. Reddish brown colour with good malt/hop balance. Bit of choc and good hop flavours. Superb. Really nice flavours throughout and excellent dry hoppy finish. Gorgeous.
Station House - 3 Score4.50AcceptableReddish brown, no head. Cider apple aroma, more sweetish in mouth with a bit of apple brandy and brown sugar and nice warmish finish. No great length, but this was ok
Wickwar - Autumn Ale4.60AcceptableDeep russet. Good autumnal fruit. Quite deep flavours. OK. Hops give is a goodish balance. Fruits are nice though
Peakstones (formerly Peakstones Rock) - Nemesis3.80PoorHazy gold with little white head. Chemical bleach lemon nose. Better in mouth with some tart hops and some earthiness

About the St Albans Beer Festival 2005

Summary of Beer Scores

 Total
Exceptional1
Excellent4
Good5
Acceptable2
Poor1

The pub is found in St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3LD.

Annual beer festival held in the Alban Arena. Two large bars with 300 beers from the UK are supported by a cider/perry stand, a bottled conditioned stand and a foreign beer stand. The Main and Stage bars are located in the main hall with seating around the edge of the hall.

We have visited this pub once, seen 13 different beers and tried them all.

Map location

Postcode: AL1 3LD