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White Cliffs Beer Festival 2007 (CAMRA Beer Festival)
| Beer (sort) | Average Score (sort) | No. Samples (sort) |
|---|---|---|
| Brewster's - Stilton Porter |  | 2 |
| Eastwood & Sanders - 1872 Porter | | 1 |
| Acorn - 4th Noel | | 2 |
| Oakham - Oblivion | | 2 |
| Loddon - Forbury Lion Strong I.P.A. |  | 2 |
| Goacher's - Gold Star | | 1 |
| Enville - Gothic Ale | | 2 |
| Rother Valley - Blues | | 1 |
| Arundel - Old Scrooge (superseded by 5% version) | | 1 |
| Matthew's - 40 Yards | | 3 |
| Dark Star - Critical Mass |  | 1 |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Storm Warning | | 1 |
| Nelson - Shipwrecked | | 1 |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - DogBolter Dark Porter | | 1 |
| Skinner's - Jingle Knocker | | 1 |
| Ossett - Excelsius (was Excelsior) | | 2 |
| Beowulf - Mercian Shine | | 1 |
| Hopdaemon - Leviathan | | 1 |
| Leadmill - The Beast | | 1 |
| Marston's - Old Empire IPA | | 1 |
| RCH - Santa Fe | | 1 |
| Sarah Hughes - Snowflake | | 1 |
| Branscombe (was Branscombe Vale) - Salvage Special | | 1 |
| Mayfields - Auntie Myrtles | | 2 |
| Elgood's - Wenceslas Winter Warmer | | 1 |
| Triple fff - I Can't Remember ! | | 1 |
| Alcazar - Maple Magic Winter Ale |  | 1 |
| Big Lamp - Old Genie | | 1 |
| Abbeydale - Absolution | | 1 |
| Burton Bridge - Festival Ale | | 1 |
| Frome (formerly Milk Street) - Bobbled | | 1 |
| Coach House - Blunderbus Old Porter (superseded by 5.3% version) | | 1 |
| Mordue - IPA | | 1 |
| Hobden's Wessex - Russian Stoat | | 1 |
| Dorset Brewing Company - Silent Knight |  | 1 |
| Warcop - Caspa | | 1 |
Visits Details
03 Feb 2007 (Ian)
I rather surprised myself by coming back the next day. I did promise that I would meet up with Mark and Elizabeth (ex Mogul) who now live in Brussels. Mark had sponsored one of the barrels of beer to guarantee him entry to the festival. The hall filled up quite nicely around lunchtime with children and families. Live music provided by piano and accompanying instruments was supplied most of the afternoon with most humour coming from the trumpet player who used a piece of garden hose and a funnel to play songs. Beer was still in good nick and most beers were still on sale. Hopdaemon Green Daemon won beer of the festival by selling out by 17.50 on the first day.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acorn - 4th Noel | 5.10 | | Still as good as the day before. So much mouth feel on this. Wide, broad beer. Excellent and one I will definitely take away with me in my mind. |
| Skinner's - Jingle Knocker | 5.50 | | Amber colour with lasting thin beige head. Bit of sulphur on the aroma. Bit of yeast before sweetish malt fruit kicks in. Decent peppery hop on end is dominated by full rich malt fruit. Very drinkable. Even with a hangover at 10.30 in the morning. |
| Beowulf - Mercian Shine | 5.00 | | Gold colour with lasting bubbly white head. Very citrusy hop aroma. Bit yeasty too. Good solid golden ale with good hoppy dryness on the finish. |
| Elgood's - Wenceslas Winter Warmer | 7.50 | | Chestnut colour with thin beige ehad. Some peppery hop on aroma. Pretty good strong malt in mouth. Plenty of flavour. Peppery hop finish. Some choc as well in mouth. |
| Triple fff - I Can't Remember ! | 6.00 | | Black beer with disappearing tan head. Intense tarry malt aroma. Dark treacle in mouth. Good choc, some dark fruits. Good intensity of flavours. Roasted malt is very nice. Bit of ginger and a bit of damson I think. |
| Mayfields - Auntie Myrtles | 5.00 | | Pale chestnut colour with lasting bubbly beige head. Sour lemon zest aroma. Good condition in mouth. Decent biting hop. Slightly more citrus and less dry fruity malt than you would expect in an ESB, but competent enough. Even a bit of coffee powder towards the finish. |
| Leadmill - The Beast | 5.70 | | Copper colour with thin beige head. Some hop on aroma. Actually this is pretty good. Nice hop/malt balance. Bit of vanilla and spice towards the finish. Good ESB/Strong Ale. |
| Branscombe (was Branscombe Vale) - Salvage Special | 6.00 | | Last beer of the festival for me. Named after the fiasco of people scavenging loot as it rolled in from a stranded ship. Ruby colour with thin beige head. Some decent raisiny fruit. Some powdery dry malt. Decent strong ale and warming. |
| Big Lamp - Old Genie | 7.40 | | Ruby colour with lasting bubbly beige head. Syrupy malt aroma. Bit of toffee/coffee. The syrupy malt is balanced by some hop spicyness on the end. Toffee is good. Bit of vanilla. |
| Frome (formerly Milk Street) - Bobbled | 6.50 | | Slight haze, copper colour, thin off white head. Slightly crude alcohol, syrupy. No huge aroma. Some toffeeish citrus at a push. Citrus earthiness on end. Alcohol heat. Quite sharp on finish. Not my favourite. |
| Dorset Brewing Company - Silent Knight | 5.80 | | Hazy. Ruby colour with thin beige ehad. Bit of diacetyl maybe. Some toffee in mouth. Bit sour. Not great and a poor beer in this condition. |
02 Feb 2007 (Ian)
One of the best days that I have ever had at a beer festival. There were some brilliant people there, Andrew, Jane, Brian, Martin, Phil and some people from Ratebeer.com as well as work colleagues and ex-Mogul regulars from Dover. Even Eddie Gadd came and said hello. Beer in general was in very good condition and I only had one beer that was infected (Kemptown Ho Bloody Ho) and one with diacetyl on day 2. The numbers of people in the halls were down due to fire regulations, but this did mean it was easier to get to the bar and move about the building. Great location, great beer and great people. Oh and for the second year running, I was the first in the queue.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brewster's - Stilton Porter | 5.00 | | Black beer with brown edges. Bubbly tan head. Lovely aroma. Lovely intensity. Great choc/charcoal. Bit of powder on the finish. Intense choc aroma is utterly sutnning. So full of great Green & Black’s style bitter dark choc. But there is smoothness there too. Amazing. |
| Oakham - Oblivion | 5.70 | | As it seems to be always with me, I have an Oakham beer as the first beer of a festival and almost always ends up being beer of the festival for me. Does this one? Not sure yet. Deep chestnut colour with lasting bubbly beige head. Trademark grapefruit. Unbelievably hoppy for a British beer. Good toffeeish malt. Nice mixed finish. Grapefruit leafyness is lovely. Great resiny pine throughout. |
| Acorn - 4th Noel | 5.10 | | Dark ruby colour with bubbly dark beige head. Lovely leafy grapefruit aroma. Lovely mouthfeel. Very smooth. Very good condition. Decent grainy malt. Very nice hop on end. As the festival wound down on the Saturday afternoon, I had 2 more pints of this as I liked it so much and I couldn’t believe that people hadn’t drunk it all. |
| Matthew's - 40 Yards | 5.00 | | Ruby colour with lasting beige head. Nice choccy aroma. Bit of curry powder, well spice anyway. Roasted flavours in mouth. I really like the roasted grain flavour and texture. Dry finish. Quirky, but like most other people at the table, I liked it. |
| Loddon - Forbury Lion Strong I.P.A. | 5.50 | | Peachy aroma. Lasting thin white head. Really lovely fruit, white stone fruit flavour with then balanced hop finish. Lovely balanced beer between aroma, palate and finish and between hop and malt. Some juicy malt. Good pepper hop finish. Very dry. Some citrus and a bit of grapefruit. |
| Arundel - Old Scrooge (superseded by 5% version) | 5.30 | | Chestnut colour with lasting bubbly off white head. Grapefruit piney hop aroma. Great open beer. Good aroma, smooth and full in mouth with some raspberry flavoured malt and then more grapefruit hop on finish. |
| Enville - Gothic Ale | 5.20 | | I had this many years ago at this festival and thought that it was fantastic at the time. This was less good. Black colour with dark brown edges. thin beige head. Stout/porter slightly sour aroma. Some very syrupy intense malt. Goodish juicy finish. Some good bitterness on finish. I rather like it. NIce lingering finish, but not the in your face brilliance that I remembered. |
| Sarah Hughes - Snowflake | 8.00 | | Copper/orange colour with bubbly off white head. Rather nice vanilla flavour. Big and syrupy beer. Nice heat on end. I really like it. Good malty aroma, nice vanilla/peach flavour. Some hop on finish. |
| Ossett - Excelsius (was Excelsior) | 5.20 | | Gold colour with thin white head. Fragrant, flowery hop aroma. Bit of yeast on the aroma. Does lack a bit of body. I quite like the citrus drying hop finish. Some tangerine and I like the finish, just lacks a bit of malt structure in the mouth. |
| Nelson - Shipwrecked | 5.00 | | Deep copper colour with disappearing beige head. Malty aroma, quite fresh. Good fruits in mouth. Bit of choc. Nelson beers have certainly improved since they got a new brewer. |
| RCH - Santa Fe | 7.30 | | Pale chestnut colour with thin beige head. Malty aroma, fine. Some good hop on end. Very good barley wine, bit of ginger spice. Sweet. Nice barley wine but could do better. Some tangerine in there as well. |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Storm Warning | 5.00 | | Ruby colour beer with thin beige head. Bit of an ash tray aroma, with some sweaty sox hop. I had this down more like a brown ale than anything else, but it was very drinkable and a good beer to close out the first day of the festival. |
| Hobden's Wessex - Russian Stoat | 9.00 | | Black beer with brown edges. Thin beige head. Charcoal and roasted malt aroma. Juicy dark fruits in mouth, Quite sour. Sour dark plum. Some tarry intensity on the palate. Took me a bit of time to drink this one, very thick in the mouth and intense. |
| Alcazar - Maple Magic Winter Ale | 5.50 | | Black beer with lasting dark beige head. Sour funky aroma. Spice, quite a lot of spice. Odd in mouth, bit sour, nice dark date flavour. Just so bizarre. Just a weird beer, some maple syrup. Odd and to be honest I couldn’t finish it. Bit hazelnutty too. Another idiosynchratic beer from Alcazar. |
| Burton Bridge - Festival Ale | 5.50 | | Chestnut colour. Thin white head. Very good ESB. Goodish hop/malt/yeast aroma. Decent beer without being too exciting. |
| Coach House - Blunderbus Old Porter (superseded by 5.3% version) | 5.50 | | Black in colour with brown edges. Thin tan head. Good quality choc, some sourness. Smooth. Not outstanding. Pretty competent beer without being exciting. |
| Abbeydale - Absolution | 5.30 | | Pale gold in colour with thin white head. Nettley citrus hop. Peachy aroma. bit of yeast. Sherberty hop. Bit of cream. Bit hit and miss. Some sips I liked, some not so much. |
| Warcop - Caspa | 5.40 | | Cask conditioned lager. Pale gold with disappearing white head. Slight haze. Sulphury aroma. Eggy. Some citrus leafyness. Not madly keen on this. Bit of lemony wine gum juicyness. Bit of dryness on end. A cask conditioned lager and no where near as good as Harviestoun Schehallion. |
02 Feb 2007 (Brian)
Arrived full of vim and vigour at opening time, stumbled off at about 6ish I think.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakham - Oblivion | 5.70 | | Chestnut brown. Pine fresh aroma, back of the throat bitterness. Stunner, the best of the ales that I tried by a distance. |
| Goacher's - Gold Star | 5.10 | | Finished where I'd started with an old favourite. Fresh golden ale. Excellent. |
| Matthew's - 40 Yards | 5.00 | | Spicy notes in the nose and the mouth. Excellent malt / bitter balance. |
| Loddon - Forbury Lion Strong I.P.A. | 5.50 | | Second (and best) IPA of the day. Fresh and bursting with juicy fruits. |
| Hopdaemon - Leviathan | 6.00 | | Started as usual with something familiar. Good, but not great, are Hopdaemon beers not as aggressive as they used to be or is it me? |
| Marston's - Old Empire IPA | 5.70 | | Decided to go on an IPA mission. The sulphorous odour is almost enough to put you off, but the taste is great. |
| Dark Star - Critical Mass | 7.80 | | I love Dark Star beers and saved this one until late. Probably a little too late as my notes are a bit hazy. There was plenty of dark malty flavour and an alcoholic dryness. I liked it but it wasn't what I was expecting. |
| Ossett - Excelsius (was Excelsior) | 5.20 | | Astringent hop flavour. There was a slight citrus bite in the finish. |
| Mordue - IPA | 5.10 | | A bit hazy, bubbly head, the taste was a bit neutral. OK. |
| Mayfields - Auntie Myrtles | 5.00 | | I had nothing to say on this one except OK. |
02 Feb 2007 (Andrew)
Arrived about 5.30pm and it was already full. Fortuneately Jane and I had advanced tickets so could go straight in. Since they've run started restricting numbers in the hall the atmosphere has suffered. However, this is still an excellent festival.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastwood & Sanders - 1872 Porter | 6.50 | | Dark with a subtle smoaked flavour. Powdery in mouth. Really good body that carries all the flavours well. Possibly one of the best beers I've ever had. |
| Matthew's - 40 Yards | 5.00 | | Dark ruby with white froth. Sherbert buzz on tounge. Roasted tartness with sweet dryness. |
| Brewster's - Stilton Porter | 5.00 | | Black with good burnt dark-sugar with some plum residue. |
| Enville - Gothic Ale | 5.20 | | Black beer with big bubbles in the head. Sweet drawn out sourness. Good drying roast malt on finish. |
| Rother Valley - Blues | 5.00 | | Black beer with thinning head. Sweet with a vanilla smell to it. Has an undertone of black currents. |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - DogBolter Dark Porter | 5.60 | | Sour with a good alcohol richness. The water tastes soft and fen-like. |
About the White Cliffs Beer Festival 2007
Summary of Beer Scores
| Total | |
|---|---|
| 8 |
| 8 |
| 18 |
| 9 |
| 2 |
The pub is found in Dover, Kent, CT16 1DL.
The annual Dover Beer festival held in the 900 years old Dover Town Hall. This year it opened at 1pm and ran an advanced ticket scheme.
We have visited this pub 4 times, seen 36 different beers and tried them all.
Postcode: CT16 1DL