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Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival 2009 (CAMRA Beer Festival)
| Beer (sort) | Average Score (sort) | No. Samples (sort) |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Hughes - Dark Ruby |  | 1 |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Saint Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout (now superseded by 7.4% version) | | 1 |
| Swannay (formerly Highland) - Scapa Special | | 1 |
| De Molen - Engel |  | 1 |
| Cotleigh - Buzzard | | 1 |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Exodus Stout | | 1 |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Pandemonium | | 2 |
| Oakham - Asylum | | 1 |
| Stewart - Edinburgh No. 3 | | 1 |
| RCH - Pitchfork | | 1 |
| Sulwath - The Black Galloway | | 1 |
| De Ranke - Guldenberg | | 1 |
| De Zenne - Taras Boulba | | 1 |
| Dark Star - IPA | | 1 |
| RCH - East St Cream (was East Street Cream) | | 1 |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Jaipur | | 1 |
| Moorhouse's - Old Boss |  | 1 |
| Dark Star - Imperial Stout | | 2 |
| De Molen - Amerikaans | | 1 |
| Saltaire - Titus Black | | 2 |
| Westerham - Single Hop WGV | | 2 |
| Frome (formerly Milk Street) - The Usual (at one time 4.1%) | | 1 |
| Grainstore - Rutland Panther | | 1 |
| Rudgate - Ruby Mild | | 1 |
| Saltaire - Trio Pale | | 1 |
| De Zenne - Zinne Bier | | 1 |
| Matthew's - Pithead Porter | | 2 |
| Blindmans - Mine Beer |  | 1 |
| Blue Monkey - Golden Ale | | 1 |
| Goacher's - Crown Imperial Stout | | 1 |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Common Conspiracy | | 1 |
| Dark Star - Victorian Ruby Mild | | 1 |
| De Ranke - XX Bitter | | 1 |
| Shardlow - Reverend Eaton's Ale | | 1 |
| Elland - Dark Tranquility | | 2 |
| Derventio - Et Tu Brutus | | 1 |
| Leeds - Ascension | | 1 |
| Sarah Hughes - Pale Amber |  | 1 |
| Lincolnshire Craft (formerly Tom Wood's) - Bomber County | | 1 |
| Orkney (Sinclair) - Dark Island | | 1 |
| Golcar - Golcar Mild | | 1 |
| Bradfield - Farmers Stout | | 1 |
Visits Details
11 Apr 2009 (Blair)
I dragged myself out of bed at 11 then after a few cups of coffee got a taxi back over to the festival. I was really surprised at how quiet it was inside. Only about a tenth the amount of people as the same time yesterday. Got my spot back behind the bar and started the drinking. Alistair popped in today so had a lengthy chat with him, but all in all it was a little uneventful today. So unsurprisingly I had to leave the bar at 6 because I was falling asleep while leaning on the barrels.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swannay (formerly Highland) - Scapa Special | 4.20 | | This is one of the best best bitters I've ever tasted. Fruity with a little hops and malt. Just a pleasure to drink. |
| RCH - East St Cream (was East Street Cream) | 5.00 | | One of my old favourites. I had this at the original thanet beer festival in 2006. Fruity with a bit of roast malt and bread. Nice complex, strong bitter. |
| Cotleigh - Buzzard | 4.80 | | Yes this was really lovely. A nice light old ale to start the day. Smoky with a little coffee and roasted malt. |
| RCH - Pitchfork | 4.30 | | Odd but good is how we all agreed on this one. I actually got into an argument with a customer about this one. For some reason we had the brewery marked as 'Close' we all knew it was RCH but it wasn't our place to change it. But a customer got irate with me when I wouldn't change it and actually complained about me, one of the highlights of the day. |
| Sulwath - The Black Galloway | 4.40 | | Very intense, black stout. Loads of roasted malt and coffee. |
| Stewart - Edinburgh No. 3 | 4.30 | | Fantastic scottish heavy. Very dark and malty with plenty of fruit. |
| Saltaire - Titus Black | 4.50 | | Rich black ale, black cocolate flavour. Bit of coffee and roasted malt. |
| De Zenne - Taras Boulba | 4.50 | | Strongly hopped golden ale. Very light and fruity. |
| Rudgate - Ruby Mild | 4.40 | | I had the last of this to myself. Rich nutty mild, roasted malt and chocolate. Good. |
| Frome (formerly Milk Street) - The Usual (at one time 4.1%) | 4.40 | | Malty with plenty of malt, fruit and caramel. Nice. |
| De Zenne - Zinne Bier | 6.00 | | Hoppy and fruity. Honey like flavour to it. |
| Shardlow - Reverend Eaton's Ale | 4.50 | | Smooth lightly hopped bitter. Not bad at all, but didn't stack up well to some of the other beers I'd had today. |
| Blindmans - Mine Beer | 4.20 | | Sweet caramel flavoured beer. Alright but there's much better to be had. |
| Lincolnshire Craft (formerly Tom Wood's) - Bomber County | 4.80 | | My employer sponsored this barrel so I felt obliged to give it a go. I wish I hadn't. Just nothing to it really. Bit of caramel, maybe a hint of coffee. Meh. |
10 Apr 2009 (Ian)
Only really just over the effects of surgery and also had a cold, so probably not in the best of frames of minds, but still, a great place to come. Very good venue with lots of seating, a capacity of 1900 I think, a nice long bar and some good people. Nice to Rudolph from Bexley BF, Blair behind the bar, Andrew, Ang (Reakt) from Ratebeer, Phil Lowry and his parents, Steve behind the bottle stand (Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel was outstanding), and my 2 friends from Ruislip. Music in the evening was so much better than the skiffle of the afternoon. Congrats to the Thanet branch for being so well organised.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Pandemonium | 9.00 | | So beer of the festival for me. Very deep ruby colour, lasting beige head. Impy porter aroma with lots of choc and hops too. Good handfull of hops clearly on this. Lovely dry roasted intense choc on the end. Bit of liquorice. Really well put together taking into account the volume of ingredients in it. |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Jaipur | 5.90 | | Just lacking a wee bit maybe |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Exodus Stout | 6.20 | | Such an intense/drinkable stout, good fullness. Utterly drinkable. I love it. |
| De Molen - Amerikaans | 4.50 | | So lucky to see one of Menno's beers in cask at a British beer festival. Yes, clearly not made with an English yeast, but that is good, to challenge the taste buds now and again. Good hops, tasty grapefruit. Good tasty. |
| Saltaire - Trio Pale | 4.40 | | Golden. Very decent. Good pale malts. Nice balnaced malts, decent hops. Just a really well put together beer. |
| Moorhouse's - Old Boss | 4.30 | | Gold, lasting thin white. I like this, very drinkable English pale ale, right balance of everything. |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Common Conspiracy | 4.80 | | Given how good the Dark version was and Blair's ratings, I was so excited about seeing this. Beautiful clear pale chestnut, lasting bubbly beige head. Some leafy hop on aroma, but not as hoppy as I expected. Good toffee in mouth and then really quite bitter on end. Not as good as the Dark. Hoppy on end, but more bitter than flavoursome. |
| Matthew's - Pithead Porter | 4.40 | | Very deep ruby colour with no real head. Yes, a half decent choccy porter with some dark fruits. Decent. Quite drinkable. |
| Westerham - Single Hop WGV | 4.00 | | Gold, lasting white head. Westerham yeast, decent hops, not too exciting, but the yeast character is excellent, just not sold on the rest of the beer. |
| Leeds - Ascension | 3.90 | | Golden lasting bubbly off white head. Fairly average golden ale with some hop on finish. |
| Elland - Dark Tranquility | 4.50 |  | Full of diacetyl. Can't drink it. Poured it. |
10 Apr 2009 (Blair)
Arrived at around 11 for a brief meeting before the crowds descended upon us. After a little chat we got to the drinking, nice to have a couple before the place got packed out. Then at 12 i found my spot behind the bar and prepared myself for the onslaught. This was a great day, I had a great time. Had a good few chats with Ian and Andrew and it was quite entertaining to see Andrew getting merrier and merrier every time he came back to the bar. Things got a little stressful at around 5, but after that it was plain sailing for the rest of the evening. I can't believe I managed to carry on drinking right up until closing.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Hughes - Dark Ruby | 6.00 | | This beer is wonderful. May well be my favourite beer in the world ever. I just love the combination of fruit and roasted malt with the chocolate. Fantastic. |
| Thornbridge / Thornbridge Hall - Saint Petersburg Imperial Russian Stout (now superseded by 7.4% version) | 7.70 | | I seemed to be on my own, but I thought this was better than the Dark Star Imperial Stout. Incredibly rich and vibrant. Strong flavour of roasted malt, coffee and chocolate. Perfectly balance. Had more flavour in it's 7.7% than Dark Star did in it's 10.5%. |
| Dark Star - IPA | 6.20 | | This is still one of my favourite IPA's. Very bitter with loads of hops and despite the high abv, very easy to drink. |
| De Molen - Engel | 4.50 | | Citrus/grassy aroma. Fruity and sweet with a nice amount of hops. |
| Dark Star - Imperial Stout | 10.50 | | Very powerful. A lot of charcoal but in a good way if that makes sense. Rich with a fair amount of roasted malt and chocolate. |
| Oakham - Asylum | 4.50 | | Crisp pale ale with a good citrus aroma. Really zingy hoppy flavour, cleans the mouth out, not in a toothpaste kind've way though. |
| De Ranke - Guldenberg | 8.50 | | Very rich and sweet triple style ale. Quite creamy with a bit of yeast and light malty flavour. Really good. |
| Westerham - Single Hop WGV | 4.00 | | I'm really getting into Westerham's beers just lately. They are just perfect for summer. Nice hoppy light ale with a bit of fruit. Simple but incredibly effective. |
| Grainstore - Rutland Panther | 3.40 | | Sweet with plenty of roasted malt, little smoky with a hint of chocolate. Good mild. |
| Matthew's - Pithead Porter | 4.40 | | Dark porter, roasted malt and a little chocolate. Could do with a little more depth maybe but still a good beer. |
| Ramsgate Brewery (Gadds') - Pandemonium | 9.00 | | Strong double porter. Loads of roasted malt with plenty of hops floating about. Good beer, but dare I say maybe a little thin... |
| Derventio - Et Tu Brutus | 4.50 | | Sweet and fruity with a tiny bit of smoke. Too watery. Shame. |
| Sarah Hughes - Pale Amber | 4.00 | | Just no, no no a thousand times no. There was nothing wrong with the condition on this. Just a terrible beer. Sharp, astringent. I could only manage a couple of slurps then into the slops bucket it went. |
10 Apr 2009 (Andrew)
What an excellent festival this is. Well run, good beer selection and good venue. I sat with Ian and Brian and I had some good chats with Blair who was behind the bar. It was good to see Martyn and Kevin the Pickle from the Butcher's Arms (who also very kindly gave me a lift home). Jeff and Jo were in attendence too so all in all I had a was a very good time.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elland - Dark Tranquility | 4.50 | | Black. Subtle, biscuity, roasted and slightly sour with a hint of caramel. |
| Goacher's - Crown Imperial Stout | 4.50 | | Not a shadow of the Smoky Bacon Crisp version of a few years back. |
| De Ranke - XX Bitter | 6.20 | | Ian had gone on about this for so long that it was the first beer I had. Pale gold and cloudy. Smells like a wheat beer. Strong grapefruit hop and yeasty. Wouldn't know it was 6.2%. 6.2%? Belgium? Musty-dusty cloudy beer? Why am I drinking this? |
| Dark Star - Imperial Stout | 10.50 | | Medicinal, nettles, burnt plastic, pine, liquorish, tar, fags, alcohol, puff, and just a bit too much. |
| Saltaire - Titus Black | 4.50 | | Watery, caramel, burnt, insipid |
| Dark Star - Victorian Ruby Mild | 6.00 | | Bit fizzy. Sharp, musty, dusty. Not great |
| Blue Monkey - Golden Ale | 3.40 | | Light fruity, bit young tasting, bit grapefuity. All in all a bit obvious as Alan Partridge would say. |
| Orkney (Sinclair) - Dark Island | 4.60 | | Sinclair Dark Island it's called. Umm. I've had this before a number of times and it's a great beer... well it was a great beer. Don't know what this beer was. Watery weak sharp briney. Not the Dark Island I know. |
| Bradfield - Farmers Stout | 4.50 | | Sickly sour black beer. Milky sweetness. To be honest, the Farmer can keep this. |
| Golcar - Golcar Mild | 3.40 | | Sour weak wishy-washy stuff. |
About the Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival 2009
Summary of Beer Scores
| Total | |
|---|---|
| 4 |
| 16 |
| 9 |
| 13 |
| 5 |
The pub is found in Margate, Kent, CT9 1HX.
The annual Thanet CAMRA branch beer festival held in the Winter Gardens.
We have visited this pub 4 times, seen 42 different beers and tried them all.
Postcode: CT9 1HX