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Hitchin Beer & Cider Festival 2026 (CAMRA Beer Festival)
| Beer (sort) | Average Score (sort) | No. Samples (sort) |
|---|---|---|
| Moor - Old Freddy Walker |  | 1 |
| Tring - Death or Glory | | 1 |
| Magpie - Best | | 1 |
| Burton Bridge - Dam Dog | | 1 |
| Ivo - Evening Brown | | 1 |
| Weekend Project - Pennine Way |  | 1 |
| ShinDigger - 8-Ball | | 1 |
| Nightjar (formerly Slightly Foxed) - Batfink | | 1 |
| Farm Yard - Holmes Stead | | 1 |
| Bluntrock - Ambassador | | 1 |
Visits Details
06 Jun 2026 (Hogan Sampling)
Busy on arrival mid-afternoon on its last day, Saturday 6th June 2026, and despite the damp weather and indeed it rained outside the beer tent most determinedly. I was thankfully situated in the seating area of the beer tent and seated for much of my time here. The weather did not dampen my pleasure in tasting 10 real ales and from their more traditional selection of bitters, milds, browns, old ales, stouts, porters and the odd barley wine. Grateful thanks to all the volunteers who staged the festival and made this fine selection of real ales possible and for my first visit to it.
| Beer | ABV | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moor - Old Freddy Walker | 7.30 | | 7th beer of this festival: The best head and lacing of the festival for me and lasting all the way on this jet black to dark brown Old Ale from Bristol. It was originally set up in 1997 in the Somerset Levels before in 2014, the operations relocated to a much larger, dedicated brewery and taproom site in St Philip's, Bristol. A dry chocolatey first hit aided by its roasted malts, rich caramel, molasses, leather, charcoal and sweet Christmas fruitcake touches. A slightly fruited bitter-sweet hoppiness rising from its traditional British hops and featuring Bramling Cross to impart both bitterness and a touch of fruitiness, namely for my taste buddies, sweet dark vine fruits such as raisins, plums, figs, and prunes. A maltiness prevailing and lingering with hints of bitter dark chocolate, black treacle, espresso beans, liquorice and a hint of tobacco smoke, and all ably assisted by its mix of British Pale base malt, alongside equal parts Wheat malt, Crystal malt, and Dark/Black malt. Notably accoladed by CAMRA as the "Christmas pudding in a glass", it suitably impressed my taste buds and was served in top nick with great conditioning. |
| Tring - Death or Glory | 7.20 | | 10th and final beer of this festival: Poured with a good head and lasting lacing on this mahogany-coloured award-winning barley wine crafted by Tring Brewery in Hertfordshire. Conceived by a former member of the regiment, the beer is officially brewed by special appointment to the Queen's Royal Lancers*. A dry fruited first hit. A malty sweetness rising with touches of molasses, toffee and dark raisin derived from UK-grown malted barley milled directly on-site to extract its flavourings and natural sugars. A sweet barley wine infused with rum alongside its caramel hints winning over. Its hops come from far and wide across the globe and tasked with imparting faint herbal, earthy, and spicy undertones to counteract the otherwise overpowering sugars of the grain. A dark fruitiness prevailing and a malty sweetness sliding downwards. Served in top nick with plenty of conditioning. *It serves as a liquid tribute to British military history with its name drawn directly from the regimental motto of the Queen's Royal Lancers. Tring Brewery, set up in 1992, traditionally brews this batch annually on October 25th to commemorate the fateful Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. The bottle art proudly displays the skull and crossbones "Death or Glory" insignia of the regiment. |
| Magpie - Best | 4.20 | | 4th beer of this festival: Head and lacing on being poured this traditional copper-coloured best bitter but not keeping it and from this Nottingham brewery set up in 2006 by three homebrewers. A very crisp bitterness on its first bite. A dry apple-like bitterness rising. A hoppy fruitiness winning over from its 100% British hops and from the First Gold and Bramling Cross varieties. A slightly caramelised dry bitterness ebbing out from its sweet British malts. Served in very good nick with generous conditioning present. |
| Burton Bridge - Dam Dog | 5.00 | | 6th beer of this festival: A good creamy head and lasting lacing presented on this Staffordshire stout from Burton Bridge Brewery, established in 1982 by former Ind Coope brewers and operating at the rear of the historic, 17th-century Burton Bridge Inn on Bridge Street in Burton-upon-Trent. A first hit of damson plums and where the actual juice of this fruit has been added to the mix. A dry bitter fruitiness rapidly rising with distinct stone fruit flavours. A hedgerow of dark bramble fruits prevailing from its 100% English Challenger hops, also lending it a traditional bitterness and doing battle with its maltiness giving rise to fruity chocolate and roasted coffee flavours aided by its British pale malt, roasted malts and coffee and chocolate malts. A spicy dark chocolatey fruited hoppiness sliding down my chute. Served in very good form and the first to keep its lacing all the way. |
| Ivo - Evening Brown | 5.00 | | 3rd beer of this festival: Head and lacing on being served this English brown ale but not keeping it and from a 10-hectolitre facility located at Burleigh Hill Farm, just north of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, and following being set up in a domestic garden in Somersham, Cambridgeshire in 2019. A dry malty first hit. A biscuity bitterness rising with caramel, toasted biscuits flavours alongside hints of subtle roasted nuts. A hoppy fruitiness joining in from its classic English hops and where the brewery specifically avoids the addition of any American hops to ensure its old-school British character. Certainly, my sort of beer for my taste buds and if they had tails, they would have been wagging in appreciation! A dry maltiness paddling out aided by its English malt base with most likely dark crystal or roasted malts giving it its characteristic brown hue and caramel-biscuit flavourings. Served in good nick with lots of conditioning. I like the description from the brewery: “A nostalgic beer that you and your elders will love!” |
| Farm Yard - Holmes Stead | 3.40 | | 1st beer of this festival: Good head and lacing on this Lancaster bitter and probably my first tasting of this brewery’s offerings. Farm Yard Brew Company is based on a family-run farm in Cockerham, Lancashire, England, having been launched in 2017. A dry bitter first hit. A gentle hoppiness rising from its 100% traditional British hops. A touch of maltiness winning over with a touch of caramel sweetness from its mix of a pale malt-base, torrefied wheat and a portion of cara-malt. A dry bitterness sailing out. Served in good nick and a good start to the festival following my first one chosen being one of the very few that had run out on my chosen list of ones to try. |
| Bluntrock - Ambassador | 4.00 | | 2nd beer of this festival: This bitter from Rock, North Cornwall, and which was only launched in March 2026, came minus head and lacing which was an obvious disappointment. A bitter-sweet first hit. A fruitiness rising with a woody, earthy hoppiness from its mix of Fuggles, Goldings and Challenger varieties sourced from Hukins Hops in Kent. A biscuity bitterness winning over. A touch of bready, sweet malt flavouring in its sailing out aided by its floor-malted barley from the historic Warminster Maltings set up in 1855, and Britain's oldest working floor maltings, based in the market town of Warminster in Wiltshire, sitting on the western tip of Salisbury Plain. Tasted fine but perhaps a tad tired due its absent head and lacing. |
| Weekend Project - Pennine Way | 3.40 | | 5th beer of this festival: Served with very good head and lacing and lasting to the end on this Cheshire mild from Knutsford and where the "nomad" brewing model is deployed in using the brewing infrastructure at Mobberley Brewhouse, under the name MBH Beer, in the Knutsford area and other selected host facilities. A dry hoppy first hit. A fruity hoppiness rising from its English Goldings variety lending floral and earthy flavours. A maltiness winning over aided by its Golden Promise malt, a Scottish heritage barley, lending light hints of sweet, honeyed cereal and a bready malty flavour. Biscuit and toffee notes also emanating from its caramelised grains. A dry oily hoppiness prevailing and paddling out. Presented in good form with plentiful conditioning. |
| Nightjar (formerly Slightly Foxed) - Batfink | 4.60 | | 9th beer of this festival: Presented with good head and lacing and almost lasting on this Hebden Bridge milk porter from a microbrewery set up in 2015 after originally operating under the name, Slightly Foxed, established in 2011. It brews at Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, while their corporate address is approximately 1.4 miles away in Hebden Bridge. A first bite of vanilla ice-cream. A sweetened maltiness rising from its five specially selected malts lending a roasted pastry porter flavouring. A full bag of milk sugar aiding its creamy sweetness and Madagascan Vanilla Pods aiding its vanilla flavouring. A bitter maltiness prevailing and a lingering vanilla-infused sweetness ebbing out. Served in good form but too sweet for me! |
| ShinDigger - 8-Ball | 4.50 | | 8th beer of this festival: Good head and lacing on being served on this Manchester stout and its creaminess lasting all the way down. This stout grew out of two Manchester university students selling home-brews at house parties in 2012, before officially launching in 2013 and operating as "shadow brewers," developing recipes at their Manchester headquarters and brewing commercial batches at partner facilities. A dry bitter first hit. A malty bitterness rising up with black coffee flavours mixed with sweet, caramelised toffee tantalising my taste buds from its mix of barley, oats and wheat. A bitter hoppy moment from its undisclosed traditional hops in amongst its maltiness sliding down my chute. A subtle tinge of sour cream and a dry, smoky hint of cigar smoke lingering. Served in good nick with healthy conditioning. |
About the Hitchin Beer & Cider Festival 2026
Summary of Beer Scores
| Total | |
|---|---|
 | - |
| 5 |
| 5 |
 | - |
 | - |
The pub is found in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1XL.
The Hitchin CAMRA Beer & Cider Festival has been staged at the Hitchin Rugby Club since 2013 and accessed from Old Hale Way. The festival originally ran for five years at the Hitchin Town Hall before moving to the club's King George V Playing Fields venue in 2013. The festival is organised and run entirely by volunteers, and it was originally a partnership between Hitchin Round Table and North Herts CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale) before linking up with Hitchin Rugby Club on its move to their venue. The festival is run by North Herts CAMRA and Hitchin Rugby Club in partnership.
We have visited this pub once, seen 10 different beers and tried them all.
Postcode: SG5 1XL