One of the advantages of living on the London/ Hertfordshire borders is the slew of beer festivals that take place in the Watford and St Albans area over the course of the year. Having attended quite a number in my time, I was keen to explore new ones whenever they appear; and thanks to a tip-off from Watford CAMRA, I was alerted to a new beer festival that was being held at the Croxley Guild of Sports, between the 23-25 May. Situated off the Green in Croxley, it is a private members club that also offers sport facilities and regular entertainment.
Though the festival was only a small-scale event, up to 17 cask beers, 2 keg and 3 ciders were available on tap, with all proceeds going towards the upkeep of the site. As I attended on the final day, some beers were sold out, though I came early for enough to be available. Most of the offerings came from breweries based in Herts and Bucks, so understandably I initially went for Brill Gold (3.4%) - Vale, a light ale, golden amber in colour with a clean hoppiness and malty bitter background. Although the bar mostly had pales and IPAs on offer, there were some dark beers available, so I next sampled some Chiltern Black (3.9%) - Chiltern, a traditional porter, it had malty caramel aromas, while the palate was rich with a medley of vanilla, golden-syrup, berry fruits and some mild roasted malt grain underscored by bitterness. My tour through Buckinghamshire’s breweries concluded with XT4 (3.8%) – XT, an amber ale, it had a fruity and mildly hoppy nose with hints of berry fruits and caramel. Distinct flavour notes from British and American hops with the unusual combination of British and Belgian malts, giving off a unique yet quaffable taste that is common with most modern style bitters.
For my next
offering I went eastwards to Essex with Dengie Red (4%) by Wibblers of
Southminster; a red ale with distinct hoppy tropical fruit aromas, with a kaleidoscope
of flavours including caramel, malt, citrus, jelly babies and spiciness from
the hops, balanced by a bed of bitterness that belied its relatively low
strength. I next sampled a keg offering Lunardi’s (4.2%) – Tring, a hazy
pale ale brewed with oatmeal that helps give it a smooth and creamy mouthfeel,
which compliments it’s refreshing hoppiness that features gentle notes of
mango, citrus and lychee, this beer was well suited in keg form. With some room
left to spare, for my final libation of the day, I sampled some Crafty Stoat
(5.3%), another offering from Wibblers; it was a stout based on 1885 Ushers
recipe, potent roasted malt notes dominated with hints of coffee and chocolate
with a boozy fruitiness on the back end, the full-bodied mouthfeel helped give
off a rousing end to my beer odyssey. Although the beer festival was diminutive
in stature, there were a brilliant array of beers and ciders on offer, which
made it worthwhile.
