Looking forward to the next beer festival

In time honoured fashion the festival presents a broad spectrum of real ales and cask ciders, boasting local produce from breweries like Big Lamp as well as beers and ciders from further afield, including Perth's Inveralmond Brewery, and relatively big names like the Lincolnshire-based Bateman's Brewery, whose heavy-hitting Victory Ale looked like a crowd favourite from the start.

Out of the beers and ciders available, several were already sold out when I arrived; Mabon, a beer from the Full Mash Brewery, and Inveralmond's Ossian were both off the menu, possibly a testament to how good they were! On the cider front Broadoak Moonshine was also crossed out; Moonshine is a regular draught at the bar anyway, and with its impressive 7.5% abv clout and its familiarity to the patrons it wouldn't take a psychic to predict it would be among the first to go!

A pint of Oakham Ales' White Dwarf was a great starter to set the night off on the right tracks, a very dry ale that's dangerously easy to drink. It was the only product of the Peterborough-based brewery on sale at the festival and certainly didn't disappoint.

Hemel Hempstead's Millwhites Cider, on the other hand, were present in force with five different ciders, taking up almost half the cider menu. Their Apples & Pears cider was unsurprisingly a refreshing, sweet blend of fruits, and the weakest of the Millwhites at only 5% abv.

Blackberry Blush, from the same company, was a much tougher contender at 6.5%. Another sweet cider, it was powerfully smoky, with what one reveller said was almost a "meaty" taste. I set about continuing to raise the stakes with the Millwhites drinks, moving from the chewy, muscular Blackberry Blush to their medium dry Whisky Cask cider. Aged in Scotch Whisky casks, it stood alongside their Rum Cask cider as the most powerful of the Millwhites stable at a party-finishing 7.5% abv. The taste, and smell, of whisky was instantly apparent, and much stronger than I had expected, but it managed to not swamp the scrumpy taste.

While this was going on we managed to find a seat inside the pub! I had expected to be sat outside all night, using the burgeoning crowds of the summer music festival as a yardstick, so even a seat in the pub's conservatory (probably the furthest you could be from the bar without being outside!) was a treat. The night continued to improve when, at about 10:00 pm, we actually managed to seize a table in the pub proper!

The festival's hog roast is always popular, so much so that it runs on a ticket only basis. But accompanied by two vegetarians and a confirmed carnivore currently on an extreme diet (whose face fell, by the way, when I mentioned that a hog roast was going on) I decided it would be a better move to avoid the pig and stick to the drinks. So let's just suffice it to say that the hog roast was a roaring success, as the patrons steadily disposed of it throughout the night, with some tables boasting more empty plates than glasses.

With a comfortable seat and the lights dimming it was time to queue for more ale. A glass of Infinity (a limited edition pale ale from Nottingham outfit Blue Monkey with a none-too-shabby 4.6% abv) was a delicious change to the ciders I'd been putting away; a citrusy palate cleanser that, like White Dwarf, I could easily drink all night. Mallinsons Brewing Company's Jupiter was similarly sharp and clean, a bitter and fruity ale; not a heavyweight contender at a relatively weak 4.2% abv but a great drink nonetheless.

As last orders drew closer and the DJ re-played crowd pleasing songs (leading to more dancing than I had expected from the slowly thinning crowd) Janet's Jungle Juice was my choice for the final drink of the night. West Croft's award winning scrumpy, with a name that suggests an obscenely powerful homebrew rolled out at parties, was an ideal finish to my festival experience. With its full bodied, ever present flavour and stout alcoholic content it was an ideal end to the chain of ales and ciders I had worked my way through.

With the third (or fourth) replay of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" still ringing in our ears we left the Three Horse Shoes pleasantly tired and suitably lubricated. The worst part of the night, in all honesty, was the crushing realisation that we have to wait until spring for the next one!