Yesterday I had
the pleasure to visit the most exciting beer festival I have ever
been to: Craft Beer Rising in The Old Truman Brewery. The brewery is conveniently located in East London on Brick Lane in a
vibrant arts quarter. There is a vintage clothes market in the
building, but this weekend in the upstairs halls 75 breweries
presented their craft beers, over 400 sorts. The festival had a
cosmopolitan atmosphere about it in an interesting setting, quite
different to most beer festivals. It wasn't too crowded, and you were
able to move around easily. Only minus point could be the lack of
vegetarian food, luckily I wasn't hungry then.
So for a few hours
I strolled through the stalls and had half pints here and there. Here
are some of my new acquaintances and links to their homepages. A
friend of mine, who accompanied me there, helped me with these
tasting notes.
They passed their
Cross Pacific Pale Ale (4.2%) through a canister of fresh,
green hops on the way from the pump to the glass. This resulted in a
mix of really forward hop aromas in a refreshing pale beer. It was a
perfect start for the festival.
The Hibernation
White IPA (5.6%) was a wheat beer brewed with a normal yeast, and
lots of hops as you'd expect in an IPA, giving the rich mouth feel
and cloudy character of a wheat beer without the fruity and spicy
tastes; instead lots of bitterness and citrus character in the style
of modern, North American IPA. Quite unique.
Friar Weisse
(4.7%) was a classic wheat beer, with really fruity esters
reminiscent of tropic fruits and pear drops.
The Black IPA
(7.0%) had all the bitterness and hoppy character you'd expect from
an IPA but with a body more like that of a dark porter.
Why kick a Moo
Cow (5.5%) had an inventive name and a wonderful fresh, grassy
hoppyness that was almost like drinking a sunny meadow.
This was the last
beer I tried, the dancing barman lured me in with his vibrant sales
technique; the Brigid Fire (6.3%) was brewed using smoked rye,
which added a sour, rich and lightly smoky flavour.
All these beers
were very delightful, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time or
stamina to taste all the ones I wanted, the offer was so huge. I
personally crowned the Bear Hug Brewing Company's Hibernation White IPA to my
festival favourite.
Did you visit?
What are your impressions? I'm sure I'll go next year as well!
A blue moment over the Thames on our jolly way back to Waterloo.
Your VegHog
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