Winchester Real Ale and Cider Festival 2015

Last Friday I paid a visit to the Winchester Real Ale and Cider Festival. It was the day of the solar eclipse, and by the time I got to leave work and take the train towards Winchester, the sun had come back with vengeance. At that time it was extraordinarily bright over the South Downs. My mobile phone picture of course doesn't do it, or the scenery, any justice. 

Wichester is a nice old town to visit and they have a spectacular cathedral. I quickly strolled through the town centre, as I had few moments to spare before the start of the festival.

Then finally at the festival I of course started tasting some half pints of real ale. Once again there was an overwhelming choice of local, and less local, real ales and ciders. However I didn't drink any cider this time, how shocking! The most interesting ale in my opinion was the Watercress Best by the Itchen Valley brewery. Yes, there was indeed watercress in that beer and it could be tasted. What could be better for a VegHog! Watercress is a big thing in Hampshire and there are many local growers, so it's a very nice touch to add it into local beer as well.

Here is the list of the ales I tasted (brewery's name mentioned first):

Dancing Man: Congo Driftwood 4,3 %

Flowerpot: Spring Loaded 4,0 %

Itchen Valley: Watercress Best 4,2 %

Langham: Aegir 7,5 %

Loch Ness: Hoppy Ness 5,0 %

Longdog: Kismet 4,5 % and Lamplight Porter 5,0 %

Rusty Prop: Flugtag 4,7 %

Staggeringly Good: VelociRapture 6,5 %

Can't wait for the next local beer festival!

Your VegHog