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Thirst for the Village
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I'm a real ale fan and a long time member of CAMRA, the campaign for real ale. Every year I make the trek up to the St Albans beer festival and join fellow enthusiasts sampling brews from all over Britain served straight from the barrel. So, it was a real event for myself and a full pub when the new owners of the Bull P.H held a mini beer festival last April.
Six breweries were represented at this event; Inveralmond from Scotland, Vale from Bucks, Jennings from The Lakes, Batemans from Lincs, Tring from Herts and St Austell from Cornwall. Names such as Tribute, Salam Porter, and Side Pocket for a Toad entered common usage for the evening along with that timeless favourite 'Best Bitter' these ranged in strength from 3.6% to 5.1% with the majority dropping in below 4%.
Being a real ale fan you often think you are in a minority. However what struck me about the evening was the number of people willing to have a go at tasting something different. With a list of six completely different beers there was a lot of choice. Whatever makes our hard pressed community pubs popular can only be a good thing.
David M Johns
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