Hello my fellow drinkers!
Its that time of year again, so Sam and the usual suspects went to check out the annual beer festival festival that’s on his doorstop, just a mere 25 min walk from his house.
This was the 13th Annual Yarnbury Beer & Music Festival, this year it was pouring 62 beers from 19 separate breweries along with 18 Ciders from Lilleys Brewery. There was of course, Gin, Prosecco & food on the go as well not to mention an interesting line up of bands over the course of the festival.
Yarnbury Beer & Music Festival is hosted as always at Yarnbury Rugby Club which is a family owned and run club. The club was first established in 1872. Its safe to say the club is a community hub, and this has been expanded even more since the Beer festival was founded.
This was reflected in the fact that Sam said that It was a particular wet Friday evening but regardless of the fact it was quite a big turn out!
that being said, lets get started shall we?
So lets talk about the beer!
- Name: Nettle Thrasher (4.4% ABV)
- Brewery: Elland Road Brewery
- Aroma : Strong malty scent, with a touch of Blackcurrent
- Appearance : Clear Copper in colour with a tight white head when poured
- Body : Medium bodied, good head retention, ok carbonation.
- Hops: English Challenger and Bramling Cross
- Taste : Quite a complex layered malty draw which morphs to a creamed flavour with a touch of fruit towards the end.
The term ‘Best Bitter’ is somewhat synonymous with this type of tipple.
Copper; Traditional; and Smooth.
Our overall rating: 3.4/ 5.0
- Name: Knowle Spring (4.2% ABV)
- Brewery: Timothy Taylors
- Aroma : Mild floral scent with a slight citrus / limey finish
- Appearance : Clear golden colour with a crisp white head when poured.
- Body : Medium bodied, well carbonated with decent head retention.
- Hops: Strisselspalt, Minstrel, Cascade and Chinook
- Taste : Initial floral taste, with a kick of malt and a touch of grapefruit/orange to finish.
you cant go wrong with a good pint of Timothy Taylors, this was a new one to my palate, a touch more grapefruit than I was expecting, very much an easy drinker and again super traditional.
This one was also heavily supported by the blues band (Cragg Hill Blues Band) that was playing. Their set was very to tapping, gave me some real blues brothers vibes… but alas no raw hide!
Our overall rating: 3.2/ 5.0
- Name: I Saw Bigfoot On The Chevin (3.6 ABV)
- Brewery: Shadow Brewing
- Aroma : Traditional Blonde Fragrance with a twist of lime
- Appearance : Clear Darker gold, with a tight white head when poured.
- Body : Medium bodied, well carbonated, with good head retention.
- Hop: N/A
- Taste : Very traditional blonde but with a complex very floral finish. quite a required taste but it grows on you.
Our overall rating: 3.7/ 5.0
- Name: Gods of the Underworld (6% ABV)
- Brewery: Brass Castle
- Aroma : Strong notes of coffee and Molassas.
- Appearance : Pitch black, with a thin film head when poured.
- Body : Medium to full bodied with a decent carbonation and good head retention.
- Hop: N/A
- Taste : Strong, dry, tobacco-y stout with a good hit of roasted coffee & chocolate.
Wowza, again brass castle have knocked it out of the park with this one. Strong, full of flavour and doesn’t feel like a 6% very smooth and dangerous!
Our overall rating: 4.0/ 5.0
- Name: Point Break (4.5% ABV)
- Brewery: Wilde Child Brewery
- Aroma : Strong notes of citrus and fruits along with a hoppy backing.
- Appearance : Close-to-clear amber-gold body, full white head.
- Body : medium bodied, well carbonated no head retention.
- Hops: Amarillo, Columbus & Comet
- Taste : Light bitter, with an orangey /lemon clean finish.
This was a very refreshing crisp pint, a little more punchy in the flavour department that the previous traditional’s, I think I might have another!.
Our Overall Rating: 3.4/ 5.0
- Name: Slippery Customer (5.5% ABV)
- Brewery: Wilde Child Brewery
- Aroma : Quite fruity with an underlying sugary-ness.
- Appearance : Slightly hazed, dark golden colour with a thin tight white head when poured.
- Body : Medium bodied, well carbonated, great head retention.
- Hops: N/A
- Taste : Crisp, dry, tart, and tangy. talk about complex. it certainly makes your mouth pucker, fresh raspberry, redcurrant and lemon tuck shop action with a dry finish. somewhat reminiscent of a sour ice-pop.
Now I am not really a sour lover, but this one really scratched an itch. It was a welcome change to the pales and blondes on offer. It had such an addictive Zing which gave was a unanimous review “Nice!” from the group.
Our Overall Rating: 3.6/5.0
- Name: Mango (5.5% ABV)
- Brewery: Kirkstall Brewery
- Aroma : A very heavy citrus led nose with a underlying hop.
- Appearance : Clear golden ale with a thick fluffy white head
- Body : medium bodied, well carbonated, ok head retention.
- Hops: Galaxy , Simcoe & Citra
- Taste : Strong notes of citrus along with a mild hop, quite refreshing but not picking up any mango notes
A little disappointed in this one, not what i was expecting given the name, but not a bad pint over all.
Our overall rating : 3.0/5.0
and with that we conclude our coverage of the Yarnbury Beer & Music Festival 2023. All in all it was a cracking festival and there was more then one very nice drop, a couple of very nice darks on too despite us only covering one.
We would be remiss not to give a special mention to the following beers as they met with Jordan & Chris’ “Nice” approval:
- Wilde Child – Brownie Hunter
- Wild Child – Biscoffy Stout
- Thornbridge – Galaxia
- Wishbone – Tiller Pin
All four of these are certainly worth a shout if you see them out in the wild we highly suggest putting them in your basket.
The musical acts we saw were also of a high quality and certainly go a lot of people up dancing once they had their fill of “dancing juice ” of course.
The|Eternal|Hoptimitsts 