Hello and welcome back to the Eternal Hopimists,
Another weekend, another beer festival! I apologise for the delay and lack of posts recently.
I have been burning the candle at both ends a little and after drinking the amount of beer at these festivals I thought it best to give the liver a little time to right itself before the next slog!
However! Last Friday I (Sam) ventured out to Shipley to check out Saltaires annual beer festival, this time I was joined by John, Sue, Michaela and Stuart. There were over 50 beers on offer mostly covering the traditional market, but who doesn’t like a traditional pint or three on a day where the weather is over 25 degrees?.. Well not us four for a start!
What is Saltaire Brewery?
Saltaire Brewery is an independent UK brewery founded by Tony Gartland in 2003, who we did an interview with recently, you can check that out here .
They were and still are committed to creating delicious traditional and now craft ales of the highest quality. They operate out of a fantastic little Victorian brewery complex, and that is where the festival was held!
It had three Bars; The Taproom, The Brewhouse Bar & Mezzanine Bar ( I only managed to get a picture of the Brewhouse bar and the Mezzanine Bar as the Taproom was soo full of people all your would see is a sea of heads!)
But what about the beer?!
So there were quite a few pouring at the event, as you can see on the full beer list below, as this was a traditional festival, there was a large number of Hoppy Pales and IPA’s, so we tried to cover those that we felt were outstanding, a little different and of any breweries that were new to us.
Lunebrew, Bitter (4.0% ABV)
1. Hops : Admiral & Kent Goldings
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Very traditional scent, slight hop and a playful dash of brown sugar.
4. Appearance : Toffee/ Autumn leaves in colour with a tight white head when poured.
5. Body : Light to medium bodied, good level of carbonation, and good head retention.
6. Taste : Very hoppy upfront, then it goes sweet and dry to finish.
This isn’t your Granddads pint, but a more modern one for your dad an yourself, it does what it does well and was just hat the doctor ordered for a starting pint.
Sam’s Rating: 3.6/ 5.0
Riverhead – Sherbert Lemon, Lemony Pale Ale (4.0% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Very citrusy, barley sugar and lemon grass.
4. Appearance : Clear Golden Yellow, with a very thin film head when poured.
5. Body : light bodied, good carbonation, smooth & Zesty
6. Taste : Mild wash of lemon & hops with a very moreish Malty Finish
Thiss is a good summer drink, but its not as thirst quenching as i would of hoped, was expecting a bit more juiciness with that name, but good non the less.
Kayla’s Rating: 3.5/ 5.0
Brass Castle- Bad Kitty, Vanilla Porter (5.5% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Chocolate, vanilla and malt aroma’s
4. Appearance : Black Opaque with a finger width tight off white head when poured.
5. Body : Full bodied, good carbonation, but the head retention was lack lustre.
6. Taste : Notes of Chocolate, Coffee with a cheeky vanilla backdrop (everything a growing beer-belly needs)
Its an oldie but a goodie, I’m sure we have done before but I couldn’t resist! Thoroughly enjoyable! Porter cools the blood I say!
John’s Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Mobberley – Small Town, American Pale (4.2% ABV)
1. Hops : Citra Cryo and Citra T90
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Strong notes of citrus, and a cheeky touch of grass.
4. Appearance : Clear golden colour, with an open white head when poured.
5. Body : Quite thin, ok carbonation with poor head retention.
6. Taste : Quite subtle at first but the citrus grew as you drank it, very refreshing.
I think this one was a little warm, not the venues or the beers fault. It must have been pushing 30 degree’s by this point, very refreshing and I definitely want to try this one again.
Sams Rating: 3.2/ 5.0
Saltaire- Brewbarb, Fruity Rhubarb Pale (4.2% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Tart small of Rhubarb and hop
4. Appearance : A misty pale gold pint with a good white head when poured
5. Body : Medium bodied, well carbonated but lacklustre head retention.
6. Taste : Hoppy with a vague sweetness to it, then morphing to an almost earthy finish, you don’t get much Rhubarb until the third mouthful, its a grower!
Its a grower, the more you drink the better it gets.. I think I will have another!…
John’s Rating: 3.2/ 5.0
Saltaire- South Island, New Zealand Pale (3.4% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Quite bready and wheaty with a slight tang.
4. Appearance : Golden Yellow in colour with a thin to medium white head when poured.
5. Body : Light bodied, very zingy, good carbonation and ok head retention.
6. Taste : Crisp and Tangy citrus notes with a hoppy and slightly malty aftertaste.
I was not a fan of the smell of this one, and I feel that put me off a bit which is a shame a the taste was much better
Kayla’s Rating: 2.8/ 5.0
Craven – Extra Fine Ale, Pale Ale – (4.2% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Slight Malt scent but nothing much else going on.
4. Appearance : Clear a little on the dark side of amber in colour, with a healthy white head when poured.
5. Body : Medium bodied, quite low on the carbonation scale but good head retention.
6. Taste : A vague hoppiness with a sweetness running throughout.
Its wet, and its drinkable, but it was not anything to shout to the heavens about. Craven isn’t a brewery we have heard of before, but we will keep an eye out in future to see if there beers stack up against this festival showing.
John’s Rating: 3.2/ 5.0
Twisted Wheel – Speed Wobble (4.7% ABV)
1. Hops : Citra Cryo
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Mild Hop aroma
4. Appearance : Cloudy yellow to Amber in colour with a thin consistent head
5. Body : Thin, almost water-like, no life in it, non existent head retention.
6. Taste : Wet, Thin, with mild barley sugars & Hop.
A thin and forgettable beer, a true ‘pump padder’ that you best leave at the bar, and try something more substancial… like water
Stuarts Rating: 2.0/ 5.0
*[Sam/Editors Note] – After some research the heat well and truly killed this one, I will make Stuart try it again when I can!*
Thornbridge – Kashpur, IPA (5.7% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Sharp and clean Citrus Scent.
4. Appearance : Transparent bright yellow in colour with a strong white head when poured.
5. Body : Quite thin, but smooth andeasy drinking, good carbonation levels and ok head retention.
6. Taste : Sharp bright citrus hops that hit the back of the mouthleaving quite a sharp aftertaste.
This one is much better than the last one, it has hints of interesting sharpness, and has a good level of taste for its ABV leaving no alcohol burn, but with other more punch IPA’s out there this one may leave you wanting.
Stuarts Rating: 3.0/ 5.0
Thornbridge – Chula Vista, Lemon & Sea Salt Sour(4.2% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : Strong sour lemonade that makes your mouth water
4. Appearance : Bright cloudy yellow with a thin head when poured
5. Body : Light, Zesty, Easy drinking, good level of carbonation, good head retention and medium bodied.
6. Taste : A sour smack of unripe lemon that mellows to a deep sweet lemon flavour
Talk about a refreshing blast! this is exceptionally lemony without being overly astringent.
Kayla’s Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
Bacchus – Kreik, Cherry Brown Ale (5.8% ABV)
1. Hops : N/A
2. Grain : N/A
3. Aroma : 100% Cherries
4. Appearance : a clear muddy reddish brown, with a thin film head when poured.
5. Body : good level of carbonation, medium bodied, no head retnetion but smoooooth.
6. Taste :
A heavenly cherry flavour boardering on the sickly sweet side with a warming alcoholic kick.
This one was not cheap! (£6.50 a pint) hence us only getting a half. But that half was packed with so much cherry flavour it could have filled 2 pint glasses. very very nice, but at 5.8% it was very very dangerous.
Sam & Stuart also tried this and they agreed that it tastes like “Melted Cherry Locket Soothers” and what do you know.. my sore throat has gone!
John’s Rating: 4.0/ 5.0
And that concludes our coverage of the Saltaire Brewery beer festival 2023.
There was food (same vender as the Tartarus birthday party.. so I treated
everyone to a Bulgogi Burger! Heck Yea!) There was decent music being played by the DJ, and as usual I was joined by some great company, all in all this festival gets two thumbs up from me! Hopefully next year I can entice Mark and Peter to join us!
See you all again, very soon!
The|Eternal|Hoptimitsts 