WEST Best

Your very own Festival Ale. A superb traditional Northern England ale full of malty favour - and at 4.00% a true session beer . This is one Ale everyone must try - even our players who like to pay a fortune for Kopparberg cider.

Old Thumper

At 5.1% abv you can see why Ringwood's iconic beer earned its name in a competion run in 1979 when it was first brewed.  For the record Joe Leedham from Broadstone, Dorset came up with the name.It has a spicy peppery aroma with a hint of apples. Warm, rounded yet surprisingly delicate pale strong beer.

Jester Jack

Nothing too mischevious about this offering .

A refreshing mid-summer ale with a fruity hop explosion.

 High Spy

Nothiong to do with James Bond. This ale is named after a Lakeland Fell. 

It's a refreshing pale ale brewed with Vienna malt giving a delicate citrus and floral finish.

 Fever Pitch

An ale  as pale as the faces of the England team as they arrived home early from the World Cup.

It combines malt with East Kent Goldings hops to produce a beer guaranteed to go down easier than a continental dive in the box!

 Sunbeam

Sunbeam has a vibrant citrus hop aroma and a shimmering blonde colour. The rich gooseberry and zesty grapefruit taste create an easy drinking ale with a clean long aftertaste. (Hopefully not too long an aftertaste as this is a beer festival and you'll probably want to try a different ale next).

 Ringwood Bitter

A tremendous session beer all the way from Hampshire. It is remarkably refreshing and a bronze medal winner at the Munich Beer Festival way back in 2005. It's still going strong.

 Cocker Hoop

A zingy pale straw coloured draught ale from an all malt brew. Hopped in the copper with English Goldings and late hopped with a fist full of delicious zesty Styrian Goldings to give this cask beer a  citrus and floral aroma. We were so pleased wity the Jennings ales last year that five of us went on a brewery tour at Cockermouth. Lovely people, surprisingly small brewery and top quality ales. We were truly Cocker Hoop after that visit. Some more than others.

 Oxford Gold

Brakspear Oxford Gold Cask is craft brewed with English Goldings and Styrian Hops and fermented with the unique Brakspear yeast. Oxford Gold provides a golden beer with a subtle fruity flavour and zesty aroma. 

 John Smith's Cask

The cask and stronger version of the ubiquitous smooth. A traditional brownish colour with a toffee and hoppy nose. Caramel and hoppy flavour with a smooth finish. Try it - it's got a lot more character than yiou might expect.

Strongarm

Hartlepool's famous Ruby Red. There's no way we could have our BeerFest without our local brewery's flagship beer.  Well rounded, ruby red ale with a distinctive tight creamy head (unless you drink it in the Causeway where the head is large, loose and sticks to the end of your nose as Hartlepool tradition demands.)

Beer de Janeiro

This is a brand new beer from one of the smallest breweries in the North East. The Hill Island brewery is situated in the shadow of Durham Cathedral and each beer is hancrafted by Mike who is a one man band. It's not often you get a chance to meet the brewer in person. He's  a very nice bloke - enjoy his beer.

Murray on Regardless

A homage to And and another new one from Hill Island - so new in fact that  Mike is still designing the pump clip - he literally does do everything himself. Mike has built up a loyal following in the 9 year he has been brewing at Fowler's Yark on the banks of the River Wear.

Piledriver

Thsi has been the most popular guest ale in the West club  this winter. Its first taste can be described as "a bit different"  before its personality quickly establishes itself. The links with Status Quo are not invented - they helped develop the ale - a euphemism for drinking lots of it, no doubt.

White Stout

Yes that's correct - it's 7.2%. The word "stout" has come to mean a dark beer, the original meaning was "strong and true. "Before the porter brewers commandeered the word to mean a stout, or strong, porter it referred to any strong beer. Our strongest beer on offer so gan canny with it.

 Citra Nova

Durham Brewery do really take their craft seriously and have used that expertise to produce an American Pale with a surprising floral bouquet and an underlying fresh citrus bitterness. At 3.9% abv this pale session bitter has far more character than would be expected for its strength.

Route 12

A new style IPA for Durham Brewery with an intriguing combination of American hops - Yokohama, Columbus and Citra. Traditional IPA's should be strong as they were originally brewed to stay drinkable on a long sailing ship voyage to India. This is an American twist on that theme.

Apollo

A supertbly fresh and sharp IPA from Durham. Rich hop flavours with grapfruit qualities. Extra bitter for character but not too much. Check out all three Pale Ale offerings from Durham and compare the difference and the skill a brewer brings.

Redeemer

With the eyes of the world focused on Brazil the Cameron's head brewer has created a refreshing golden cask ale brewed using a combination of British Fuggles and South American Cascade hops. Redeemer has a faint lemon grass aroma and gentle hop flavour giving it a crisp clean taste.

Premier Let

- Ravi Gupta

Hobgoblin

Always one of the favourite guest beers in the West club - so we had to get it for the BeerFest. Hobgoblin is a full-bodied, ruby cask beer that delivers a delicious chocolate toffee malt flavour. This is also an example3of Marstons Fastcask technology approved by CAMRA. Unlike other ales on offer it does not have to be tapped three or four days in advance - a boon for the trade.

Full Brazilian

A full bodied golden with Target hops complemented by  First Gold for a robust and exciting match. You'll enjoy the dominant El dorado hop finish of exotic fruit flavours. 

Gold Bullion

A new, contemporary golden ale with a heavy hoppy citrus bias provided by the outstandingly fruity American Chinook hop. Very refreshing and full of flavour.

Boondoggle

A blonde and luscious 4.2% cask ale. Brewed with the finest English Pale malt, First Gold and Fuggles hops. Boondoggle draught delivers a well-balanced moreish fruity taste. One meaning of "Boondoggle" is work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy. We would thefreforfe like to point out that this  ale is not sponsored by the civil service.

Fortyniner

Ringwood Fortyniner is a golden full-bodied malty cask beer with a deep bitter-sweet finish. This draught ale is crafted with English malt and a blend of Goldings, Progress, Fuggles & Challenger Hops.

South Pacific Red

A full flavoured red amber ale  by Simon Yates Master Brewer at the Park Brewery in Wolverhampton. It is hopped at four stages with aromatics from New Zealand to produce an easy drinking beer with exotic tropical bitterness.

 Tour de Wot?

Presumably the good brewers of Masham aren't cycling enthusiasts. Fortunately they are keen on brewing beer and this is a clean zesty summer ale with a hint of tropical fruits. Get on yer bike!

 Slipstream

This bike thing is catching on. This offering from Hertfordshire has a subtle citrus aroma alongside a moreish malty taste.

  Brasilia

There is something else going on apart from bikes. This is Greene King's homage to the World Cup . It's very refeshing with an intense citrus zing - and an exotic name. They could do a strongher version called Full Brasilia.

Commonwealth Gold

 Is there no end to sporting themes this summer? This is a special brew from Edinburgh offering soft fruit aromas around a lemon and soft malt finish. Its aslo part of the new traditioon in Scottish brewing whic is a million miles away from a "pint of heavy and a battered Mars bar."

 New World Pale Ale

This is from the Pedigree stable and is proving so popular it even has its own website ... http://www.newworldpaleale.co.uk

Brewed with Australian hops its something of a crossOver between ale and lager A gleaming pale gold in colour, New World Pale Ale has a fruity flavour with blasts of tropical peaches, apricot, melon and passionfruit.