Mahinda’s Little World

Last night, Mark, Pete, Luc and I spent a pleasant couple of hours in Font Bar - they were throwing a bit of a beer festival, to celebrate their recent inclusion in the 2006 Good Beer Guide. Huzzah!

Alison managed to pop in later, too, complete with Rodney, her cello.

Like something out of The 7th Guest

Friendly (and, it has to be said, rather attractive*) bar staff, a decent selection of ales, and a generally nice bar with plenty of seating. The music wasn’t bad, either, and at about the right volume for a sociable evening.

* Apart from the ginger bloke. Sorry mate - you’re nice enough, but just not my type

So, the beers. Between us (with plenty of overlap), we managed the lot…

(each beer has its Font tasting notes, followed by my personal rating and notes)

Bazen’s Pacific (3.8%)
Part of the infamous SBS (Salford Brewing Syndicate), this light session bitter goes down a treat. The brewer has just ordered 100 casks as demand for his ‘art’ grows…

Good, honest bitter, with plenty of hops.

Bank Top Dark Mild (4.0%)
This is a bloody gorgeous dark mild, and has unusually strong character. Bolton’s finest beers can be found all over Greater Manchester.. Look out fo ‘Flat Cap’, a tribute to the late and great steeplejack Fred Dibnah.

As usual for this one, very dark and very flavoursome. Full of roasty overtones, with a really strong dark coffee aftertaste.

Rooster’s Zulu (4.7%)
A fantastic new Porter (bit like Guinness only nicer) from Yorkshire brewer Sean Franklin. Described as ‘God’ by his many fans, the beers he makes are ‘God’s own water’.

Much too watery for a porter. Possibly even too watery for a mild. Nice enough flavour, just not much of it.

Millstone True Grit (5.0%)
Strong pale ale from the Brummie lads Nick and John, who now reside in Mossley. An absolute CAMRA favourite and winner of many beer festival awards. Also this beer festival organiser’s favourite.

A nice pint - would rate higher, but I just don’t like hoppy light ales …and this is a fine example of the species!

Bryson’s Wheat Beer (4.0%)
Brewed in Morecambe, this is a fine example of an English Wheat beer. Compare the taste with the German versions like Erdinger or the Kronenbourg Blank (upstairs on the bar).

Decent floral aftertaste, but again, pretty watery, with very little on the palate at first.

Phoenix Monkeytown Mild (3.8%)
Smooth, creamy, dark and very hard to find in pubs, as it isn’t brewed very often. Monkeytown is the nickname for Heywood. God only knows why.

Rather palatable, really. A decent mild.

Phoenix Wobbly Bob (6.0%)
Legendary ale from the Phoenix brewery, only really found at beer festivals where it’s often the first to go. Red-brwon in colour and full of bittery flavours.

A definite favourite for some of the lads - flavoursome and lots of body - but I’ve definitely had better pints of Wobbly Bob. Still rates highly though, which is a sign of how good this stuff is.
Luc says: “LUC SEAL OF APPROVAL”

Hawkhead Gold (on handpump upstairs; 4.4%)
A hoppy, golden ale from the heart of the Lake District. This beer is certain to run out very quickly, so get a pint as soon as possible!

My worst of the fest. A very light session beer, hoppy but just not all that nice.

Hopstar Dunn Chasing (4.5%)
This is a very rare golden bitter not to be found anywhere outside the town it comes from. A very nice bloke called Barry makes this beer, and if he’s not making beer he’s usually propping up the bar at the Black Horse pub in Darwen.

Nice, but VERY hoppy - too much so for my taste, but the others liked it.

Owl Brewery Yon Owl (on handpump upstairs; 4.0%)
Pale bitter which is very easy on the palate. Very good beer; not sure about the pump clips whough…brewed in Oldham, hence the Oldham Owl is used as the brewery’s insignia.

A bit watery, yet again. Maybe I shouldn’t have had those strong dark ales first?!

Facer’s Crabtree (4.3%)
Legendary light ale and ‘Beer of the Festival 2005′ at Chorlton’s last beer festival. If you like lager and aren’t sure about all this real ale, then this is the one to try first. Brewed in Salford but soon to be moved to Wales so Dave can make and sell even more of it.

Tastes like a particularly flavoursome lager. Nice work, Dave!

J.W.Lees’ Moonraker (7.5%)
Strong ale to be found in only a handful of John Willies’ pubs. Don’t drink too much of it though.

Not the best pint of Moonraker, but still nice enough.
Luc says: “It’s no Old Tom!”

New Forest Perry

Tried it on the off-chance, as I don’t often get to taste decent perry. Unfortunately, it’s still perry.
Definitely best left for Linden’s cidery taste buds. Eugh!

My overall winner is the Bank Top Dark Mild, as it’s definitely the one whose flavour I can remember the most. A sledgehammer amongst lumphammers! Brewery website here, with their ales page here.

All in all, not too bad, not not great either. You’ve got to bear in mind that I don’t give out 9s very often, never mind 10s!
 

Unfortunately, I didn’t find out until pretty late on that there were another 10 beers each in Space (next door), and the Thirsty Scholar (about 40 yards away). Oh well - we’d never have got round them all anyway, even between us!