Cardiff Country Fair beer & cider list

This time of year we usually have the Great British Cheese Festival on in Cardiff Castle but it has now turned into a two-year rather than annual event. To fill the gap on a weekend when we mostly have good weather, Cardiff Council are holding the Cardiff Country Fair this Saturday & Sunday (28th-29th September).

Once again the Cardiff Arms beer tent will be run by CAMRA

Provisional Beer list:

Otley O1

Otley Croeso

Otley O Boss

Otley O9

Moor Revival

Oakham Inferno

Butcombe Bitter

VOG Cwrw Dewi

VOGRorkes Drift

Rhymney Dark

Rhymney Hobby Horse

Brecon Green

Brecon Red

Brecon Welsh

Brecon 3 Beacons

Conwy Minera

Hobsons Best Bitter

Holdens Black Country

RCH Old Slug Porter

Wye Valley Seasonal

Gower Gold

Redstone

Untapped UPA

Jacobi Red Squirrel

Salopian Golden Thread

Cerddin Show the Honey

Brains  Aporcalypse

Brains Barry Island IPAl

Hopcraft Tidy Bitter

Hopcraft You love us

Kite Gorslas

Kite CPA

Tiny Rebel Urban IPA

Tiny Rebel Dirty stopout

Tiny Rebel Cwtch

Celt Silures

Celt Native Storm

Celt Seven Flowers

Cider & Perry list:

Blindgranny	Rum cask
Blindgranny	Oak Conditioned
Blindgranny	Blindfold
Blindgranny	Heartbreaker
Blindgranny	Perry
Gwynt Y Ddraig	Celtic Warrior
Gwynt Y Ddraig	Happy Daze
Gwynt Y Ddraig	Welsh Warrior
Gwynt Y Ddraig	Black Dragon
Gwynt Y Ddraig	Perry
Raglan Cider Mill	Medium
Raglan Cider Mill	Dry
Raglan Cider Mill	Stoke Red
Troggi	Medium Cider
Troggi	Dry Cider
Troggi	Medium Perry
Troggi	Dry Perry
Uplands	Cheeky Jackdaw
Uplands	Rubber Chicken
Uplands	Chub Fuddler

Gwatkin Cider will be there as well with their stand in the Best of British Tent along with Gwynt Y Ddraig Cider and Otley Brewery.

Brains Head Brewer has an Achilles Heel!

Brains’ have brewed a Craft Brewery in honour of an accident had by their Head Brewer, Bill Dobson.

Bill tore his Achilles Heel in a football injury earlier in the summer and drew up the recipe while laid up in plaster. Serves him right trying to play footie at his age!

Achilles Heel is a helles, based on the popular German beer style, and was brewed by Bill’s team of master brewers.

Bill Dobson says: “I’ve been planning on brewing a helles for a while - it’s one of my favourite styles of beer. While I was stuck in plaster I couldn’t take as much of a hands-on part in the brewing so I took a back seat and researched a beer style that we’d never brewed before and created our own version of it.”

Achilles Heel is a Munich style helles lager. Combining Pilsner and Cara malts with the finest noble hops from the Hallertau gives a combination of sweet malt flavours and gentle spicy hops with a smooth clean finish. This beer has been slow fermented using a German helles lager yeast and matured for 16 weeks.

Achilles Heel will be available in selected Brains Craft Brewery outlets in October. To celebrate Bill’s full recovery the beer will first be launched in the City Arms, Cardiff this week.

 To find your nearest pub visit here.

Am really enjoying the Brains Craft Brewery Beers, the A-Pork-Alypse bacon & chocolate brew was especially good, as was the US - hop monster the Big Sipa.

Abergavenny Food Festival time again!

The biggest and best food festival in Wales is on again this Saturday & Sunday with the Abergavenny Food Festival taking over the historic town for the weekend.

Let's see who are here:

Beer & Cider

Blindgranny Farm
www.blaengawneycider.co.uk
Annie and Andy Hallett hand make cider on their farm from 100% juice. Hope they are not selling their mousey cider as they were doing last year at the festival! Not the first time I had a mousey cider off this maker either!
Brecon Brewing Ltd
www.breconbrewing.co.uk
The natural beauty of the Brecon Beacons in a pint glass!
Celt Experience Ltd
www.theceltexperience.co.uk
Craft beer fashioned as an art form for exuberance
Doghouse Pop Up Pub
www.doghousemagazine.co.uk
Doghouse pop-up pub; serving British pub magazine and Publisher ale
Gwatkin Cider Co Ltd
www.gwatkincider.co.uk
Award winning farmhouse cider and perry made with real fruit. May even find me on the stand!
Gwynt Y Ddraig Cider
www.gwyntcider.com
Award winning Welsh cider and perry made from freshly harvested fruit
Kingstone Brewery
www.kingstonebrewery.co.uk
Tintern based brewery producing real ales from hearty IPAs to quaffable bitters
Once Upon A Tree
www.onceuponatree.co.uk
Producers of award-winning ciders, perries and juices from our orchard in Putley. My second favourite cider of the Ludlow Food Festival last week!
Otley Brewing Company
www.otleybrewing.co.uk
Locally produced, award winning real ales; excellent quality and price
Tudor Brewery
www.tudor-brewery.co.uk
A family brewery based in the Welsh valleys. 3 Gold Star Winners
Ty Gwyn Cider
www.tygwyncider.co.uk
Ty Gwyn, award winning craft cider company from the Monnow Valley
Untapped Brewing Company
www.untappedbrew.com
Top quality, hand-crafted, bottle-conditioned Real Ales made in Raglan

Septimus Spyder Drinks
www.spyder.org.uk
Barn brewed medieval fruit ales (non-alcoholic)
Perfect for the Sunday morning hangover!

In addition, Boris from Raglan Cider Mill will have his usual stand

in the car park of the former Market Tavern on Market Street. Not part of the festival but worth popping in for a cider or two, or three or four!

Tips for going to Abergavenny Food Festival:

• Get an early train, later trains in the day have been known not to stop at Newport or Cwnbran as they were too full
• Go to the pub after the Festival to avoid overcrowded trains 
• Pubs worth visiting include Hen & Chickens (Brains, incl their Craft Beers), King's Arms (Tudor Beers), Angel Hotel (Best pint of Wye Valley HPA I have ever had)
• Watch the firework dispaly from the castle whilst sitting outside the King's Arms

Third Beerex for Rodney Parade this Friday & Saturday

The third beerex held by the Friends of Newport Rugby Trust launches today (Friday) and continues tomorrow. The previous two festivals have been sell-out successes so let's all get behind this one!
To coincide with the Dragons V Scarlets and Newport V Llanelli fixtures.
 

Beer list
Worthington Cask Ale
Sharps Doombar
Taylors Landlord
Castle Rock Harvest Pale
 Cross Bay Hurricane
Thornbridge Jaipur
Skinners Cornish Knocker
Adnams Broadside
Thwaites Lancaster Bomber
 Robinsons Dizzy Blonde
Bath Gem Robinsons
Iron Maiden Trooper
Batemans Autumn Fall
Otley O4 Colombo
Otley Croeso
Otley O9 Blonde (O-Garden)
Tiny Rebel FUBAR
Tiny Rebel Dirty Stop Out
Tiny Rebel Goldie Lookin Ale
Hopcraft Graveyard Eyes Porter
 Hopcraft Golden Pixie
Hopcraft You Love Us

 Ciders
Thatchers Heritage
Westons Old Rosie
Westons Country Perry
Wyld Wood Organic

Yes that's correct, it looks like this beer festival will be the first to have Tiny Rebel Goldie Looking Ale on!
More details here on their Facebook site