I was invited to a beer festival in a pub over the Bank Holiday at the Cross Keys in Milton Keynesⁱ by Matt & Andrew.   A marquee was set up in the beer garden & some benches arranged inside.   A good selection of 30 local (mostly) beers were put on, with the usual regular beers inside the pub.

Later in the evening when a band started playing inside the pub, very few people seemed to be coming out to the marquee.   It appeared you either sat in the beer festival section & tried the beers or stood in the pub & drank from the bar.   Strange.

We could hear the band at the volume we wanted nicely in the marquee though (enough to hear, but not enough to impede conversation) & we set about the business of the day;

B&T, Dragonslayer - dryish, light beer.

B&T, Old Strong - malty, full bodied with a balancing bitterness.

Concrete Cow, Cock & Bull Story - malty with a good earthy bitterness.

Concrete Cow, Midsummer Aleⁱ - pale ale with a light body, some citrus hoppiness, dryish.

Great Oakley, Gobble - strongly flavoured with a citrussy hop.   Exellent New World inspired beer.   Matt had this beer & I should have ordered one myself in the next round.

Great Oakley, Tail Shaker -a mellow pale ale with citrus hops.

Great Oakley, Wot's Occurring -light & hoppy for a copper coloured beer.

Hop Back, Summer Lightning - classic summer wheat beer - a light golden ale with a dry, gentle hoppiness.

Pot Belly, Inner Daze - golden ale.

Vale, Black Beauty - a little thin mouthfeel with a coffee-sherry flavour.

Vale, Gravitas - very pale ale with a good sharpness to it.   Very nice says Andrew.

White Park, First Flight - a bit caramelly, otherwise a very ordinary English style bitter.

White Park, Kelly Hopter - a light beer with a delicate hop flavour.

Great Oakley, Sherford Old Strong - tastes of apples, strangely for a bitter.

Pot Belly, Redwing - a regular English bitter.

Pot Belly, Pigwash - a dark beer.

The food was traditional pub grub - Matt & I had fish & chips (terrific chips) & Andrew had omelette & chips which was polished off, which I am told means it was good.

For last orders we moved on to The Barge nearby for some beers that we can't remember.   Still found room for one more at Matt's - a BrewDog IPAⁱ: not bad at all & at 330ml its quality, not quantity that counts.