Gosport Winterfest at the Thorngate Halls was again great. Loads of new beers tried. Some excellent. The kitchen had changed hands and the cook was very friendly, the brie & bacon melt was good. However, beer was the primary purpose for the visit and here are the ones we tried;

Atlas Brewery - Lattitude. Grapefuity and refreshing. Excellent.

George Bateman & Son - Salem Porter. Very sweet, burnt & liquorice. Too sweet for me!

Bowman Ales - Quiver Bitter. Massive citrussy, floral flavour from Cascadeⁱ hops. Excellent. Loads of flavour.

Brown Cow Brewery - After Dark Coffee Porter. Malty sweet, like Tia Maria with the sweetish thick coffee flavour. Good stuff.

Cairngorm Brewery - Sheepshagger's Gold. Passion fruit, vanilla & candy floss. Interesting. Rhian's beer of the festival.

Cotleigh Brewery - Harrier Lite. (Cotleigh not Cockney!) Definitely floral & light tasting. Good.

Dark Star - Hophead. An old favourite! Hoppy, dry and grapefruity. I suspect those Cascade hops have been used again!

Elland Brewery - 1872 Porter. Like a cafe latte, thick & dry with bags of smooth coffee flavour. Tons of flavour. Lovely, but I would have trouble drinking a whole pint.

Great Orme Brewery - Welsh Black. A nice very dark mild. Not too dry or sweet.

Hogs Back Brewery - Winter Ale. Chocolatey & smooth. Kate's beer of the festival.

Little Valley Brewery - Tod's Blonde. Like a Belgian Blonde style beer. A little honeyish and lovely.

Little Valley Brewery - Hebden's Wheat. Like a Belgian Blonde wheat beer. Wonderful stuff.

Oakham Ales - Bishops Farewell. Very hoppy & with good bitterness.

Oakleaf Brewing - Hole Hearted. An old favourite. A great hoppy, but well rounded beer.

Phoenix Brewery - West Coast IPAⁱ. Another old favourite. Citrussy, refreshing. More Cascade hops used in this I'd bet. Great.

Purple Moose Brewery - Dark Side of the Moose. Very malty with plenty of body. Some barnyard. Reasonable stuff.

Stewart Brewing Ltd - Pentland IPA. Very toffee like di-ketone flavour. OK beer.

Tower Brewery - Malty Towers. Pale, light beer, Malty but not too sweet.

Triple fff Brewing - Pressed Rat & Warthog. Another old favourite. A good mild ale. Sweetish.

Valhalla Brewery - Island Bere. The only undrinkable beer of the night. Tainted with a phenolic TCP-like taste. Horrid.

Williams Bros Brewing - Williams Gold. Malty sweet, honeyish. Not bad.

Another great festival, reminding me why its one of my favourites. Maybe the last Gosport Winterfest I'll ever get chance to go to, so it went out on strong form!