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Pig's Ear Beer Festival 2007 (CAMRA Beer Festival)

Beer (sort)Average Score (sort)No. Samples (sort)
Eagle (formerly Wells & Young's, formerly Charles Wells, formerly Wells) - John Young Christmas AleGood1
Oakham - Festival AleGood1
Pitfield's - Night On Mare Street 2Good1
Brampton - Impy DarkGood1
Crouch Vale - Christmas PaleGood1
Dunham Massey - Big Tree BitterGood1
Brentwood - Porcus AuriculaAcceptable1
St Judes - GypeswicAcceptable1
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Strong and DarkAcceptable1
Fernandes - Golden VoidAcceptable1
Uncle Stuart's - Norfolk MildAcceptable1
Inveralmond - Santa's SwalliePoor1
Picture 1. Pig's Ear Beer Festival 2007, Hackney, Greater London

Visits Details

04 Dec 2007 (Ian)
Arrived just before opening and met up with a group of people from Ratebeer. Later on Stonch (who has had several beer related articles published), and Warren from Ale Street News in the States arrived too. Most UK beers were on with more coming on during the day. Ended up drinking a fair number of bottles from the foreign section. Had both Westvleteren 8 and 12 on, but the 8 was a great disappointment.
BeerABVScoreNotes
Eagle (formerly Wells & Young's, formerly Charles Wells, formerly Wells) - John Young Christmas Ale4.30GoodRusset, good lasting head. Young's yeast aroma, quite a good best bitter, good peppery hop/spic sting on end. Actually really nice. Creamy and drinkable.
Oakham - Festival Ale5.00GoodOrangey brown, bit oxidised maybe. Nice hop as always. Little bit woody. Sweetish malt. Not the best, but still a cracking beer.
Brampton - Impy Dark4.30GoodVery deep ruby, lots of coffee, bit of a mild really. Nice powder coffee on finish. Decent enough, I quite liked it.
Crouch Vale - Christmas Pale4.20GoodPale gold, thin white head. Certainly hoppy, but its a little sweaty sox. Grassy. Good carbonation. Nice drinkable grassy hoppy beer. Decent bite. Fine.
Dunham Massey - Big Tree Bitter3.90GoodAmber, nice enough bitter. Good meaty earthiness. Decent hop on end. Fine. Classic English crunchy bitter.
Pitfield's - Night On Mare Street 214.20GoodBrewed especially for the festival. Very deep ruby with lasting beige head. Sweet fruity aroma. Strong syrupy beer with liquorice and rice? Good fruit. Strong, syrupy, but rather good. Sticky. Good hop on finish.
Twickenham (also uses sub-brand Old Hands) - Strong and Dark5.20AcceptableVery very dark brown with thin beige head. Decent aroma. Decent porter-y type beer. Bit of sting on finish. Fine.
Brentwood - Porcus Auricula3.50AcceptableVery deep chestnut. Lasting thin beige head. Rather a nice mild, bit of candy sugar, but inoffensive. A little hop sting on finish.
St Judes - Gypeswic4.50AcceptableProbably had more fun working out how to pronounce this than drinking it (decided it was an early spelling of Ipswich). Bit of haze, no head. Citrusy hop aroma. Bit of odd soap. On the verge of being very good. Good hop, pepper.
Fernandes - Golden Void4.50AcceptableCopper/gold, no head. Perfumey floral hop aroma. Attractive, bit of toffee. Not much on finish. Toffee throughout.
Uncle Stuart's - Norfolk Mild4.00AcceptableCharcoaly chocolatey mild
Inveralmond - Santa's Swallie4.30PoorClear copper, ginger aroma, clearly some spice, bit of a sting, but emptyish in mouth. Bit dull.

About the Pig's Ear Beer Festival 2007

The pub sign. Pig's Ear Beer Festival 2007, Hackney, Greater London

Summary of Beer Scores

 Total
Exceptional-
Excellent-
Good6
Acceptable5
Poor1

Website.

The pub is found in Hackney, Greater London, E8 1HE.

Held for the second year running at The Ocean venue, Mare Street, opposite Hackney Town Hall. A fair range of UK beers with a heavy tilt towards winter and festival specials. Small cider section with a very decent foreign beer stand too. Not a huge amount of seating.

We have visited this pub once, seen 12 different beers and tried them all.

Map location

Postcode: E8 1HE