Sambrooks Birthday Bash 2012

It's hard to believe that on this rainy, windy and miserable Monday morning that Saturday was a glorious sun filled blue sky day with only a hint of autumnal chill in the air.

But glorious it was, with live music from Dr Bluegrass, piggy goodness from Ginger Pig and beer from Sambrooks.

Dr Bluegrass

Luckily I had won tickets from the Sambrooks Twitter competition for hubby and I, although the fee of £10 was rather good as this included three and half pints of beer, not to be sniffed at I'm sure most of you will agree! Held again at the brewery in Battersea it was only a short bus ride for us to arrive at the door after lunch at a local cafe.

Unlike last year the only beer was Sambrooks own, this was fine by us, last year the only disappointing beer we had were from the guest beers. The hubby was pleased that they had the Lavender Hill beer on, it was one of the few beers we haven't tried and it fast became his favourite of the day. As honey beers go it has a lighter flavour than most, it didn't have any waxy taste and just the tang of honey dryness. This meant it was more rounded than alot of honey beers we have tried, unlike say Fullers Honeydew or the old Youngs' Waggledance, it wasn't just about the honey but the hops and malts came though too. Lovely.

Last year my favourite beer was the Powerhouse Porter and whilst still a lovely beer, this year it was Junction that became my favourite with a warm toasty note to it this year. The only point and niggle of the day wasn't anything that can be controlled by the brewery but more some individuals, if you spill some drink on another person then don't stand there and just talk louder, say sorry. Manners don't cost anything!

The surprise for us this year was the introduction of Pale Ale on keg, this came in a special glass but unlike many Sambrooks avoided the 'chalice effect' that has hit many a brewery, opting for a standard pint glass. The glass is designed on the similar technology for the newer champagne glasses, it is designed to keep the fizz so I know that some won't like the fact its on keg but the market is there for this version. Personally I liked it, yes its cold and fizzy but far more importantly it has a lot of flavour and I felt it works well and on a hot summers day (we may get some of those next year, you never know!) it would be a good addition to any bar.

The day was another fantastic event by Sambrooks, I'm hoping these come a yearly regular event.



In the words of Withnail and I, "I seem to have gone on a brewery tour by mistake!"