PV arrived early but still found Jem and Satan already in attendance. Along with Kent we retired to the beer tent to study the list. O horror, the theme of this festival was beers from Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. This provided little excitement to seasoned local beer festival attendees like us. Fortunately however, there were six beers on in the bar not included on the list and all of these were from out of the area.
Jem and Satan had arrived early as they were moving on to The Alfred. However, they delayed their departure when PV informed them how disappointing he had found the beers and had time to meet up with the rest of Mengo when they arrived at 2.30.
The beers on in the bar proved to be the ones to try for PV - all were under 4% and, apart from the Lytham Witchwood (caramelised), nice and golden. There was also a few worth trying in the tent – Anchor Springs was well represented with three beers, Sherfield Village had two new beers on show and there was an unusual Smoked Porter from Dark Star.
All the Anchor Springs went down well with the Black Pearl a particularly nice Frank beer. Hoping for a Bavarian style Rauch the Dark Star Smoked Porter was saved till last but in reality it lacked that real smoky bacon taste.
Despite the early disappointment of the beer selection, in the end this turned out to be a very enjoyable festival and Mengo set off back to Aldershot in a happy mood.
| Brewery | Beer | % |
| Anchor Springs | Riptide | 4.1 |
| Moonshine | Spiritual Matter | 3.7 |
| Leyden | Halloween | 4.0 |
| Lytham | Witchwood | 3.9 |
| Bank Top | Sweeney's | 3.8 |
| Coach House | Farrier's Best Bitter | 3.9 |
| Anchor Springs | Hornblower | 4.5 |
| Sherfield Village | Quintessential | 4.5 |
| Anchor Springs | Black Pearl | 5.2 |
| Dark Star | Smoked Porter | 5.4 |
Attended by:-
PV, ROC, RN, PC and TM