A Tale of Two Ales
Hector has heard Clive and Maggie refer to the Burgess Hill Beer Festival, today he would experience it for himself. The short hop on the train from Crawley, via Three Bridges as ever, saw us walk down the hill from the Station to Martlets Hall. Curved Air have played here, a long time ago. Ah, the Stage where Sonja once stood, in her prime… Did I mention Colin was with us? Perhaps I should, why bother?
En 
route we passed a Charity Shop whose fundraising was devoted to raising money for Donkeys in Palestine.
This must be the smallest Beer Festival Hector has ever attended. Racked against part of one wall stood the 20 Barrels. The choice was not therefore extensive but at least there was the opperchancity to try a couple of new Dark Star (Partridge Green, West Sussex) Brews.
The App came back
There it was, the Icon sitting on the screen as if nothing had happened. Well nothing had since last evening. We were told that the Kiwi at 4% was being released here before it reached the local Pubs, a good chance to annoy the Folks back Home. We love Kiwi Hops.
Somewhat frustratingly there was the obvious flavour that Kiwi Hops must generate,but very little of it. The low abv and thin texture made for disappointment.
The venue remained quiet, Day 2 of their Festival. By this evening one assumes very little would be left, there was very little to start with. Maggie was making a Command Decision, we would not be staying long. Despite the fact that a Curry was arranged for the Jai Ho in Horley this evening in the company of Debs and Jim, Maggie fancied a Lunchtime Curry too. The effects of having been to India recently? Time for another Ale? The token system was dubious. A single sheet subdivided into 10p and 20p tokens. £5.00 bought more than one Bier, but not two. There was haggling over the odd Half Pint.
The Hylder Blond at 4.2% had been recommended by Colin, he has his uses. There was an instant blast of Hops, Elderflowers were in there too I was assured.
One had hoped that Dark Star’s Revelation or American IPA would have been offer, alas not. Hector was not throwing the Toys out of The Pram when we left mysteriously early.
No Curry House wished to feed us after 14.00 on a Saturday and so The Downsman was the next Pub to be visited. No Bier would be consumed in this outlet, The Downsman may be a Pub but it is more renowned for the quality of the Curry served than the Bier.
There was a Pre-Curry-Heute rendezvous with Jim and Debs at The White Hart. One dare not criticise Harveys (Lewes, Sussex) Ales, however, their Harveys Best tastes no more than an ordinary English Bitter to this commentator…
There was a Gap
After the consumption of Copious Curry Clive and Hector retired to the Swan. More Hophead. Neil (who is not in this photo) was on the premises, this encouraged me to try a Traditional Cider, but this is not a Cider Blog.
The Beer Festival and Pubs visited today:
Burgess Hill Beer Festival – Civic Way, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9NN
The Downsman – Wakehurst Drive, Southgate, London, RH10 6DH
The White Hart – 65 High Street, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 1BQ
The Swan – 1 Horsham R,d Crawley, RH11 7AY
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