Abingdon’s beer festival season continues next weekend with The Broad Face Easter Beer Festival 2012, starting on Good Friday, April 6th over the Easter weekend.
This will be Dusty’s 3rd beer festival, and features 12 beers and 2 ciders, with live blues/rock and jazz music each day. Whilst not as big as last weekend’s very successful Brewery Tap festival (which got through 50 ales/ciders and 400 pies), the previous two beer festivals at The Broad Face have been very enjoyable and popular.
The beer and cider list is below, and includes quite a few beers I’ve never seen before:
| No. | BEER/CIDER | BREWERY | ABV | TASTE NOTES |
| 1 | MARLET | Hammerpot | 3.6 | A golden ale with a soft, clean hop character. Light and easy drinking with surprisingly good body for a beer of this strength. |
| 2 | NAVVY | Phoenix | 3.8 | A complex blend of full malt and delicate hop flavours, surprisingly full-bodied drinking. An initially dry finish has developing malt notes. |
| 3 | MARYHOPPINS | Ilkley | 4.0 | A dry pale ale with Stella hop for aroma. |
| 4 | ROBIN HOOD BITTER | Springhead | 4.0 | A dark traditional bitter with a good head and plenty of hops. |
| 5 | SHUTTLEWORTH SNAP | Bushys | 4.0 | This bright, dry IPA style bitter has a particularly refreshing character. Brewed in honour of George Formby’s motorbike in the classic film “No Limits”, which was filmed at the 1935 Isle of Man TT races. |
| 6 | FERRYMAN GOLD | Loddon | 4.2 | Golden smooth body with masses of zesty aromatic Styrian Golding hops. |
| 7 | SATISFACTION | Holden | 4.3 | Latest in the ‘Rock gods’ series, celebrating Mick Jagger. Gold in colour, the combination of Challenger hops and Marris Otter malt gives a delicate hoppy aroma resulting in a crisp and refreshing taste that will certainly satisfy your thirst. |
| 8 | BOB’S PASS | Tring | 4.4 | Showcasing Challenger hops. Amber malt imparts a subtle biscuity flavour and deep amber colour, while Challenger hops provide a bitterness which is very noticeable, but never harsh. A great combination. |
| 9 | BUNNY’S REVENGE | Wold Top | 4.5 | A reddish, full bodied malty ale – it has a fruity spicy aroma and a sweet lingering aftertaste. |
| 10 | RED ROCKS | Peerless | 5.0 | A strong, ruby ale named after the famous sandstone point in Hoylake on the Wirral. The red colour and rich malt flavours come from the use of caramelised rye, which are balanced with the fruity overtones from Bramling Cross hops. |
| 11 | PARKER’SPORTER | City-of-Cambridge | 5.0 | Named after Parker’s Piece in Cambridge, once home to Cricketing Legend Sir Jack Hobbs (1882-1963). A dark rich ruby coloured fruity bitter with a tangy aftertaste. |
| 12 | INDIA PALE | Oakleaf | 5.5 | The beer is initially dry and bitter. Full flavoured and complex marmalade and aniseed notes follow which then leave a lingering bitterness on the palate. A classic in this style. |
| 13 | PHEASANT PLUCKER CIDER | Broadoak | 4.8 | A very apply pleasant to the mouth, yet still farmhouse style cider. |
| 14 | MOONSHINE CIDER | Broadoak | 7.5 | Strong and very drinkable with a crisp refreshing taste and little evidence of alcoholic content. |