“Could do better”... and they did!

After a somewhat disappointing first experience of the Green Ayre’s Pale, Golden and Blonde Beers festival, Lunesdale CAMRA’s tasting team returned three days later and left far happier.

Four beers were sampled on the first visit, including the very un-lagerish Caledonian Lorimers Cask Lager, which was full-bodied and rather enjoyable. The best was probably George Wright Pure Blonde, with its “cough mixture” and “hints of the farmyard” character. It weighed in at a rather hefty 4.6%abv.

However, it was felt that all four ales were served too cold and lacked freshness and real distinction. We could have done with some tasting notes too.

Our second visit was very different. We tried two of the original beers again - George Wright Pure Blonde and Hawkshead Lakeland Gold — finding the former just as good as previously, while the latter had experienced a resurrection, scoring 3.5 (between “good” and “very good” on the CAMRA scale). All the other beers were good too, well-kept, fresh-tasting and seemed to be served “as brewed”.

We congratulate manager Stuart Blackburn on this latest initiative and for his enthusiastic dedication to the cause of real ale. The festival theme had a potential that went a good way towards being fulfilled and only one of the beers scored under 3 (“good”). Another independent event is being organised at The Green Ayre soon, and we look forward to it. Could we suggest that some thought is given to achieving a consistency of quality across the entire period of the festival?

Julian Holt
Press Officer
Lunesdale CAMRA