Harbury Beer Festival 2024

Dates: 30 & 31 August 2024

Theme: Northamptonshire

We had 32 different beers, mostly from Northamptonshire, with a few from some of our best local breweries, plus 15 ciders and perries. The beer and cider lists are at the bottom of the page and you can also download the Festival Programme.

With grateful thanks to our Major Sponsors:

Awards

Beer of the Festival

• 1st: Rockingham – Nectaron
• 2nd: Napton Lock Brewhouse – Goozle (fastest selling beer)
• 3rd=: King’s Cliffe – P51
• 3rd=: Potbelly – Saint or Sinner
• 3rd=: Nene Valley – Rip it Up

Cider of the Festival

• 1st: Bad Boy Cider Co – Original
• 2nd: Gwatkin Cider – Blakeney Red Perry (fastest selling cider)
• 3rd: Simply Cider – Hornets Kick

Charity

Our customers were very generous and with a combination of the Tombola, Raffle and donated unused tokens we raised a total of £1,250 for our regular Air Ambulance charity.

Beer List – Beer Bars sponsored by Fassi (UK) Ltd

Stillage Number	BREWERY	BEER	ABV	STYLE	DESCRIPTION	ORIGIN	SPONSOR
1	Benjamin Franklin	Benjamin Franklin Bitter	3.6	Bitter	A lovely dark chestnut colour. Malt used is Morris Otter Pale, Crystal, and a small amount of Roast Barley. Main Copper hops are Challenger and Fuggles and the aroma hops are Goldings. So the end result of this is a fine traditional English session beer with plenty of malty depth and a pleasant but not overpowering hoppy finish. It recently won the best session beer at the Northampton beer festival.	Northamptonshire	The Black Horse, Moreton Morrell
2	Benjamin Franklin	Dougal’s Thumper	4.2	Bitter	A bright amber colour . The Malt used is Maris Otter Pale , Torrified Wheat and Crystal. The main copper hops are Challenger and Cascade with the aroma hops being Goldings. It has a mellow  hoppy flavour and a sweet malt and biscuity flavour.	Northamptonshire	Quality Proposals
3	Digfield	Chiffchaff	3.9	Golden Ale	A golden pale ale with a distinctive hoppy aroma.	Northamptonshire	Green Chameleon
4	Digfield	Mad Monk	4.8	Bitter	Deliciously full bodied, this dark brown ale has hints of malt and chocolate in the finish.	Northamptonshire	The Wild Boar, Warwick
5	Great Oakley	Daggerbill	3.4	Pale Ale	Daggerbill delivers crisp, zesty refreshment – pale gold with a tropical, grapefruity aroma.	Northamptonshire	Torry’s Hardware & DIY, Warwick
6	Great Oakley	Delapre Dark	4.6	Old Ale	Delapre Dark is an old dark mahogany ale with a full flavour and a thin lasting creamy beige head. The ale is made from 5 different malts and has a medium sweet flavour with a chocolate bitterness, consisting of baking cocoa and dark fruits. Winning a Bronze in 2011 at the Society of Independant Brewers (SIBA), Bronze in 2010 at The Great British Beer Festival and another Bronze SIBA in 2006.	Northamptonshire	T J Yoga
7	King’s Cliffe	No. 10	4.0	Pale Ale	Not just a significant address in London. No.10 Kingsmead, King’s Cliffe is where every pint of this beer starts life. Traditional English hop varieties and crystal malt combine to create this amber coloured craft beer with a distinctive but restrained malty flavour and a lasting aftertaste. This is a traditional English pint, made with traditional English hops, in the traditional way.	Northamptonshire	Southam United Football Club
8	King’s Cliffe	66 Degrees	4.2	Bitter	66˚ is the temperature at which the grist steeped at allowing the extract of exactly the right amount of sugars from the malted barley. The art of brewing is in the choice and blend of the hops and malt. 66˚ has a slight sweetness and floral aroma from the hops with an underlying maltiness from three different types of malt. All providing enough body to balance the alcohol. The hops used are Azacca and Styrian Wolf.	Northamptonshire	The Old Fourpenny Shop, Warwick
9	King’s Cliffe	P51	5.1	Porter	P51 is a porter named after the North American Mustangs which flew from RAF King’s Cliffe between 1942 and 1945, and is brewed using an 1896 recipe which has been refined for the modern palate.	Northamptonshire	ADL Associates
10	Nene Valley	Simple Pleasures Ale	3.6	Golden Ale	A light, clean and refreshing beer packed full of Cascade and Ekuanot hops.	Northamptonshire	Bernard McNaboe, Central Lancashire CAMRA
11	Nene Valley	Release The Chimps	4.4	Pale Ale	An IPA for everyday drinking. A pale malt base gives a crisp mouthfeel that allows late addition and dry hops to come through with a punchy bitterness and a good deal of hop flavour in such a light beer.	Northamptonshire	The Eagle, Warwick
12	Nene Valley	Rip It Up	6.0	Pale Ale	A Hazy IPA. A Juicy explosion of orange/citrus/tropical notes. Amarillo, Mandarina Bavaria, Columbus, Citra & Cashmere hops with a bit of Caramalt sweetness & oaty smoothness.	Northamptonshire	AP Tree Services, Warwick
13	Phipps NBC	Midsummer Meadow	3.9	Bitter	A fresh interpretation of the classic Phipps style of sweet, amber-gold ales but using modern aromatic Amarillo hops. This fruity session ale is inspired by the famous water meadows that lie between our home town of Northampton and the meandering River Nene. The perfect companion for lazy summer days by the river or in the pub garden.	Northamptonshire	The Cycling Gardener of Harbury
14	Phipps NBC	Bison Brown	4.6	Brown Ale	In the 1950s and ’60s, Bison Brown was one of Phipps’ most popular pints with its bottle version a best seller. In today’s market where beers are getting hoppier and lighter as brewers vie with each other to get more hops in your glass than ever before, many have forgotten the pleasure to be had from a smooth malty brew with a balance of flavours. Phipps always swims against the tide of fashion, looking to our proud heritage to bring you this brown ale with the creamy texture of a stout but the hoppy character of a strong ale; the best of both worlds in one cask	Northamptonshire	Sunshine Cleaning
15	Phipps NBC	Stingo No.10	8.5	Barley Wine	A fine oak-aged barley wine with a history and recipe from Phipps’ early days	Northamptonshire	John Griffiths Memorial Beer
16	Three Hills	Shoe	4.0	Bitter	A traditional best bitter named after Northamptonshire’s traditional industry. It’s a light brown beer with earthy aroma & good malt character. Hopped with UK Fuggles & Goldings. The beer is Unfined, unfiltered & is vegan friendly. This small brewery mainly produce craft beer so getting a cask from them is quite rare!	Northamptonshire	The Old Post Office, Warwick
17	Potbelly	Lager Brau	3.9	Speciality	A beer brewed using Lager Malt, Lager Hops, and a different strain of yeast to give a genuine lager taste without the gas! Golden and refreshing.	Northamptonshire	Raggydogz Dog Grooming, Warwick
18	Potbelly	Beijing Black	4.4	Mild	A Strong dark mild, Mild but not Meek!! “Supreme Champion” at SIBA National Beer Competition 2006	Northamptonshire	Southam United Football Club
19	Potbelly	Saint Or Sinner	6.7	Bitter	You decide on this Ruby Red Bitter! With a slight fruity taste, is it a Saint or a Sinner? Champion Strong Ale.	Northamptonshire	St Mary Immaculate Church, Warwick
20	Rockingham	White Rabbit	3.9	Golden Ale	A golden ale that is well hopped with Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin hops, providing passionfruit, gooseberry and peach flavours.	Northamptonshire	Southam Agriculture
21	Rockingham	Nectaron	4.8	Blonde	A blonde beer brewed with extra pale malt and Nectaron , a new hop from New Zealand. Expect tropical flavours including pineapple and nectarine.	Northamptonshire	The Cape of Good Hope
22	Roman Way	Barbarian Best	3.8	Bitter	A classic English Best using Fuggles and Goldings a great British pairing of hops, light bitterness at the start leads into a complex flavour of hops and malts that’ll leave you wanting more!	Northamptonshire	Two Brothers Café & Brewery, Warwick
23	Roman Way	Bec Berry Porter	4.8	Porter	A sessionable porter with a subtle blackberry hint and a finish of coffee and dark chocolate notes.	Northamptonshire	The Black Horse, Morton Morrell
24	Towcester Mill	Crooked Hooker	3.8	Golden Ale	This beer has been brewed especially for, and named after, the Northampton Saints Rugby former players club – ‘The Crooked Hooker’. This is a traditional Amber session ale brewed to leave a satisfying hop finish.	Northamptonshire	The Craftsman, Warwick
25	Towcester Mill	Black Fire	5.2	Stout	Brewed using selected malts that add only colour to this refreshing tasting dark stout which allows the dark fruit aromas of the Brambling Cross hop to come through on the nose.	Northamptonshire	The Guy Of Warwick, Warwick
26	Weldon	Bakehouse Quencher	3.6	Pale Ale	The old Bakehouse in Weldon village was once at the heart of the community. Remembering the Bakehouse we made Bakehouse Quencher, and used the gorgeous Equanot hop from America to make a lovely hoppy golden beer packed with finishing hops for maximum aroma and flavour. Just like the breads from the Bakehouse this one will surely delight the palate despite only being a thirst quenching 3.6% abv.	Northamptonshire	Bernard McNaboe, Central Lancashire CAMRA
27	Weldon	Weldon Lager	4.0	Lager	Lager takes a bit longer to brew than ale.  We didn’t want our lager to taste bland like so many mass produced supermarket lagers so we looked for hops with a little more character and flavour.  As well as using a special yeast and fermenting cool and slow followed by a suitable ‘lagering’ period we looked to Europe, and we came up with Mandarina Bavaria – introduced to the hop market in 2012 it is the daughter of Cascade (US), Hallertau Blanc and Hüll Melonuse or in other words half noble and half brash American! The result is a clean, somewhat dry taste with merest hints of citrus and oranges from that special hop.	Northamptonshire	The New Bowling Green, Warwick
28	Weldon	Raven	4.4	Black Lager	Raven is darker than the average ale, intense almost black in colour, it is made with de-husked black barley added late in the mash process so has none of the bitterness associated with most black beers. It also contains various crystalised malts as well as hints of chocolate malt to give it a robust presence. Raven is gently hopped with a classic German hop to allow the the secret blend of the 5 malts we use in this beer to shine through making a delightful beer that is super smooth and super tasty.	Northamptonshire	AP Tree Services, Warwick
29	Church End	M Reg	4.1	Bitter	The original brew. Gyle 1 on the 1st of August 1994 brewed by Stewart. Named after the registration plate which at the time were changed on the 1st of August every year. Consecutive registration brews were N, P, R, S etc until the system changed. Each one was brewed with a single variety of hop and the same pale malt recipe.. A very pale and hoppy bitter made with Northdown hops. Hazy gold in appearance. Aromas are grain with some spice. Flavours are quite hoppy, quite fruity, quite spicy.	Warwickshire	Carisbrooke Therapies
30	Napton Lock Brewhouse	Goozle	4.3	Pale Ale	Hazy Light Pale Ale A light coloured American Style Pale Ale with a honey-maltness and a hint of soft fruit with a rounded hoppy-finish.	Warwickshire	The Downes Family
31	North Cotswold	Morerum Mild	4.7	Mild	Dark mild with a tot of rum.	Warwickshire	Merrie Lion, Fenny Compton
32	Windmill Hill	Imperial Stout	7.7	Stout	Our Imperial Stout has been exceptionally crafted to celebrate seven years since our first brewday at Windmill Hill Brewery, with a strength to match! A super rich and smooth stout boasting a boozy 7.7% ABV, this brew embodies the richness, depth, and complexity of flavour we have tried to achieve over the last seven years. Fermented with a Belgian yeast and dry hopped with Idaho 7 hops, this stout really packs a punch! Aroma – sweet chocolate and malt Flavour – malty, rich and moorish Palate – smooth and full bodied Appearance – very dark	Warwickshire	Pete Webb & Julie Griffiths

Cider List – Cider Bar sponsored by The Old Post Office, Warwick

STILLAGE NUMBER	MAKER	CIDER NAME	ABV	STYLE	DESCRIPTION	ORIGIN	SPONSOR
1	Bad Boy Cider Company	Original	5.9	Cider Dry	Deliberately cloudy, Somerset style dry, slightly nutty craft cider. We are proud to display the 90% juice quality mark as awarded by the Small Independent Cider Association for our Bad Boy Original Cider.	West Midlands	April & David Griffiths
2	Bad Boy Cider Company	Mango	4.0	Cider Dry	A delightful crisp and fruity cider with a massive mango mouthful.	West Midlands
3	Farmer Jims	Farmyard Perry	5.0	Perrry	A light fruity Perry made from proper Perry Pears. A must have for those with a sweet tooth. You can barely taste the alcohol in it and it could be mistaken for pear juice but don’t let it put you off a great session perry.	Devon
4	Gwatkin Cider	Blakeney Red Perry	5.0	Perrry	Medium sweet, full bodied perry.	Herefordshire
5	Hogan’s Cider	Lonely Partridge Perry	5.8	Perry	A cloudy, fruity and authentic perry. A labour of love, it evokes a true sense of our rural surroundings.	Warwickshire
6	Saxby’s	Original	5.0	Cider	Great Taste Award One Star 2018; 2019 and 2020. Saxby’s Original Cider uses a blend of bittersweet and dessert apples for a perfect balance of tannins and acidity. A well-balanced, crisp medium cider with a fresh zingy start and a wonderful appley finish.	Northamptonshire
7	Saxby’s	Traditional	5.8	Cider	A medium dry, still cider with an easy drinking flavour which belies its strength. A long flavour with oaky notes and definitely very moreish!	Northamptonshire	Ian Bayliss
8	Saxby’s	Strawberry	3.8	Cider	Celebrate the summer; Strawberry Cider. ”The cider starts with the sweetness of apples followed by fresh field strawberries. It ends dry with red apples. There is a little surprising tartness so instead the strawberry sweetness dominating makes you want another sip.	Northamptonshire
9	Saxby’s	Plum	3.8	Cider	Great Taste Award Two Star 2017 and One Star 2019 ‘crisp, refreshing and very drinkable’. Blended with plum juice to create a mouth-watering medley of mists and mellow fruitfulness. ”A wonderful garnet colour. This has sweet apple and caramel notes on the nose, and the apples come through on the nose with a well-judged hint of plummy stone fruit on the finish.	Northamptonshire
10	Saxby’s	Rhubarb	3.5	Cider	Great Taste Award One Star 2017; 2018 and 2020 ‘nicely balanced’. A light cider with a balance of sweetness and acidity with a full rhubarb finish. “The overall flavour of the rhubarb is the star here. The infusion of the fruit is done with care and has brought out the tart dryness of this unique flavour.” ”The lovely light straw colour is very beguiling.	Northamptonshire
11	Saxby’s	Blackcurrant	3.7	Cider	Great Taste Award One Star 2019. Their classic take on cider and black – bold and bursting with flavour.	Northamptonshire
12	Saxby’s	Cherry	3.4	Cider	Original Cider blended with sour cherry juice. You can taste the apples and the sour cherries. Fresh, thirst quenching and delicious.	Northamptonshire
13	Saxby’s	Straight Outta Orchard	7.5	Cider	Unsweetened and unfiltered pretty much straight from the tanks in the cidery. At 7.5%, the strong content comes with a parental advisory, and is remarkably smooth due to a secondary fermentation.	Northamptonshire
14	Simply Cider	Hornets Kick	7.0	Cider	Medium dry real cider made from local Newton Wonder apples that are hand picked and pressed in Market Harborough. The result is a full-bodied cider with a rich, smooth texture and a crisp, refreshing taste. Handcrafted using traditional methods in Market Harborough, this cider is a throwback to how cider should be made and should taste.	Leicestershire
15	Simply Cider	Pomegranate and Elderflower	4.0	Cider	This medium cider boasts a bright and refreshing taste, with a light body and natural effervescence that adds a energetic spritz to every sip. Infused with subtle hints of pomegranate and elderflower, it offers a unique and complex flavor profile that is both slightly sharp and incredibly smooth. The locally sourced apples used in its creation are carefully hand-pressed in the heart of Market Harborough, ensuring the utmost quality and freshness. With a great length of flavor that lingers on the palate, this cider is a true delight for any cider lover.	Leicestershire