Thursday, 28 May 2026

Colchester Beer Festival

Today it was my 3rd Beer Festival visit in 3 weeks - this time to the 39th Colchester Real Ale and Cider Festival.

Here are a few of my photos.

The site is near the iconic Jumbo Water Tower - from which the Jumbo emblem of Colchester is derived.


As usual it was at the Colchester Arts centre.


From previous experience I knew it was a good idea to arrive early to get high enough up the queue to get a seat at a table. I joined the queue at about 11:45, but there were only about 20 people in front of me.


While waiting, I perused the beer list on the website, filtering it to show only those beers that were on today.


In we go.


The graveside bar has gravestones along the wall behind it.


The Cheese and Pie man was providing food, but I had bought a Tesco Meal deal on my way.


My first 1/3 pint was of Wharf Brewery's Scruffy Mild, a traditional mild. I rather liked the 1/2 pint glasses they were providing, for £4, with a refund when you go.


The seating area.



The graveside bar.


I may have mentioned it before, but here are some pictures - the Arts Centre has the poshest loos I've seen! The urinals have little sinks on top of them.


...and the place is tiled throughout.


It never got too busy and I was able to keep my seat at a table throughout.


You can see all the lighting for the stage production they have here.


The Stage bar.


The cider bar was on the side here behind my chair.



The reason it wasn't so busy inside was that they had opened the churchyard for people to sit outside.






A lovely day out and some excellent beers!

Here are notes on some I sampled (all at 1/3 pint each).
  • Ampersand Affogato Stout (8.0%) - My last one as it was so strong. Silky smooth and full of coffee and vanilla.
  • Brentwood Brewery Chilli Inferno Golden Ale (4.1%) - Lime flavoured with an interesting aftertaste of chilli, but not too hot. This one wasn't on the printed beer list.
  • Colchester Brewery Pogonophobia Golden Ale (4.5%) - Nicely floral from the mix of hops. The name means "Fear of Beards". Last year they had one called Cenosillicaphobia, meaning fear of an empty glass.
  • Jack Rabbit Pornstar Bikini Specialty Beer (3.4%) (Keg) - Silliest name, but my favourite beer of the day. A sour beer tasting of passionfruit and lime. Very refreshing. Another one that wasn't on the printed beer list.
  • Lacons Bloom Golden Ale (4%) - I liked this in Cambridge so had it again here. Very refreshing.
  • Mad Cat St Augustine Cross Specialty Beer (4.9%) - A Belgian Abbaye style golden beer. I didn't think it quite worked.
  • Nethergate White Stout (4.5%) - All the flavour, but none of the colour of a traditional stout.
  • Wantsum One Hop Elani IPA (4.2%) - Light in colour but lots of fruity flavours.
  • Wharf Brewery Scruffy Mild (3.9%) - Traditional mild. My first one.

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