Plenty to taste at the Great British Beer Festival

Where can you find a Golden Salamander, British Jewels, White Out and a Trembling Rabbit in London this week? At the Great British Beer Festival, of course. The event’s been displaced from Earl’s Court to Olympia to make way for some kind of sporting event. This means that there isn’t quite as much space, but I must say I prefer the architecture of Olympia to Earl’s Court, which resembles nothing so much as a giant warehouse.

I don't know how packed it will be at the weekend, but midweek the Olympia venue seemed big enough to me – there was plenty of space for milling about, and more beers than you could even think about trying. There were 800-plus brews in all, including foreign and bottled beers, ciders and perries.

I tried some of the more unusual brews, including a Cherry Blonde from Enville brewery in Staffordshire, which had a fantastic balance of fruit and hops. I tried a bottled alcoholic ginger beer from Fentimans, who are better known for their soft drinks. This beer was the genuine article – not an alcopop made with industrial alcohol but brewed with sugar, yeast, ginger root and water. It tasted like an old-fashioned ginger beer, and would be lovely on a summer picnic.

Mild beers are said to have fallen out of fashion, but there was strong representation from this sector – Earl Soham’s Gannet Mild from Suffolk, Blackbeck’s Black Beck Belle from Cumbria, and Red Fox’s Mild from Essex showing that you can be under 4% in strength but still have plenty of flavour.

It’s not just about the booze, either – there are food stalls selling everything from Thai and Indian to Cromer crabs. There were some quite decent pies, with all kinds of fillings, and a cheese stall too. (I know that wine and cheese gets all the attention, but beer and cheese can be a cracking pairing if you get it right). Merry Berry Truffles deserve a mention, with their interestingly flavoured chocolate. They do five different chilli chocolates, most of which seem more aimed at novelty-seekers than serious chocolate lovers. But I thought the dark chocolate with cracked black pepper was an interesting combination, and the chocolate with fruit and mixed spice is also a winner.

The festival runs until 7pm on Saturday August 11, so don't delay, otherwise you’ll have to wait another year!

Great British Beer Festival website