Hastings Tap Takeover 2023; Day One

By Steve the Beermeister: 

On the first day of the Hastings Tap Takeover 2023 (website), which was part of the opening weekend of Hastings Week 2023 (blog), I visited the Prince Albert, 28 Cornwallis Street TN34 1SS. However, the 'festival' was held in 16 different venues in Hastings & St Leonards, with a different brewery featured at each venue, subsequently, on the final day, I visited the Jolly Fisherman, 3 East Beach Street TN34 3AR. I was elsewhere in-between, so did not make all venues, just the two, but I know people who did go to all; I prefer to go to one at a time for thorough research. Consequently, my next blog will be about my visit to the Jolly Fisherman.

Indeed, at the Prince Albert they featured ales and lagers from Edinburgh brewery Newbarns (website), with 3 cask conditioned ales (above), 2 of which they had keg versions of, and another 8 keg beers too, taking up all their taps! I started with their cask ales, with the friendly and knowledgeable Imogen pouring a pint of Newbarns Sparkling Ale for me, a 3.8% pale ale, doing what it says on the label, though not actually sparkling. A refreshing, easy to drink, session pale, slightly sweet to start off with, but drying out at the finish.

I then moved up to the 4.8% Pale Ale, which was more complex and had much more body, and a big fruity aroma and taste, which I believe comes from the use of Citra, El Dorado and Cashmere hops. No wonder there was a predominantly tropical fruit flavour overlaying the citrus fruits, before the ale drying out with bitterness...

My third cask ale was the 5.5% Kynoch IPA, named after the brewer's grandfather, and brewed using Citra and Cashmere hops too. As you would expect, even more body, but not the same fruit 'punch' as the Pale. Surprisingly, despite it being a very pale beer, I detected a hint of toast in the taste, certainly a much more complex ale.

Before moving on to the lager beers I drank, yes, I do drink lager sometimes, notably at beer festivals like this one, I shall mention their Stout Beer, a 5.0% very dark 'dry stout' with plenty of body. Rich, full-bodied, hints of toast (as I expect in a stout), caramel and chocolate, and strangely it was quite light for such a full bodied beer! Oh yes, and for the keg beers I was now drinking two-thirds of a pint, in case you were concerned. 😉

Lagers then, of which I drank 3, first their 4.8% Haná, a German styled Helles lager (craftbeer), brewed with a Czech malt variety grown in Norwich. A pale lager, slightly sweet to taste, quite light with little hop character, easy drinking.

Then I drank their 5.0% 12 Plato Pils, similar to the previous beer, with the Czech malt variety used, indeed, apparently inspired by a trip to Bohemia, and a Czech style pilsner. However, the additional use of plenty of Tettnang and Saaz hops providing a much more complicated beer, which I found more pleasant. A light and refreshing lager that I did enjoy drinking!

The third lager I drank was their 5.7% Oktoberfest lager, Festival Bier, brewed using a blend of 10 different malted barleys, and a German style golden lager ensues. My notes say "interesting" and I found it slightly bitter and easy to drink for its strength.

I met Ben and Della here, always good to but meet decent people for the first time, amongst others that I already knew, cheers! 🍻