Meeting up with old friends

I got to the Old Ale Festival at the White Horse on Saturday and met up with a couple of old friends: one was a mate from Heriot-Watt and the other was the Imperial Russian Stout from the Old Dairy Brewery.

It's very rare that the stout gets let out on cask and even rarer that I've got to drink it. I have to say it was superb, so the team at the brewery have done a great job. The new branding was looking good too:

This is the Old Ale, the IRS hasn't been re-branded yet

Even beer this strong couldn't keep the chill out though. We were sitting in the back room that didn't have much in the way of heating. Which was good news for the beers stillaged there but not good for us as the cold crept into our bones. So we went into the main bar and squeezed on to a table next to a bloke in a Hawkwind T-shirt. This of course lead to fascinating conversation about such diverse subjects as Bob Calvert, Space Ritual, and the state of Daevid Allen's health. The strength of the beer was starting to tell though, so after what may have been as little as three pints (I don't know, I wasn't keeping track but my mate was) it was time to stagger off whilst I still could.

At time's I've had my doubts if it's worth the trek to  White Horse for the Old Ale Festival, but after this I'll definitely be aiming to get to next year's.