Sussex Drinker, Winter 2011 - Western Sussex CAMRA

Protz Opens Amberley
Ale at Amberley
generally agreed to be excellent, combining
extremely interesting flavours of honey, toffee
and sourness. It could almost be thought to be
more akin to a sherry. The huge amounts of
hops added to the ale when it was brewed,
had all dissipated and very little hop taste was
left.
Ale at Amberley 6, from Thursday 1
September to Sunday 4 September, was
the most successful yet and sold out of
71 real ales and 16 ciders and perries. It was
opened by Roger Protz, famed beer writer and
esteemed editor of the CAMRA Good Beer
Guide. Roger was first taken on a conducted
tour of the De Witt kilns by Amberley
Museum’s curator, Dr. Claire Seymour. The
kilns have been recently restored with the help
of a lottery grant. They are built into the chalk
hills at Amberley and it was decided that the
cool temperatures inside would be ideal for
cellaring ale. Cellaring is the process where
strong, highly hopped ales mature over time to
a complex subtlety, just like ales sent on the
long sea journey to India that became known
as India Pale Ales.
Roger then officially opened the festival by
drawing the first pint of the De Witt kilncellared
A over T from the Hogs Back brewery.
Despite other obvious possibilities the name of
this strong (9.0%) award-winning ale actually
stands for Aromas over Tongham – the Surrey
town where the brewery is based. It was
Entertainment at the beer festival included
Morris men, steam engines and vintage buses.
Blues group Cardinal Sin & the Preachers provided
a good musical accompaniment to the
Saturday night. There were crafts and food
stalls during Saturday and Sunday and many
people decided to make the most of the warm,
sunny Saturday evening to stay on for the beer
festival. Helen Marbach who helped with the
voucher sales said “we think over 2000 people
Amberley cellering ale
came to the Beer Festival and the Ale, Craft &
Food show, including those who came during
the Saturday daytime and stayed on for the
evening ale festival. Judging by the many
favourable comments, all seem to have enjoyed
themselves”.
Jim Hawkins
Co-organiser Ale at Amberley
Sussex Drinker: Winter 2011 31