Gaymers Pear Cider

Never mind that Gaymers Pear Cider probably doesn't meet the strict and well-complicated criteria to qualify as a genuine perry. If you're looking for something refreshing as an aperitif to an ale session, say, or after a 2k run, you could do worse than order one of these. The above pint, served from the tap and consumed thirstily from a balcony overlooking the Thames, was peary, and not overly sweet nor tart. Nice one, Somerset.

London Drinker Beer & Cider Festival

Camden Centre

Bidborough Street

London

WC1H 9AU

Having learnt my lesson from a previous beer festival, when I showed up on the fifth and final day and found many beers already gone, we headed to the London Drinker on the opening night - and found some ales were "not yet ready" for drinking. Oh well. The venue, near Kings Cross, was huge, and packed with ale lovers (check out the view from the balcony, above left). Here follow some highlights, featuring the proper programme notes plus our team's amateurish observations:

Crouch Vale Amarillo (5%): Golden ale using American Amarillo hops.

"Amazingly fruity."

Dark Star Espresso (4.2%): Real coffee in this stout, judged world's best specialty beer.

"Coffee notes, not too rich."

Dark Star Dennis Hopper (4.2%): Festival special - a blend of Hophead and Golden Gate.
"Hops without malt."

Dark Star American Pale Ale (4.7%): Light hoppy beer.
"Orange citrus overtones."

Isle of Purbeck IPA (4.8%): A traditional IPA.
"Caramel, amber, bit of sparkle, lots of head-nodding all round."

Redemption Urban Dusk (4.6%): Fairly dark, malty beer.
"Chocolate but balanced" (full review here).

St Austell Proper Job IPA (4.5%): Aromatic hops leading to bittersweet finish.

"Golden smooth, no finish, doesn't taste as strong as 4.5%."

Thornbridge Wild Swan (3.5%): Pale gold bitter, with a citrussy taste and bitter finish.

"Grapefruit."

Tipples Topper (4.5%) (pictured top): Roasty stout, with coffee and chocolate flavours.

"Coffee flavour, not too sweet, smoky, liquorice, leather."

Wentworth Bumble Bitter (4.4%): Best bitter with added honey.

"Golden, sweet finish."

And, finally, a bit of pear...

Newton Court Medium Sweet Perry (6%) (pictured below left):
"Too sweet for me, slightly carbonated, less tart than apple cider."

Top beer of the night? For me, it was the Tipples Topper, a fine Norfolk stout with a moreish combination of striking flavours (see above). It was so good I even found myself reconsidering my recently acquired, and perhaps insufficiently developed, theory that "challenging" beers aren't worth the hassle.

Woodchuck Cider (Pear)

Recent times have been good to pears. Not since the days of Babysham has the fruit been such a powerful force in the world of booze. Sales of so-called "pear cider" have risen ten-fold in the past couple of years, led by brands like Magners, Brothers, Gaymers and Kopparberg. I'm a big fan of the Swedish Kopparberg in particular - quite sweet but very refreshing (no ice needed) but until recently my top choice was Woodchuck Pear, from Vermont, which has the sweet and the sharp working in harmony like a fine pear orchestra. I say "until recently", because I recently discovered that Woodchuck isn't even made from pears - it's an apple cider with added "natural pear flavoring". Is it unreasonable for me to feel cheated by this revelation? Can it really be a pear cider if the pear is merely an afterthought?

It turns out that controversy reigns in pear matters in a way probably unimagined outside the pear fraternity. A lot comes down to labeling. The traditional name for the pear-equivalent of apple cider is "perry". The National Association of Cider Makers (NACM) says a perry must be made from at least 75% pear juice (25% apple being tolerable). This is where things get complicated. Magners, for example, has based an entire (and entirely nauseating) advertising campaign around the claim that its pear drink is made from "100% pear" (a campaign mocked to death by Stewart Lee). But while the juice from which it is made may be all pear and no apple (or guava, for that matter), is that enough to secure it perry status? In a word - unlikely. The NACM prohibits the addition of sugar, colouring and flavouring, while Magners' fondness for sugar, colouring, malic acid and sulphites is a matter of record.

For the purists, like Camra, any industrially produced, carbonated, sugary substance is out of bounds; snubbed as nothing more than fizzy pear juice for the "inexperienced or undiscerning". For them, a proper perry must be produced naturally, from perry pears only, and neither carbonated nor pasteurised.

Where all this leaves Woodchuck's prospects, I'm not sure. Pear-shaped, presumably.