You’ve been Tango’d! Geeves beats them all at real ale festival
By: JimOldfield
December 4th, 2011
A fledgling Barnsley micro-brewery sailed into first place at the Mexborough Imperial Club & Brewery’s first-ever real ale festival, with its stunning dark ale, Tunnel Mouth.
The Imperial team delivered a hugely ambitious first festival, in its own first year in business – showcasing no fewer than 20 other breweries launched within the past few months.
Hundreds turned out to Mexborough – some by the bus load and others on public transport from as far afield as the Midlands – to enjoy a marvellous, four-day extravaganza of ale, home-cooked food and music run by Imperial host Frank Hoyland, his wife Sharon, partner Eric Butcher and head brewer Gary Sherrif.
The ales – from brewers, some of whom have only been in business for a matter of weeks – were truly spectacular, and a winner could have come realistically from any of a clutch of half a dozen ales.
In the end it fell to the delicious dark winter ale Tunnel Mouth – delivered by Geeves father and son team Peter and Harry Geeves. Peter has long been associated with winning drinks – he’s the infamous, orange-sprayed Tango Man from the telly ads of the 90s for the fizzy fruit drink!
If that’s not interesting enough, he began brewing aboard a 7ft wide narrowboat – and the Geeves beers all have a taste of the cut about them (though not IN the glass!).
The complex weave of their smoky, liquorice winter warmer just pipped a chasing pack.
Second place went to an ale on everyone’s lips – Huddersfield’s Magic Rock Brewery, which itself only began brewing on June 21. This outfit’s amazing Curious NZ South Pacific Pale Ale bust everyone’s taste buds with a hop explosion and it is definitely one to look out for.
Third place went to the excellent Scarborough Brewery’s Scarborough Stout, with its thick, smooth liquorice extravaganza of flavour. The brewery also sent in a highly-commendable IPA.
The fest was still in its last day as Hand-Pumped (who were among the festival judges) sent in this report – but it will be welcomed back by scores if the Imperial team decide to make it an annual event.
As one leading CAMRA man – who took an 80-mile round trip on public transport to be there – said: “It’s their first festival so I expected to be here for about an hour and a half. I’ve been here four hours now and I promised my wife I’d be back home 10 minutes ago!
“This is an amazing effort for a first festival.”
A right royal success to the Imperial team, then!
