Baltic Fleet Beer Festival

On Easter Saturday, I went with my friend Steve to the Baltic Fleet beer festival in Wapping, Liverpool. On the way, we stopped at the Dispensary and had the Cains India Export Pale Ale (4.3%), a seasonal beer we hadn't come across before. It was quite hoppy for a pale ale, which suits me, and worth looking out for. The Liverpool v. Blackburn Rovers match was on, and as I have no interest in football and Steve is an Evertonian, we moved on. At the Baltic Fleet itself, there was massive range of beers which, as far as I could see, were all brewed by the in-house brewery, Wapping Beers.

We began with a Blonde, which had a haze but was a pleasant opener. We then went on to the strangely-named Sinaasappel (apparently Dutch for orange, literally Chinese apple), which though pleasant, didn't to either of us taste much of orange. The next beer, Orange and Black Pepper, definitely did have a hint of orange, and you could taste the black pepper at the back of your throat. Thereafter, we tried various beers, such as Mango and Peach, but to be honest were finding little to distinguish some of these from each other. Having said that, they were all good, and at £2.20 per pint, also excellent value for money. In my experience, a trip to the Baltic Fleet is worthwhile at any time.

We ended up in the Globe for a final pint before catching our trains and buses home. It was a good day, but as Steve said perhaps we should have had something to eat at some point.

Post script: Steve has just texted me to say he's been helping the Baltic Fleet get rid of the last of the festival beers at a £1 per pint. What dedication!