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Chichester RAJF 2010 real ale festival
A Real Ale Festival
Each year we serve between 25 and 30 different real ales. You can see which beers we’re planning to have at RAJF 2010 here.
And you can read tasting notes about the 2010 beer list here too
We spend countless arduous hours tasting hundreds of high quality real ales to allow us to bring you an interesting and enjoyable choice of beers.
As we’re sure you’ll understand, it’s an extremely tough job and you can learn more about it on our blog.
We believe that a good beer list has to strike a series of balances:
- between strong beers and weaker beers;
- between new ales and old favourites;
- and between local breweries and national champions.
A great choice of Real Ales
Over the last 30 years we have served over 400 different real ales to our discerning beer-loving customers. Last year we served over 35 ales, including our own FBS Festival Beer, brewed for us by the Langham Brewery.
Perfectly presented and served
We have invested in high quality stillage and cooling equipment and pride ourselves on serving a perfect pint. For years we have used proper glasses, not plastic, but finally we have succumbed to pressure from the Elf and Safety brigade and will be using high quality plastic glasses this year. As ever we shall have a small army of empty glass collectors and washer-uppers to ensure you have a fresh glass for every pint. And our prices are reasonable too.
But what if you don’t like real ale?
Don’t worry. If you are a lager drinker, be reassured that we will have a high quality foreign brewed lager for you. If you like the black stuff, we’ll have some interesting stout available too. If you’re into bottled beers, we’ll have a good selection chilling nicely in the fridge. And if you’re a cider drinker, we will have a small selection on draught.
Wine Bar and Pimms
Or a glass of wine? We have a separate wine bar that will serve a good range of wines of all complexions, again at reasonable prices. Also soft drinks and of course, our famous Pimms bar.
If it’s a dram you’re after, you will have to go elsewhere, as we feel that spirits are out of keeping with the atmosphere of our event.
Remembering Roger Jackson
Roger Jackson was one of the organisers of Chichester RAJF for more years than most of us can remember.
Roger, most recently the landlord of the Anglesey Arms at Halnaker, was well known for the breadth and depth of his knowledge about beer. He loved real ale and was passionate about promoting its virtues to anyone who cared to listen.
The RAJF beer list was Roger’s RAJF baby for the thick end of two decades. He put a huge amount of thought into composing a balanced beer list each festival.
Roger taught us how to look after real ale properly and serve pint after pint of the highest quality and we hope that our current beer team (four men filling one man’s shoes) will continue to maintain Roger’s high standards.
Prior to taking on the Anglesey Arms, Roger and his wife Jules had made their mark running many fine local pubs, including the Woolpack and Bulls Head at Fishbourne, Jackson’s Cellar near Priory Park in Chichester, the Richmond Arms at West Ashling and the Park Tavern – our neighbours over the park hedge.
Sadly Roger died early in 2010. His funeral service at Boxgrove Priory was attended by many hundreds of his friends, all of whom had enjoyed Roger’s company, his love of a good time and his feel for a good pint of real ale.
We miss him.
This year’s beer list
This is our draft beer list for 2010. Please note that this is subject to change depending on availability – and sometimes we run out of a particular ale during the Festival because people drink it all!
| BREWERY | BEER | ABV |
| Adnams | Explorer | 4.3 % |
| Adnams | Broadside | 4.7 % |
| Ballards | RAJF 30th Anniversary Ale | 4.0 % |
| Ballards | Best Bitter | 4.2 % |
| Bowman | Wallops Wood | 4.0 % |
| Bowman | Eldorado | 3.5 % |
| Butcombe | Butcombe Blond | 4.3 % |
| Crouch Vale | Brewers Gold | 4.0 % |
| Dark Star | 6 Hop Ale | 6.5 % |
| Dark Star | Espresso Stout | 4.2 % |
| Dark Star | APA | 4.7 % |
| Dark Star | Hop Head | 3.8 % |
| Dark Star | Summer Meltdown | 4.8 % |
| Dark Star | Festival | 5.0 % |
| Dark Star | Sussex Extra Stout | 4.5 % |
| Downtons | Quadhop | 3.9 % |
| Elland | Beyond the Pale | 4.2 % |
| Hop Back | Summer Lightning | 5.0 % |
| Langham | Hip Hop | 4.0 % |
| Langham | Langham Best | 4.6 % |
| Langham | Jacko’s Jollop | 3.9 % |
| Millstone | True Grit | 5 % |
| Orkney | Dark Island | 4.6 % |
| Saltaire | Raspberry Blond | 4.0 % |
| Saltaire | Blackberry Cascade | 4.8 % |
| Saltaire | Cascade Pale Ale | 4.8 % |
| Sarah Hughes | Ruby Mild | 6.0 % |
| Surrey Hills | Hammer Mild | 3.8 % |
| Surrey Hills | Shere Drop | 4.2 % |
| Surrey Hills | Ranmore Ale | 3.8 % |
| Thornbridge | Wild Swan Pale Ale | 3.5 % |
| Thornbridge | Jaipur IPA | 5.9 % |
| Three Castles | Vale Ale | 4.3 % |
| Timothy Taylor | Golden Best (Light Mild) | 3.5 % |
Please drink responsibly
We want all our customers to have a good time, and the real ale and wine will surely contribute to it. But in the interests of public safety and our licence, our staff are instructed not to serve alcohol to persons who move beyond the state of being merry to being legless.
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