Once food choices had been made, and initial drinks purchased at the bar, we kicked off, as ever, with our beer challenge. Attendees were invited to present “dark beers” for the appreciation and judging of those present, and we had 9 beers submitted for critique…there were 5 porters of varying heritage, one RIS, one Dark Lager, one Mild and one Chocolate Stout.

The standard was, as is increasingly common these days, very high, with none of the beers exhibiting obvious faults.