American celebration at the White Horse

July 3, 2009: The iconic White Horse on Parson’s Green, London, opens its annual three-day American Beer Festival today, running until Sunday.

The event will showcase beers rarely seen on UK shores from the American craft brewing scene, as well as beers from English breweries that use American hops in their beers.

The American beers will include cask brews from Sierra Nevada, Victory and Stone Brewery — which is bringing out the big guns in the form of a smoked porter with vanilla pods in the cask, a pale ale with coriander and an extra oak-chipped version of Arrogant Bastard, all designed to tantalise the tastebuds.

Keg beers on offer will include a choice from the Goose Island, Flying Dog, Anchor, Great Divide and Left Hand breweries, and Victory Prima Pils, as well as a selection of English ales using American hops, like Saltaire's Cascade and Brodies' Californian.

And, to prove that although British beer styles are often emulated in the States but rarely bettered, the opening of the event will be marked by the tapping of a special 40-gallon whisky cask that has been filled with London Porter from Greenwich’s Meantime Brewery, especially for the festival.