The New England Real Ale eXhibition's first "satellite festival" is in Haverhill next weekend. Normal NERAX is in Somerville in the Spring, and it's always packed. I'm not surprised they've decided to try a second event.

It looks like they're showing less beer that in the spring, but they're promising new casks every day, so there should still be plenty of fresh selection.

If you've gotten this far without finding out what real ale is, get over to the NERAX website or the CAMRA website, and read up.

NERAX North was great. I just went today (Saturday), which meant there were several beers that had already passed on, and several more firkins were drained while we stood around. But, there was plenty of room to move around, no wait at the bar, and still plenty of styles to choose from.

I think my favorite beer of the day might have been Moat Mountain's Smoke House Porter. Breconshire's Cribyn was a close second. Naylor's Pinnacle Mild certainly deserves an honorable mention just for stumping me for so long on what I was actually tasting.

Good beer all around, for the most part, though. Thanks to the NERAX staff who ran the event so well. Additional thanks to The Tap for hosting, and for providing such tasty pulled pork sandwiches.

Prof_Ale said:

Actually all 23 beers we brought to the festival made it to the start of today's session, though a couple (Otley's O1 and Elland's 1872 Porter) kicked pretty early during today's session.

Ah, that explains it. I decided to grab something quick to sip while I perused the tap list. By the time I was done with that first, I think at least the O1 was gone, so that explains why I missed it.

Well done on keeping so much of the selection available for so long, then!