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Sometimes you find the right beer in the right place at the right time. Last night the first ever craft beer festival in St Ives kicked off at the Hub bar, on The Wharf. On the best day of the year, overlooking blue sea and expansive beach, Richard Boon launched new beer taps — in the wall behind the bar, a la Euston Tap — with a VIP evening. Heaven knows what I was doing there, but I enjoyed the company of Roger Ryman, head brewer at St Austell, Sam Burrows, from Bristol Beer Factory and Nigel Stevenson, consultant at specialist beer importer James Clay and St Ives resident.

Hub has everything required to succeed as a craft beer bar (put the word pub out of your mind). It’s recently been refurbished in a sort of ‘urban chic by the sea’ manner, it’s staffed by a friendly, welcoming and well briefed team, does some superb food in the style of a laid-back American diner and has an outlook that must be one of the best in Cornwall. Oh yes, and now it has some cracking beer.

Hub’s re-birth as a craft beer venue kicks off this weekend with this festival, and look who’s supplying the goods on the menu: Tiny Rebel, Harbour, Magic Rock, Kernel, St Austell, Summer Wine, Bristol Beer Factory, Wild Beer Co and Mikkeller. How’s that for a selection? With the exception of Pete Walker’s HAND bar in Falmouth, where else do you see beers like this in Cornwall? In fact, even Pete (he was there last night, too) probably wouldn’t have all these on at once.

So, to the beers. You were wondering when I’d get round mentioning them, weren’t you? I had the pleasure of sampling with Roger, which is at once both educational and slightly intimidating. I know with beer tasting there isn’t a right answer, yet I’m still constantly afraid of coming out with it. I think our mutual pick of the bunch was Magic Rock Rapture (4.6%). Listed as a red hop ale, it had completeness and perfect balance, fantastic malt that you expect in a good red, and tangy hop notes. Easy drinking, and a lovely, er, reddish colour , too. Hats off, too, to Bristol Beer Factory Bitter Kiwi (5%), an interpretation of an American pale ale using fruity, zingy New Zealand hops, and the Summer Wine Maelstrom Double IPA (9%). In a festival making a principled point of serving these fine brews in elegant third of a  pint glasses, there had to be one bloke who asked for a pint of it. Good grief. A third was great, just right, lovely to savour and appreciate,  tropical fruit hop flavours dancing with lovely malt sweetness and a hint of alcohol as the beer flexes its muscle. Didn’t taste like as much as 9%, though.

Pete and Roger’s Porter, which made its debut at a recent Driftwood Spars beer festival, and was a collaboration between Roger Ryman and Driftwood head brewer Peter Martin, re-appeared under what is, apprently, its correct name, Kamikaze Porter (5%), and was in smoke-edged fine form. Like one or two porters I’ve had lately, it’s quite light in colour compared to the darkness generally associated with the style. The beer to finish on had to be Summer Wine’s Espresso Barista Stout (4.8%) which has very strong espresso taste on the palate which works well in a dark, full-bodied brew. The coffee lingers on the finish out and dries out.

So, craft beer. I’ve blogged before on how no-one seems to be sure of the definition. Sam Burrows, of Bristol Beer Factory, described craft brewers as those “pushing the boundaries in terms of flavours”. Right? Wrong? The debate will rumble on.

If you haven’t been to Hub, this weekend is the time to go, and don’t leave it too long – these beers won’t hang around. If you do the maths the beers turn out at £4.50 a pint which may sound a lot, but wait, it’s swings and roundabouts. The Mikkeller should cost more, and the Malestrom seems good value, too. Anyway, who’s having a pint? To paraphrase a 70s sitcome cathcphrase, I’ll ‘ave a third.

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Left to right: Nigel Stevenson, of James Clay; St Austell head brewer Roger Ryman; Hub owner Richrd Boon; and Sam Burrows, of Bristol Beer factory