Now becoming an annual event, the third Tameside Beer Festival (housed in the Civic Hall in Stalybridge) took place this weekend
again. I’d been to both previous events and, whilst the first was a bit of a
swift haze before this blog existed, I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s so much I
did a short post about it. I always feel a need to promote festivals,
especially the smaller, local ones that are as well run as this.
As the festival is only held on a Friday and Saturday and is
purely for charitable reasons, arranged by the local Rotary Club in
Ashton-Under-Lyne, there’s no silly “trade day” or weekday event that empties
the hall of the best beers before any regular Joe’s have had chance to set foot
in the door. In fact, for a group who are not accustomed to organising such
events, the rotary club do an excellent job of running a fair and smooth
festival. Entry is a standard £3 that INCLUDES the programme. Beer tokens come
in simple £1.25 form, as that is the price for a half of EVERY beer on offer.
The glass isn’t a silly commemorative one that nobody wants and holds a simple
£1 deposit. Lord how much more enjoyable it is to peruse over a programme of
beer notes you haven’t had to pay for additionally (*cough* NWAF *cough.*)
So once we were peacefully sat with our first half (mine was
a Salopian Brewery Shropshire Gold) we were greeted by one of the organisers,
who was a lovely chap and sat with us for some time, though unfortunately his
name escapes me. He spoke of his pride of how far some people had travelled for
this rather low key festival and how keen some breweries, including
Stalybridge’s own Ticketybrew, had been to get involved. Everything was
friendly, relaxed and hassle free and that is what these events do best.
Let's not forget how we all judge every ale festival, on the half pint measurements. Unlike the farcical Huddersfield festival last October, this jaunt was particularly generous with it's half pints.
Aside from this, the festival was very similar to the
previous year. The food offered was the same and the majority of breweries represented
were the same, albeit with slightly different beers. Whilst this isn’t a
criticism, it gave the feeling of a lesser experience overall. Similar
breweries, who make good beer, yet seemed to have brought less examples to the
party. Some of my party were more excited about Bradley’s Bakery returning,
with their great range of pies. However, this year they appeared to bring less
of a choice and then, subsequently, packed up much earlier. And, if I wanted to
be a tad critical, of the 36 beers brought in, only 5 were not of the very
pale, floral and hoppy variety; a bit of a disappointment for stout lovers.
Still, I enjoyed trying a good variety and, for the first
time ever at a festival, bothered to mark beers based on the recognised CAMRA
score system. In order I drank,
Northern
Brewing Company – Jewel IPA 4.6% (3.5)
Allgates
Brewery – California 3.8% (4)
Derventio Brewery
– Cleopatra 5.0% (4)
Brunswick
Brewery – Father Mike 5.8% (4)
Ironbridge –
Iron Bridge Pale Ale 4.0% (2.5)
Oakham –
Inferno 4.0% (3.5)
Titanic Brewery
– Cappuccino Stout 4.5% (3.5)
The highlights for me were the Allgates California and the
Derventio Cleopatra, although I do love a good Abbeydale beer but know
Deception well.
Another really well organised and joyous festival. With a
month before Indy Man Beer Con, it was really nice to be reminded of a good, wholesome,
canteen-style but friendly local beer festival. I hope it returns for many
years and that I can keep supporting it. Another reminder of what brought me to
be a Real Ale drinker in the first place.
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