Early the other morning, slowly struggling to consciousness, I was haunted by this image; an elderly, snow-white haired gentleman, dressed in a thatch-matched suit and adorned with a long plaited beard. And he was drinking beer. Had I seen God on his day off?
At the time I was lying in a strange and rather hard bed wearing a plastic wrist band in the NHS style. For a fleeting moment I was a little worried about my health.
Then, with effort, I focused on the band; it read ‘Camra Great British Beer Festival 2009’. Phew, thank goodness, I was still in Earls Court after a hard day at the festival.
And the mystery bearded entity? Well a fellow imbiber-in-arms confirmed that he was real enough along with hobgoblins and Viking helmeted boozers. I should have taken a photo. But, as when among aboriginals, it’s not necessarily a good thing to chuck a camera in the faces of natives at the GBBF.
Yes, I have to admit, you do see some rather peculiar sightings of the Real Ale Taliban at this annual celebration of Great British Beer (and a bit of foreign stuff) despite the much lauded advent of new festival goers.
Perhaps we shouldn't take the Michael. Most of these guys were likely to have been in the trenches fighting against the likes of the once ubiquitous Red Barrel. They are probably still in shell shock, so maybe they deserve an indulgent reverence. But, well, it can get too serious - one chap was witnessed displaying his collection of beer pump photos!
Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) is a great success story. We wouldn’t be drinking great tipples now if it were not for those activists that declared war against the big brewing keg boys back in the seventies.
However, things have moved on a pace over the past few years. These days, while the overall beer market shrinks, there’s growing support for real ale from a whole new breed of followers. Sales of local ales are said to have risen by nearly 12 per cent in the past 12 months.
Blown away
Beer writer and professional taster Melissa Cole (www.girlsguidetobeer.blogspot.com), who organises female beer tours around the festival, reports, with her own boundless enthusiasm, that ‘interest and honest excitement around it all has leapt exponentially since last year’.
“The enthusiasm by women, young and old, for cask ale at this year’s event has absolutely blown me away – I have been asked more questions and seen more interest from women to go out and try real beer than ever before."
But to get the real girlies' eye view of the GBBF you really need to follow the link to Cate Sevilla's piece at bitchbuss. After reading the piece, take a look around the site; its report on a 'Pina Coloda' and other 'play' products opened my eyes - and made them water a bit too! I quickly retreated back to the world of beer.
But despite Cate's coruscating 'testosterone' comments Melissa says: “I have also found that the demographic of ale fans is shifting year-on-year to a younger audience, which can only be great news for the category.”
So there you have it – a whole new demowhatsit of beer drinkers being nurtured for the rosy beer future.This blessed generation are going to have a much better time, I think, than my lot did – stuck for many years with our national fizz or mega regional cask brands (think Greenalls? aaah)
Their beer choice will be just amazing as several hundred craft brewers increasingly dream up new cask ale brews, using exciting new hops and other tasty ingredients. Witness the ever adventurous Thornbridge - who picked up two awards with this year with Lord Marples and Kipling - consistently break new ground.
And the Champion Beer of Britain 2009 was a perfect example of the new wave. For the second time in three years a mild style of ale took the top sport; Rudgate Ruby Mild, from the 16-year-old craft brewer at Tockwith,York.
But at 4.4% strength this is certainly no common or garden mild. It is complex ale with pale, crystal and chocolate malts and Challenger, Styrian Goldings and American Cascade hops offering rich vinous and fruity notes with hints of chocolate and spice.
Roger Protz, chairman of the final judging panel said: ‘The judges were impressed by the rich, fruity character, and the fact that it’s quite hoppy and bitter for a mild ale.’’
Runner up taking silver was Oakham Attila, the whopping 7.5 percent barley wine that was crowned Supreme Champion at the 2009 Winter Ale Festival. Bronze went to something that sounded like an antidote to swine flu - the West Berkshire Dr Hexter’s Healer. I am reliably informed that the latter would indeed -at 5%abv and with citrus, orange notes - knock seven bells of proverbial out of any errant bug. And you would enjoy the experience.
Good Stab
Sadly, I didn’t sample it, but with beer buddies Jon and Colin I took a pretty good stab at getting through beers from across the country. Especially noteworthy was the first up Loweswater Gold from Cumbrian Legendary Brewery followed by Yates Fever Pitch, also from that area.
Sticking with golden ales Pot Belly’s Yeller Belly at 5.2% was a sheer Northamptonshire delight while my tail-ender Goldenhop, from newcomer Shardlow of Leicestershire got well up my personal ratings - and later in the day that was a tough call.
Camra reported 64,000 visited over the five day event this year – up 7.5 per cent on 2008 - to try some 500 ales, perrys and ciders. That’s a fantastic amount of beer to sup.
So there we have it – another hugely successful GBBF and Camra heralding the 100,000 membership milestone. Looks like God had a busy time after all.
Campaign for Real Ale Great British Beer Festival 2009
And the winners were:
Dark & Light Mild Gold Winner and Champion Beer of Britain: Ruby Mild, Rudgate Brewery
Winter Ales: Attila from Oakham Ales
Bitters: Ranmore Ale from Surrey Hills Brewery
Best Bitters: Golden Sands from Southport Brewery
Golden Ales: American Pale Ale from Dark Star Brewery
Strong Bitter: Dr Hexter’s Healer from West Berkshire Brewery
Specialty Beers: Umbel Magna from Nethergate Brewery
Real Ale in a Bottle: Titanic Stout
PS: Millions of Chinese, courtesy of one of their national TV stations that bothered to turn out, would be delighted I'm sure to watch this strange British ritual. The BBC, however, was once again absent throughout the festival.
0 comments:
Post a Comment