Off we go again. It’s that time of year for jumping on a train to London and having a few pints at the Campaign for Real Ale GBBF – August 3-7. This year they hope to break the attendance record in 2009 of 64,000 or so beer drinkers.
There’ll be 500 British casks ales and 100 ciders and perries all backed up by beers from the Czech Republic, the US, Germany and Belgium. That’s a lot of ale supped in a little corner of London that is Earl’s Court. How people get around to the foreign stuff I will never know. There certainly is enough home grown to keep my taste buds busy.
There will be live music everyday and tasting sessions from leading beer gurus including Roger Protz and Jeff Evans. And we must not forget the indefatigable Ms Melissa Cole doing her sterling work to introduce women to beer with all female festival tours. The first two years of these tours attracted a great deal of interest see Girls' Guide Tours on the festival website.
Shame I won’t be there, but still being in the recovery position from a major operation to stop me listing to port too much, I shall have to give it a miss. One thing you do need at the GBBF is a stout pair of legs - at least to begin with.
However I hope to bring you news of the Champion Beer of Britain – as much of the mainstream media so often ignores this fantastic annual celebration of the terrific British ale industry.
No doubt also the ever generous spirited team from Brunning & Price will bring back reports of new and exciting brews for us to try; that’s when they get around to clearing their heads, emptying their pockets and finding those bits of notes and mysterious phone numbers they have collected during a heavy day of GBBF action. Don't hold your breathe, but I hope to let you know soon.
