Posted on Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 at 10:00 pm by Philip Devitt
This weekend saw the 3rd annual beer festival held by the folks of Forever Bury. This is an event that always promises to be entertaining and beer-riffically educational, and this year was no exception.
This years event comprised of around 50 beers and ciders from all corners of the country and as usual I had to start with a cider or two. Cider never tastes right once your taste buds have been introduced to the bitters and stouts, still, that never stopped me from returning to it when the organiser plonked a barrel of the appley-goodness next to me and proclaimed that its contents were free.
The evenings musical entertainment consisted of a three piece band (one acousitc guitar, an electric guitar and a saxophone), they were reasonably in time and didn’t make many mistakes but I think they lacked the presence of a vocalist - make a note of that for the next event.
The food stall also closed down quite early, around 8 o’clock; people generally fancy something to eat as they are leaving a booze-up so I’d have expected it to be offered around last orders but that didn’t happen; still, I suppose there were plenty of other eateries close by.
The choice of beer was very good, with a nice mixture of dark and light ales; there didn’t seem to be any fruit ales (such as Framboisenbeire) but what they did have was of excellent quality, the most potent (with a whopping 9% ABV) being one made from licorice. Unlike most licorice ales I’ve tried, this one actually tasted of licorice!
As with previous year, this weekends event was organised by-and-large by Bury FC enthusiast Dave Gifford who’s passion for the club and the event was evident to anyone who could stop him from rushing around long enough to have a chat. The organisers of the event (Forever Bury) are always looking for members and donations. Please see the Forever Bury website for details of how you can help this good cause.
Do you want to learn how to make your own beer?
Don’t miss out on the 1-2-3 guide that is on offer from EZ-Brew for only $27 (around £18).
Click here for more information on the EZ-Brew Beer Making Course.
Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 at 12:29 am by Philip Devitt
This weekend saw the first “Febfest” beer festival in Bury, obviously I had to check it out !
I think everyone has an idea of who goes to beer festivals. We’re talking beardy, hairy-bellied blokes who like nothing more than sitting on wooden benches eating tepid meat pies and getting gently poached drinking potent urine coloured liquids. The more cynical minded would also suggest that said liquids probably tasted like urine, and were most likely sourced at the previous weeks beardy gathering. But that’s by-the-by, and considering I did drink a few half’s I’d like to think that the stuff in the barrels had come from a far better place than the dodgy portaloo’s outside the main tent.
Yes, beardy blokes were there, it was to be expected, nay, required. They added a certain ambience to the place, helped complete the picture as it were. The whole setup of the festival seemed a little odd, you had to pay admission and buy “beer tokens” for a pound a go at the old railway ticket booth then you had to wander over to the tent to pick up your glass. It wasn’t until I actually entered the tent that I discovered why the “beer token” method of payment was chosen instead of the cold hard cash approach. Those serving the beer were quite rightfully also enjoying the odd half, and while none of them were staggering around I got the impression that performing any correct change calculation above and beyond 1 token=1/2 pint could cause a little trouble, especially when the customers were also well on the way to the “hangover hotel”.
Once inside the tent you were greeted by what can only be described as an “Ale’ing wall”, around 100 barrels of various alcoholic mixtures sat in rows three high across the longest side of the tent. Infront of the barrels were the defenders of the kegs, beardy blokes who have sworn to protect their precious from anyone who doesn’t brandish the sacred token of pintage. Most of the beardies gathered in nodding herds, to each herd was appointed a female, who suprisingly didn’t have a beard, well, not a publicly visible one at any rate. It was only after half an hour did I realise our little group was forming its own herds, quite spooky.
After tasting my way through several ales, and a rather weak tasting (yet highly intoxicating) cider I came to the conclusion that my favourite ale was the Black Witch from Moorhouse’s — please follow the link for locations of stockists and pubs where you can find this fine beverage.
For those living in the Bury area I’ll save you a click-though, the nearest pub is the Dusty Miller, Crostons Road.