41st Norwich Beer Festival
This was my first visit to the Norwich Beer Festival, and also the first time I have been to a major CAMRA beer festival in many a year. I really like Norwich, but it isn't easy for me to get to by public transport, and hotel stays are a rare treat, so I am enormously grateful to Matt and Bex for putting us up for the night, and for joining us at the festival.
Teenage taxi requirements put a spanner in the works just as we were leaving home, meaning we were later than intended. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was no queue as we drove past The Halls to park at nearby St Andrews. Pre-drink food was a wonderful toasted wrap with patatas bravas from Alley Ole, and then we turned the corner into St George's Street to discover that the threatened queue had materialised! We waited for about half an hour to get in, and were enormously grateful that, for some strange people two hours early in the evening is enough.
With over 200 ales sold over the course of the week long festival, this is quite an event. At eight o'clock on the Friday evening it was also very crowded, as I had been warned that it would be. I had done some homework before coming to the festival, consulting the pdf beer list for tasting notes, and the online beer list to see what was on sale at the time. However, I had not at that point worked out how to find the beer I wanted to drink.
The bar was a two sided island that ran the length of St Andrew's Hall. At intervals there were small posters with names of breweries on them. I assumed that this meant that the beers of the named breweries would be available in that area of the bar. I soon discovered that this was not the case! Referring to the online beer list again, I noticed that it mentioned numbered bays, and these numbers were also displayed above the bar. Eventually I managed to locate my first beer of the evening - Starry Night by Black Hole Brewery from Derby. I didn't pick out the promised grapefruit notes, but I did think this was a very solid best bitter. Clearly I wasn't alone in thinking this as Starry Night came second in the best bitter category.
The bar was a two sided island that ran the length of St Andrew's Hall. At intervals there were small posters with names of breweries on them. I assumed that this meant that the beers of the named breweries would be available in that area of the bar. I soon discovered that this was not the case! Referring to the online beer list again, I noticed that it mentioned numbered bays, and these numbers were also displayed above the bar. Eventually I managed to locate my first beer of the evening - Starry Night by Black Hole Brewery from Derby. I didn't pick out the promised grapefruit notes, but I did think this was a very solid best bitter. Clearly I wasn't alone in thinking this as Starry Night came second in the best bitter category.
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| The St Andrews Bar, just before my first beer of the night! |
With drink in hand it was time to go exploring. The Norwich Beer Festival has four bars across three rooms. In St Andrews Hall there is the small Curiosity Bar, featuring some more obscure beers, as well as the main bar. In Blackfriars Hall there is a Norfolk Bar, which showcases the beers from no less than 30 Norfolk based breweries. Finally there is the Marquee, which serves European beers from breweries such as Brasserie de la Seine, Brasserie DuPont, and Brouwerij de Huyghe. Alongside these there were also more local breweries with European influenced beers, such as Little Earth Project and Ampersand.
In the company of non-beergeeks, I didn't keep detailed tasting notes as we were just enjoying the evening. I had been warned to expect crowds, and there was quite a press at times. On the whole though, I thought the venue coped with the numbers, especially in the main bar, where the music from the stage created a lively and fun atmosphere. We really enjoyed listening to the The Good Times, who played a varied selection of pop covers; the crowd was often dancing and singing along.
Despite my non-beergeek intentions it was good to chat briefly to Bruce from Norfolk Brewhouse, Emma from Boudicca Brewing Co., and Kevin from Golden Triangle. And, of course, I had to keep enough of a track on what I was drinking to update Untappd later. I won't list every beer I drank, but a few honourable mentions should be made. Box Social is a brewery that I have heard quite a bit about, but never had the pleasure of drinking; so I was keen to try their Campfire Porter and it didn't disappoint. I also particularly enjoyed Foresters Black by Dawkins, and the Vanilla Latte Stout from Winter's Brewery. Even though Winter's is a Norfolk brewery and has been around since 2001, I hadn't come across them before. I hope that I get the chance to drink more of their beers soon.
There was just one beer that really didn't hit the mark. It was billed as having butterscotch flavours, so I have to assume that it was as the brewer intended. For me though, and for my three companions, it was a grimace inducing diacetyl bomb. Had there been a convenient plant pot it would certainly not have been finished. We were all glad that we had just half a pint to see off between the four of us.
Apart from the beer, the other think that was noticeable to me was the diversity of the crowd. Perhaps there were more middle aged, bearded men than in the population as a whole, but there was also a good age range, lots of women and quite an ethnic mix. There has been quite a bit of talk on beery Twitter this year about whether beer culture is inclusive. It seems to me that Norwich CAMRA are doing a decent job of making it so.
I definitely enjoyed this first visit to the Norwich Beer Festival and I hope to be back again next year. Hopefully I will manage to take a few more photos next time!
In the company of non-beergeeks, I didn't keep detailed tasting notes as we were just enjoying the evening. I had been warned to expect crowds, and there was quite a press at times. On the whole though, I thought the venue coped with the numbers, especially in the main bar, where the music from the stage created a lively and fun atmosphere. We really enjoyed listening to the The Good Times, who played a varied selection of pop covers; the crowd was often dancing and singing along.
Despite my non-beergeek intentions it was good to chat briefly to Bruce from Norfolk Brewhouse, Emma from Boudicca Brewing Co., and Kevin from Golden Triangle. And, of course, I had to keep enough of a track on what I was drinking to update Untappd later. I won't list every beer I drank, but a few honourable mentions should be made. Box Social is a brewery that I have heard quite a bit about, but never had the pleasure of drinking; so I was keen to try their Campfire Porter and it didn't disappoint. I also particularly enjoyed Foresters Black by Dawkins, and the Vanilla Latte Stout from Winter's Brewery. Even though Winter's is a Norfolk brewery and has been around since 2001, I hadn't come across them before. I hope that I get the chance to drink more of their beers soon.
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| The European Bar |
There was just one beer that really didn't hit the mark. It was billed as having butterscotch flavours, so I have to assume that it was as the brewer intended. For me though, and for my three companions, it was a grimace inducing diacetyl bomb. Had there been a convenient plant pot it would certainly not have been finished. We were all glad that we had just half a pint to see off between the four of us.
Apart from the beer, the other think that was noticeable to me was the diversity of the crowd. Perhaps there were more middle aged, bearded men than in the population as a whole, but there was also a good age range, lots of women and quite an ethnic mix. There has been quite a bit of talk on beery Twitter this year about whether beer culture is inclusive. It seems to me that Norwich CAMRA are doing a decent job of making it so.
I definitely enjoyed this first visit to the Norwich Beer Festival and I hope to be back again next year. Hopefully I will manage to take a few more photos next time!
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