Let’s dispense with the usual Beer Festival anecdotes about them being frequented by Gandalf-a-likes from Lord of the Rings and those dressed like Steampunk enthusiasts, but also steer clear of references to more contemporary groups that begin with the letter ‘H’. There was more than a healthy spread of the UK’s demographic present at the Camp and Furnace over the third weekend in June, all of whom seemed happy, enthused and remarkably positive about yet another shot in the arm for the City of Liverpool in its own ongoing gastronomic proliferation. The usual pattern was followed by my companion and I, upon entering an event such as this – retrieve glass and programme, wander about like a lost soul for ten minutes, find a shady spot to call our own for the duration of said event and then finally wander off to find our first victim. That is, our beverage of choice (if you thought anything else, you’re weird). The first beer went down a little slower than is usually to be expected, primarily a courtesy of the reveries from the evening before, but thankfully things were able to gather pace after that. Pace, just in time for my pencil to decide to give up on me (a retractable in case you’re wondering), robbing me of an ability to note any of the hazy observations about the beverages on offer and make succinct tasting notes. However, that was never really going to be the raison d’etre for this piece, so there is no real huge loss. The usual system of tokens was in place; a crisp £10 got you a card of 20 tokens with the beer prices coming in at around the 3-6 token mark generally speaking. The beers were served both from keg and cask across a number of bars spread around the periphery of the Furnace. Aside from smaller blackboards, pump clips at the bars and a larger ‘masterboard’ (which was often inaccurate) at the door into the Furnace, there was little way of deciding what your next beverage would be. A minor failing in the whole process for such an event was not to put any tasting notes or comprehensive list of the beers on offer in the actual event programme. This therefore failed to mitigate the trying of a beer which may have initially sounded enticing, but turned out to be a rather dull brown offering or a bog standard mild with a very misleading name (I hasten to add that this wasn’t exactly the case – but on more than one occasion I was stuck with half a pint of something not exactly pleasant to my palate). This failing was in part dealt with by many bartenders offering small tasters of a beer prior to taking away the half pint, which was a very welcome facet to proceedings. There were a number of beers pushing the envelope with regards strength, usually the 6 token beers, which had ABVs in excess of 8-9% and I do think I spotted something at over 11% which is Saison Dupont Rochefort 10 territory – offering very deep and complex beers with figgy and dried fruit characters to rival some wines. The only problem at a beer festival is being rather picky about which of these stronger beers you go for without ending up a bit of a mess by the end of the session! Some of the ales on offer were more standard offerings of citra and cascade hopped beers nestling alongside some excellent IPAs and a number of complex stout ales. There has been mention in national press (the Guardian no less, at least, prior to the event slipped into an article about the ‘rise of craft beer’ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jun/13/craft-beer-guide-beginners]) of the endeavours undertaken by the Expo Liverpool Echo posted this piece about the Expo: [http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/review-liverpool-craft-beer-festival-4325877]. There is even some footage posted right here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3kZxuiq6i0] with a nice panoramic shot of the Furnace for all to see. There was even some blogging (shock horror) on the event, although I’ve not had a chance to trawl them all, Allgates Brewery did post this: [http://allgatesbrewery.com/allgates-brewery-blog/2013/06/liverpool-craft-beer-festival/]. Pricewise, it was in keeping with usual goings on at the Camp and Furnace, with the burgers hitting the £6 mark, similar to those installed at the Food Slam events that take place on a Friday in the venue (which, all things considered are pretty steep). The flavoured popcorn is always a good accompaniment as a bar snack, as were the rather large bags of crisps, something to help soak up the beers and thus appreciate the convivial atmosphere always goes down well. The chance to watch some live brewing was also a welcome and interesting touch, with the likes of Beavertown, Camden and the hosts, Liverpool Craft Brewery all displaying their talents.
An education, an experience and most certainly, overall, a pleasure; here’s to the next one! Pedro. x ------ Many thanks to Jon Young for his photography skills on the afternoon. You can follow Liverpool Craft Beer Expo on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/Livcraftbeerexp And Liverpool Craft Beer here: https://twitter.com/Craft_Beers
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