Fell Brewery Beer Festival 2024

Glisky, Kendal. Saturday 16-March-2024.

After the success of last year's Fell Brewery Beer Festival it was a shoo-in to go to this year's.  Even better Fran at Fell Bar had suggest hiring a mini-bus to get us there and back. Unfortunately, despite the initial interest, not enough people coughed up the money so that fell through. Fortunately Mary's Aunt Avril , who lives in Kendal, had already said that she was up for an evening of beer and conviviality so we were able to stay with her.

Glisky is an old industrial unit repurposed as an events venue, here with beer stalls all around the walls. The deal is that your entrance fee gets you a half pint glass and one initial beer token exchangeable for a third of a pint. Extra tokens being purchasable, we bought nine for £20 and divvied them up between us.

This year there was no beer list as many entrants were last minute and there was no time to print up a list. This meant several circuits of the room were essential in order to:

1. suss out potential candidates for tasting
2. find the first pick again
3. seek out alternatives when a pick had sold out 

I asked for recommendations for the most traditional bitter style beer that would then give me something to sup while I made my circuit of the room and chose my next beers. Their suggestion was Treehouse Organic Pale Ale.

After a circuit of the room my next chaice was the delicious Squalor Dark Lager. It is a dunkel, one of my favourite styles of beer.

Early on we decided lining the stomach was a good idea so went for food by Simon Rogan, a Michelin three star chef, no less! .

Leaving the two stouts on offer for the end of the evening. Next up, I opted for a pale ale which was pleasant enough. Mary focussed on Gose and wheat beer and found several that she liked - safe from me as they are too sour for my taste.

The penultimate beer of the evening was a delicious stout.

Final beer of the evening was an Imperial stout. At 10% ABV it is positively Belgium in character. It is a good job they were only serving 1/3 pint measures. A delicious last beer to round off the evening..

At the end of the evening, it was a half hour’s walk back to Avril‘s place in the pouring rain. We were absolutely sodden by the time we got back. So very happy to get out of our wet clothes and into bed.

Fell Brewery 10th Birthday Beer Festival

Glisky, Kendal. Saturday 04-February-2023. 

Fun cars, Bus Passes and Beer.

We haven’t been to a beer festival for a couple of years so we were very pleased when our friends Andrew and Sarah alerted us to this one organised to celebrate Fell Brewery's 10th birthday. 

The venue was Glisky, an old warehouse on an industrial estate in Kendal, apparently Fell's new music venue and events space. This presented a slight logistical challenge of how to get there and back whilst not entirely sober. Fortunately friends Simon and Claire, who now live in Windermere, came to the rescue with the offer of beds for the night for all of us. Mary and Andrew then hatched a plan - we would travel separately in the fun cars (Mary's MX5 and Andrew's pretty new Z3) and would use buses to get to and from the beer festival. This also had the advantage for us that we got to use our free bus passes.

Although food was on offer at the festival we decided on a light snack to line the stomach before we set off. No luck at the first three bars / cafés - all full on a damp Saturday in February in Windermere. The fourth had space but they had lost their chef (how careless!) however since we were in the door we had a beer anyway while waiting for the bus.

Once we arrived at the venue, the first order of business was a beer followed by a pizza. There were five beers in cask, the rest in keg. About a quarter of the beers came from Fell Brewery and there were many guest beers so a fair selection.

Choosing a beer from cask.

I started off with Fell’s ESB (Extra Special Bitter) which was delicious. I wish that Fell did more of that, and certainly offered it more often in Fell Bar.

We found a table up near the DJ to eat our pizzas.

The pizza was excellent: hot and delicious with generous topping.

Once eaten we retreated to benches round the side so we could converse.

As there were no other bitters that I could see and rather too many IPA's and sours I did my usual routine and worked my way through the stouts, starting with the lowest ABV and working upwards. It’s good to have a theme. Measures were either 2/3 or 1/2 a pint depending on ABV or price. 

My choices (Brewery, Beer, Style, ABV):

• Fell, ESB (Extra Special Bitter), Bitter, 4.8%
• Fell, Loam, Dry Irish Stout, 4.2%
• Track, Navigator, Stout, 4.2%
• Fell, Byre, Stout, 5.7%
• Fell, Export Stout, Stout, 6.8%

My favourite of the stouts was the Byre. Mary's taste in beer is diametrically opposite to mine so no chance of an overlap. Her choices were:

• Gan Yam, Pop, Pale Ale, 5.2%
• Black Jack, Ragged School West Coast Pale Ale, 5.6%
• Farm Yard, Breezy Gose It, Fruited Gose, 4.0%
• Pilot, Peach Melba, Sour, 4.3%
• Fell, Cracked Earth, Red IPA, 6.0%
• LHG, Walk Through Walls x Basqueland, Hazy IPA, 6.5%

She enjoyed them all but her beer of the evening was the Black Jack's West Coast Pale Ale.

The winner of the best name goes to Sureshot's "You Boys Could Use a Little Churching Up". Clearly fans of "The Blues Brothers".

The place was busy, a successful event. Lots of people from Penrith known to us so a very sociable evening.

I had a chat with one of Fell's brewers extolling the virtues of their ESB so here's hoping we see more of in Fell Bar.

The next morning our hosts provided a delicious breakfast of sausages and egg in a bun. Bidding them goodbye we headed south and went for another walk from my "Walks with History" book, this time focusing on the Industrial Revolution. On the far side of Windermere, a 6k tromp through lovely woods taking in High Dam, Stott Park Heights and Stott Park Bobbin Mill. And back home just in time to buy some Herdwick mutton for supper.

There will be wine (and beer and more wine)

Champagne and Sparkling Wine.

Philglas and Swiggot. Battersea. Thursday, 31-October-2019.

A walk around tasting of champagnes and sparkling wines and from around the world. Some very knowledgeable presenters made it an informative evening. In particular, for me, it highlighted the huge variety of grape varieties used to make sparkling wines. Champagne may use pinot noir, chardonnay and a little pinot meunier but producers of presecco, cava and Tasmanian sparkling have others grapes at their disposal. Our three favourites bottles were:

• Antonij Rupert L'Ormarins MCC Brut NV
• LLopart Brut Reserva Cava 2016
• House of Arras Tasmania 'Grand Vintage' 2008

11th Wandsworth Beer Festival.

Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, Wandsworth. Saturday , 02-November-2019.

Our third WBF at the wonderful gothic pile that is Royal Victoria Patriotic Building. It was the last night of the festival and beers were running low. Our friends who arrived half an hour after us got in for free because so many barrels had run out!

I focussed on porter and stout as I dislike this current fad for overly sharp pale ales. I started at the back of the catalogue hoping to catch some beers still on offer as I am sure many start on page 1. Even so only half the dark beers were still showing. I had enough to provide a satisfactory tasting but might think about an earlier start next year.

Afterwards we went with our friends for a lovely Italian meal at the family run Dan and Angel, named after the owners two children.

Wine Society Dining Club 277th dinner.

Drapers Hall, London. Tuesday, 05-November-2019.

At the other end of the spectrum from the beer festival is fine claret at a black tie dinner in the elegant surroundings of the Drapers' Hall.

The WSDC proposition is that the members of the main Wine Society buy wines for laying down and some years later consume them when they are ready for drinking.

The theme was "The Three Leovilles". We had an informative introduction to the wines, a lovely meal with superb wines and talked to charming strangers.

Hic!

Notte Verde: Acqua e Sale 2018

Cisternino, Puglia, Italy. Saturday / Sunday 18 / 19-August-2018.

Another festival. As it says on the poster: Music, Culture, Gastronomy. Two nights to wander the streets of Cisternino and soak up the atmosphere.

Our street, Corso Umberto I, was dedicated to craft stalls. From Piazza Marconi up Via Manzoni it was the turn of the food stalls including a demonstration of passata making and local organic produce of all kinds.

As Via Manzoni segues into Via San Quirico we came across a local artisanal beer stall by Birrificio Birranova so we had to try their range. The Myra was my favourite, dark and sweet, brewing using mosta di primitivo (leftover must from wine making).

We took our beer up to the Ponte - the raised section of via San Quirico - found some plastic chairs from the earlier cultural talk and sat to oversee the scene and listen to the music.

The live music was Arheref Chargui Trio, a French-Italian-Tunisian group comprising drums, bass and oud. You could tell the drummer was the Italian - he was wearing a scarf, presumeably to protect his neck from draughts. A very North African sound, you could almost be in the Mahgreb. We bought their first CD rather than the second because I think first albums always have something fresh and special and avoid the Second Album Syndrome.

The next night it was a case of "rinse and repeat" with an intervening lunchtime Aperitivo Classico, lunch and siesta.

We strolled around with artisanal beer in hand then went to Chirico Bistrot for a cocktail whilst listening to the DJ set.

And so to bed after the witching hour.

There will be beer

It was a couple of very beery days.

Thursday 27-October-2016:

Meet the brewer. We went to our local (The County Arms) for supper and, unbeknownst to us, Wimbledon Brewery were there for a "Meet the Brewer" event. They came round and gave us tasting samples of three of their beers: Common Pale Ale, Tower Special Pale Ale and Phoenix Smoked Porter. The pale ales are low ABV, session beers, and an interesting business decision to contrast with another local brewery, Sambrook's, whose range is by-and-large much higher in alcohol.

Wandsworth Common Beer Festival. After supper a short stroll round the corner to Le Gothique for a serious beer festival. Not knowing what to expect I was amazed at the massive selection of beers. Mary and I drank halves so we were able to try five beers apiece.

Mary	Mark
Box Steam - Chuffing Ale (bitter)	Bradford Brewery - Farmers Stout
Downton - Honey Blonde (golden ale)	Downton - Chocolate Orange (dark ale)
Peerless - True Brit (English IPA)	Downton - Roman Imperial Stout
Dynamite Valley - Prospector (wheat beer)	Isle of Avalon - Pomparles Porter
Mad Dog - Its All Propaganda (black IPA)	Sarah Hughes Brewery - Snowflake (Barley wine style)

The two extremes for me were both from Downton - the Roman Imperial Stout at 9% was a seriously delicious, heavy duty tipple best followed by a siesta; the Chocolate Orange was described in the catalogue as "consistently one of the most popular beers at every festival", personally I thought it was disgusting, after a few mouthfuls I poured it away on the gravel and moved on to something more palatable.

Mary enjoyed all of hers except for the black IPA which seemed a bit too bitter after a few mouthfuls.

Friday 28-October-2016:

Young's Winter Warmer Launch. Tipped off by our beer aficionado friend, Tony, we went to The White Cross in Richmond for the official launch of this season's Winter Warmer. The deal was a full English breakfast and two pints of beer accompanied by live music.

We could have had a ride on the dray but we concentrated on eating and drinking instead.

Meantime Pop-Up Bar. The main event was a concert to celebrate Bill Wyman's 80th birthday as part of the Blues fest. We started the evening with a visit to Meantime's special beer pop-up bar. It was, our barman claimed, the smallest bar in the UK; it was a shed with seating for two and a couple standing.

The master brewer had developed six beers for six cities. This being London they were serving "Luminor" British style pale ale designed for the great metropolis.

As a souvenir we both got personalised bottles of pale ale.

At the concert Mary drank Brewdog's Dead Pony Club while I switched to red wine having had enough beer.

A very interesting range of beers and experiences.

Beer Festival at The Perseverance

Wraysbury, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Saturday 15-Mar-13.

Tony, a friend and ex-colleague, invited us round as his local pub was having a beer festival. We could have taken the train but it was such lovely weather we decided to cycle. Are we mad?

The first part of the journey was through various parks until we reached Hampton Court where we picked up the Thames Path. We followed that as far as Staines and a final stretch of road into Wraysbury.

Mary is faster than me on the flat. By about an hour and a half in my thighs were starting to flag but had no choice but to carry on. There was a head wind and we were on gravel paths so we only managed an average of 9.3 mph: distance 25.7 miles, time 2:44.

We had soup and bread at Tony and Terri's then strolled down to The 'Percy'. They planned to have an interesting range of beers including brews from Windsor and Eton, Dark Star, Langham, Tom Wood, Mordue, Rudgate, Black Hole, Ilkley, Bristol Beer Factory, Titanic, Saltaire and Kelham Island amongst others.

They also had a live band, The Sam Kelly Band, playing an eclectic mix of AOR.

They did a six-pint deal so Mary and I had three apiece. Most of Tony's friends we had not met before but that didn't stop us having lively and enjoyable conversations. We started in the garden but moved inside after the first pint as it was cooling down. Plenty of room inside a proper English pub with a decent range of real ales - every village should have one.

Tasty beers, good company, live music - what more could you ask for?

BrewDog London: Craft Beer and Cheese Tasting

Beer and cheese tasting at BrewDog, Shoreditch.

The tasting was presented by Tida who took us through the four pairings. All the beers are Brewdog's own, all the cheeses came from Neal's Yard Dairy.

• Punk IPA (5.4%) paired with Parmesan. Hints of citrus (grapefruit) match the tangyness of the parmesan; a good match.
• 5am Saint (5.0%) paired with Coolea. A creamy cheese from boggy grass fed cattle; not as successful as the Punk / Parmesan pairing.
• Dead Pony Club (3.8%) paired with Hafod Cheddar. A california style beer with hints of tropical fruit (pineapple); the most complementary pairing of the session.
• Ripe Tide (8.0%) paired with Stichelton Blue. An imperial stout with some sweetness; like drinking port with Stilton - a classic combo.

This squirrel is one of the bottles that once contained "The End of History" the world's strongest beer at the time with an ABV of 55% (yes, that is fifty-five percent). More from the BBC: "Dead animal beer bottles at £500 each 'perverse'"

After the tasting we stayed on to chat and drink a couple more half pints of Rip Tide - at 8% ABV more would have been foolish. A fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon and meet some new beers.

Clapham Clamber - a pub crawl

London, England - Thursday 28-July-2011

Many thanks to my ex-colleague Tony Fox-Griffith for organising a fine pub crawl. This post is lifted wholesale from his notes. Thanks Tony :-)

A group of around ten of us wandered from pub to pub tasting some very fine beers in some wonderful establishments.


"Clapham Clamber" Pub #1 — at The Windsor Castle

The Windsor Castle 36 St John’s Hill, a fine but slightly down-at-heel pub that’s good enough to be on CAMRA’s Regional Inventory of Historic Pubs. Sadly, it’s due to be redeveloped and, as it’s not a listed building, it undoubtedly will be demolished soon. It is a classic example of a “Brewers’ Tudor” pub which still conveys much of its original layout and feel. Originally built in 1890, it got its current look during the 1930s. It’s got a smallish public bar with typical inter-war fittings but what makes this worth visiting is the back room which is a great attempt at creating a medieval-style hall.



Wandsworth Common, an important historic common, the remains of more extensive Commonland that earlier went by a number of names including Battersea West Heath and Wandsworth East Heath. Part of the land had been enclosed and used to build the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, amongst others. Efforts were made to preserve what was left and eventually Earl Spencer, Lord of the Manor, agreed to transfer most of the common to the Wandsworth Common Preservation Society in 1870.

The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building was built entirely by funds raised by the public administered by Prince Albert’s Royal Patriotic Fund, its foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria in 1857. It was intended for the ‘Education and Training of three hundred Orphan Daughters of Soldiers, Seamen and Marines who perished in the Russian War, and for those who hereafter may require like succour’.


"Clapham Clamber" Pub #2 — at La Gothique Restuarant & Bar, Wandsworth Common, London

Le Gothique is a really surprising place to find a CAMRA Good Beer Guide registered pub but it is! They also run a Beer Festival twice a year – what a great place to sample beers! At the moment, they stock Sambrook’s Wandle and two from Shepherd Neame – Jack and Spitfire. They also do food – the restaurant is really expensive but their bar menu looks good. The down side is that they only serve the bar menu until 7:30.


"Clapham Clamber" Pub #3 — at The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse 2 Wandsworth Common Northside. It has had a somewhat chequered history and undergone a number of name-changes (it was called the Freemasons until fairly recently) but has reverted to its original name following its most recent facelift. It’s a modernised place which does good food.



"Clapham Clamber" Pub #4 — at The Falcon

Our final call was the marvellous Falcon at 2 St. John’s Hill. It’s a mightily impressive pub-cum-former-hotel built in 1887 with many original features – in sufficiently unspoilt condition that it is on CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Interiors. They also have a tremendous range of beers – too wide to list here!

It’s a showy piece of architecture, typical of its time. What really counts is the interior. There are a number of very fine examples of Victorian stained glass (apparently, although Tony's not located it, the rear bar shows funeral carriages stopping off at ‘Death’s Door’, the nickname for the pub when its landlord happened to be a Mr Death!).

We must do this sort of thing more often!