I actually enjoyed the pre-Great British Beer Festival
Party, organised by the British Guild of Beer Writers, a lot more than the main event. Held the night before, on the Tattershall Castle, a converted former river
ferry moored on the Thames just off Victoria Embankment,
the ship proved the perfect setting for this annual get together of beer
writers and bloggers.
I travelled up to London
straight from work, my train terminating at Charing Cross,
which is conveniently just a short hop from the Embankment. I walked down
towards the river, boarded this attractive old steamer and found my way to the
rear (stern?) of the vessel, which had been reserved for the BGBW event.
There were quite a few people there already, so after
checking in I wandered over to one of several beer taps, and poured myself a
beer. My first choice was Brick Field Brown 5.4%, a tasty brown ale from Five Points Brewing. I spotted a couple of people I knew, so I went over and joined
them. I am not going to list out all the writers and bloggers present whom I
either knew or recognised, but a mention should go to Peter Alexander (aka
Tandleman), Ed Wray, BryanB, Steve Lamond and Matthew Curtis. Matthew deserves a
special mention, as he was the inspiration and driving force behind this year’s
event, having organised and set everything up for the evening, in conjunction
with the London breweries whose beers I have described in this post.
From memory there were around four self-serve beer stations,
each fitted with two taps. The beer of
course was “craft keg”, but was none the worse for that, and the fact the beers
were served chilled was most welcome on what turned out to be a rather hot and humid
evening.
It was very warm down below, so Peter and I headed upstairs,
to the open deck at the stern. From here we could see along and across the
Thames including an uninterrupted view of the London Eye, which is virtually
opposite where the Tattershall Castle is moored.
There were plenty of bottled beers available upstairs; all
nicely chilled in ice-buckets, and with nice clean chunky tumbler-type glasses
stacked in front to drink them from. I was really impressed with the Battersea
Rye from Sambrooks, but there were also a number of larger bottles from America,
including some from one of my favourite North American brewers, Rogue. Peter
had a particularly cloudy beer called Bogan; a collaboration brew between Gipsy
Hill and Three Boys breweries, which was described as a New Zealand Pale Ale.
He said it tasted alright, but it added a whole new dimension to the phrase “London
Murky”!
It wasn’t long before the majority of people from downstairs
migrated up to join us. I imagine they either realised it was too hot down
below, or they’d got wind of the imminent arrival of some food. This came in
the form of beef burgers; “burgers to die for” was how I’d describe them, as
they were absolutely scrumptious, with well-cooked tasty beef, plus nice chunky
gherkins and tomato. Chips, in paper cups, formed the perfect
accompaniment. Later on, when the
serving staff brought another round of burgers along to us, I couldn’t resist
grabbing a second helping. My excuse was the food helped to soak up any excess
beer!
Towards the end of the evening, some of us went back down
below deck, to have a crack at some of the keg-stuff. I enjoyed a very nice
Alt-style beer from Orbit Beers, called Neu, plus a smooth and tasty 8.8% Imperial
Milk Stout from The London Beer Factory.
I drifted off shortly before 10.30pm
and wandered back up to Charing Cross for my train back
to Tonbridge. I fell asleep on the journey home; not so much because of the
amount of beer I’d drunk, but more from the effects of the busy weekend I’d just
had up in Norfolk.
It was an excellent evening, made all the better by the
setting, the people, the food and of course the beers! I would like to thank Matthew Curtis, the Guild
and event sponsors, Cask Marque.
Footnote: So why did I enjoy the Guild’s party better than
the Great British Beer Festival itself? The answer’s simple; the size. There’s
no denying GBBF is awesome - as the Americans would say, but for me the event
is just too large, and too busy.
I prefer somewhere smaller and more intimate, and the party
onboard the Tattershall Castle
was just the right size. The event afforded the opportunity to mingle and
socialise, without feeling part of some gigantic merry-go-round. It also allowed
me to taste and enjoy some stunning beers, of the sort which just wouldn’t be
available at GBBF, as they are served by non-CAMRA approved methods.
Don’t get me wrong, I think CAMRA do a fantastic job each
year in putting on this flagship festival, which showcases the very best
British cask-conditioned ales, plus some excellent beers from abroad, but these
days I prefer something a little quieter and a lot less hectic.
3 comments:
'Excess beer'?
“Excess beer”, metaphorically speaking, of course Nev!
Really glad you enjoyed the event Paul, thanks for coming!
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