The sincerest form of flattery

Anyone who read my recent article on beer festivals might be forgiven for thinking that it was my last word on the subject, and to a certain extent it was, but over the course of the past week, whilst out for my lunchtime walk, I noticed preparations taking place at the village pub for a beer festival of their own.

Billed as Oktoberfest, the event is timed to coincide with the start of the grand-daddy of all beer festivals, which kicks of in Munich tomorrow (22nd September), at midday. 

Of course a small-scale beer festival, held in the garden of a village pub, is nothing like the main event, but it’s good to see pubs promoting themselves in this way and it’s good to see the acknowledgment to the real thing. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The Little Brown Jug, at Chiddingstone Causeway, has been running its own Oktoberfest for quite a few years now, and the fact that the event repeats itself each year, proves the pub’s owners must be doing something right.

The beer though, is very much of the traditional English variety, rather than the strong, rich Märzen beer, brewed specially for Oktoberfest in Munich. The event at the Jug takes place over the course of a long weekend, whilst the real Oktoberfest carries on for a full two weeks.

I’m sure there will be similar events taking place at pubs, up and down the country, all paying homage in their own way to the main event in Munich, and as the Bailey family embark on a few days away, here in the UK, I expect we’ll be coming across a few such events ourselves.