SIBA South East Beer Festival 2019 - Overview

It’s well worth reporting that the weekend’s 13^th SIBA South East Beer Festival was a most enjoyable event, and looking at the numbers of people present, especially on Saturday afternoon, I would say it was a successful festival as well.

My son and I popped down on Friday evening, where we met up with a few local CAMRA members. With a list of nearly 180 beers, there were plenty to chose from, so I made a conscious decision to stick with the dark beers (porters and stouts), for the Friday session, leaving the paler, lighter and more refreshing beers for the longer daytime session the following day.

This seemed a wise move in view of the forecast and one which was vindicated by the hot and sunny conditions which prevailed on Saturday. The latter session was also a family affair, with wife and son, wife’s niece, niece’s partner, plus assorted friends in attendance. We found ourselves a suitable spot out on the grass, close enough to the beer tent, without being bothered by too many people coming and going to re-charge their glasses.

There were plenty of other family or other social groups sitting out as well; many like us with foldable picnic chairs, blankets and picnic food to match. For those less well-prepared, there was a barbecues stand, offering burgers, hot dogs and pulled-pork baps. All in all, it was a gloriously warm and fine English summer day.

Whilst coming out of the tent, after re-filling my glass with beer, I heard the unmistakable roar of a WWII Spitfire overhead. The aircraft made several passes over the sports-ground, flying really low on the final one, before heading off to “buzz” someone else’s event. I presume it was planned, but it was a nice touch to the afternoon.

The crowds had seemed a little sparse to begin with; they were certainly quite thin on Friday evening, but by mid-afternoon there was quite a queue for glasses and tokens, and people were one or two deep at the bar.

We left just after 6pm, with one or two members of our party somewhat over-roasted. Mrs PBT’s had, as always, come prepared, but a few individuals foolishly declined my wife’s offer of Factor 30, to protect themselves from the fierceness of the sun's rays. I’m glad to say I wasn’t one of them, so was in the “smug zone” this morning.

Once again this had been an excellent festival, made more enjoyable by the company of family and friends. There were some good beers as well, plus the odd dud one. 

The ones which really stood out were: Bedlam Porter, Brumaison 1770 London Porter and Three Sods Brewery Dark Magus Milk Stout for the dark beers. The pale ones which really shone were: Bishop’s Gold and Stoke – both from Steam Town Brew Co, Reunion Ales Talwar, plus Maharajah from West Berkshire Brewery.

Look them up and see what you think, and also keep an eye out for the judges results from the competition that took place, earlier on Friday. The results aren’t on the SIBA website yet, but I expect they will be soon. They were printed out and placed on the bar at the festival, but not being a fan of such contests I wasn’t bothered one way or the other about who won.

I do know though that, like at GBBF, the cask which came out as overall winner, ran out quite quickly on Friday evening, which does demonstrate the power and kudos, that winning such awards, brings to the breweries concerned.