Stevenage Beer Festival 04/02/2017

Being fairly new to the 'appreciating good beer'¹ scene, I'd not been to a beer festival until Camra decided to host one in Stevenage last year.
Also being naive because of this, my friend and I went in all guns blazing and somehow I lasted a good 8-9 hours.

This year I went in with a a tiny bit more of a plan, not so much of which beers to try (because there were A LOT and most I'd never heard of), but how I was going to manage getting through as many as possible...Thirds. Yup, this is probably fairly obvious to the initiated but pours of thirds and halves.
Yes, yes, I was an idiot last year but let's move on.

So the festival itself is located in the Gordon Craig Theatre in one of the tennis court halls. It felt bigger than last year, so much so that I thought it was held in a different hall, but alas, it was in the same room.
There are three bars, the 'Ale' cask bar with 70-80 beers, the KeyKeg bar (see info on what this is here, courtesy of Jolly Good Beer) and finally, the international bar which stocks both draught and bottles.

Here are the beers that I managed to savour:

• Hophead - Dark Star Brewing
• Black Hole Porter - Oakham Ales
• Sorachi Ace Grisette - Cloudwater
• Sünner Brauerei - Sünner Kölsch
• Amoor - Moor Beer Company
• How DIPA Is Your Love - Bexar County Brewery
• Hoppiness - Moor Beer Company
• Breakfast Stout - Founders Brewing Company

So while I'm not going to go into detail, my favourites were Cloudwater (literally smelt like rubber gloves, but tasted lovely),  and Bexar County DIPA which was dangerously drinkable at 8.3%.
However, saving best for last, both now and at the festival, Founders Breakfast Stout was fantastic! Again it was 8.3% and you could easily drink a few of these and regret it in the morning!
Disappointed to miss out on Cloudwater v11, and their Pale and Red beer, but their Grisette was surprisingly tasty even though it didn't smell it!

This festival is only a couple years old but it has already improved on its first year and has made me eager to visit on a yearly basis.
You can't fault any of the volunteers, they are all super helpful and help shape the overall atmosphere of the festival. I'd consider volunteering next year for an evening if I find myself with free time!

All in all, it's a wonderful festival. If you find yourself near Stevenage at the beginning of February in 2018, make sure you give it a go!



¹Whether it is 'craft' beer, real ale or whatever you prefer, I'm open to trying any beer but we all have our own tastes.

Introduction

Firstly, I'm a runner, or at least I'd like to call myself that when I do actually run.

I'm also a dad of 11 weeks. Let me tell you, it's the best feeling in THE WORLD, aside from the constant tiredness but that's part and parcel, right?
I'm also a beer fan with a preference for hops and Porters.
These are my favourite things so in essence, this is what you'll be reading about, or not, but that's up to you.

My personal aim for this blog is to keep memories of F, motivate myself and journal beer that I experience - variety is the spice of life, amirite?!

So a brief overview for you of recent history - 2016 started off a promising year for running, stronger and faster than I'd ever been, finally broke the 30 minute barrier at ParkRun despite having a 'bulging disc' in my back (I'd been suffering for a year in January 2016), and also managed a PB in a 10k on a scorching hot day, even with another injury!
However, in amongst these small joys I still found it hard with my back and alas, my dream of completing a Half Marathon was shattered when I became fully injured.

Time went by, then it was suddenly November and F was born, then it was Christmas and now it's February.

MEATmarket is a suitable, post race reward

Now that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (I can manage the back pain the majority of the time),  it is time to step once more into the running arena! I've taken the first steps by signing up to the gym, woohoo...

First steps are to strengthen my back, core & basically rebuild my entire left side before building back up to 10k distance.

Goals for 2017:

• Beat 1 hour - 10k
• Run ParkRun
• Get back under 30min - 5k
• ¿Complete a Half Marathon?
• Injury free ALL year
• Not ramble on too much in posts...

Almost all of these are achievable (looking at you, injuries!!) but let us take it a day at a time.

So that's the running part, now onto the beer! I'm pretty new to the craft scene and to be honest, I'm no expert so these are just my opinions (an opinion, controversial I know) but who knows, maybe one day. For now I'm just finding joy in experiencing new styles and finding my favourites...it's Beavertown and To Øl at the moment, since you asked. Go check them out.

That's all for now, thanks, and I leave you with a picture of me making friends with a Stingray.