Kmflett's Blog

I spent a good deal of Tuesday at the opening sessions of the Great British Beer Festival organised by the Campaign for Real Ale at Olympia.

Its a vast and very well organised event but that doesnt mean it can just go on in perpetuity. Times change.

I was at the Covent Garden Beer Exhibition in 1975 as a young beard wearer delighted to try beers that you didnt see in London then like Ruddles County (at OG 1050) Courage Directors and so on. I also recall eating Stilton cheese and bread, again, not something much seen in London then.

Ive been at every GBBF (bar one) since and aged 62 I have memories. My late father used to attend and my partner Megan attended first with me in 1995.

But it cant just be about past glories. The pressure for the GBBF to change from presenting lots of perfectly drinkable but rather dull cask beers of a golden or brown type has been there for a bit. The transformation project which aimed to bring CAMRA firmly into 2019 rather than 1975 has done its work.

This year there is an extensive keykeg offering in the smaller hall. There are bars from Tiny Rebel, Siren and Magic Rock and a separate bar adjacent which has a further range of keykeg offerings.

There are also lots of empty keykegs around some forming a barrier around seating areas. CAMRA members some even older than me were to be seen prodding them and I heard one or two muttering ‘its not real ale’. Perhaps just try drinking some and worry less about the doctrinal issues…

Cask too I’m pleased to report has kept up and there are plenty of excellent, what might be described as, modern cask beer styles on offer. I enjoyed a Belgian Pale from Anspach and Hobday and a DDH pale from Beatznik Republic for example.

Myself and a few other grumpy old gits aside it also seemed younger and more gender balanced. Work in progress but it is occurring.

The very best bit of the visit? The marmite pickled egg from the Purely Pickled Egg stand. It was superbly marmitey….

Anyway hats off to the organisers and its best to keep in mind that while things have changed paying a visit to Olympia underlines that its worth keeping on with it.