Kmflett's Blog

Confessions of a lifelong CAMRA member at a keg beer festival

I joined the Campaign for Real Ale in 1975 (I was 18) and remain a member. I expect to be at the annual meeting in York in April.

On Thursday night taking a short walk from my Tottenham residence in Tottenham Hale I went along, with my partner Megan, to the annual Craft Beer Cares festival @lovebeerlondon. The not for profit festival raises funds for health causes.

There were a large number of beers on tap and they were all keg.

In 1975 (notwithstanding 70s Dinner Party on twitter) such an event would not have been conceived of. Keg was awful and no one wanted a Watneys Red festival.

Times change. Now there are fantastic beers available in keg, often keykeg.

The festival was busy (sold out on Thursday but I believe some tickets are available for Friday and Saturday) and the range and quality of beers was superb.

I enjoyed the Kernel’s Saison (Goldings) not least because in modern brewing traditional hops like Goldings and Fuggles are being used to brew great beers, not the dreadfully dull ones they were once associated with.

I also enjoyed several other saisons- BoxCar Rainy City was particularly good- also a very good dark sour with cherries from Brewdog Tower Hill and a Hammerton’s chocolate fudge cake stout (6.5%) that were impressive.

Lots of beards were there of course but amongst the crowd I noted some CAMRA stalwarts like myself, some serving behind the bar.

The beer times are indeed changing…

https://www.lovebeerlondon.co.uk/