Macc Fest

I manage to arrive at Macclesfield Rugby Club just as the finishing touches are being made to the marquee in the club's car park. For the next few days this will be home to the Macclesfield beer festival.

The major task once the marquee was erected was the construction of the stillage and then putting the barrels onto it - with over 150 barrels of beer and 35 pins of cider that is one tough job - I'm not sorry I missed out on that.

All the barrels were in place so there was very little for me to do but chat to Trev about the beers.

(left) Saturday lunchtime session

Keef, my host for the weekend, then arrived and we chatted further about the beer before making our way to nearby Bollington. Keef and Jill live just a hundred yards from the local CAMRA PotY 2010, the Poachers Inn, so we popped in there for a few pints and something to eat.

On Friday morning, it was time to give the barrels one final watering - the weather was quite cool but we wanted to be sure they didn't get too warm - before popping down to the Waters Green Tavern for a spot of lunch.

I'd not had any of Brian's tasty grub before the match last weekend but his steak pie was spot on (even if it isn't a proper pie). We'll have to find an excuse to come back here next season regardless that we're in the wrong division - if only so that they get their regulation dose of Lance.

Back at the festival, it was time to start checking the beers - quite an operation when you've got a fussy git like Trev as bar manager who wants to add his own tasting notes - and so we were still checking the final few beers when the festival opened.

Some interesting beers along the way included the Beartown Paddington Bear with it's strong chocolate orange overtones; Saltaire Blackberry Cascade; Townhouse GSA Extra which was a strong ale fortifed further with four bottles of port; TSA Ginger Explosion - a bit of a marmite beer; Whim Kaskade which was the pick of the pale ales, beautifully conditioned; Williams Ceilidh - a real lager and Yeovil Star Gazer.

Of the ciders and perries, the Two Trees perry from Gwynt y Ddraig was my favourite - and no doubt that of others too as this was all gone by the end of Friday night.

Less interesting were the six fruit beers from Coach House - Banoffee, Blueberry, Cherry, Pineapple, Pink Grapefruit and Strawberry - all at 5% and seemingly designed for the ladies visiting the festival. Not surprising none of them were especially subtle but they did sell surprisingly well.

One of the major considerations when running a festival is to ensure you have enough staff - and this is one area which has improved at the Macc fest - we now have enough to ensure the staff are not worked off their feet (they are volunteers after all) and the punters are not having to queue three-deep at the bar - which can happen when you have 1500 people in each night.

I was working on the stretch of bar with beers from breweries P to Y - next to the wine and cider bars - and we seem to be the first stretch of bar that people come to.

The Ceilidh took quite a hammering so after a while Trev takes it off. The Whim Kaskade then became the beer to have and so this is taken off too so as to preserve some stock for tomorrow.

After about three hours, the pace slackened off as most people started to drink a little slower and the rest of the session was quite relaxed. The bar closed at midnight and the security team ushered the punters out into the cold night air and we had time for a quick break.

Still work to be done though for the beer team - Trev, his wife Margaret, Keef and I then had to dip all the barrels to see how much beer was drunk. Using old traditional dipsticks this could be very awkward within the tight confines of the stillage but Trev has designed a measure that uses gravity to indicate how full the barrel is - surprisingly accurate and quite quick so that by 1:30am we were all finished and we're taxied home to our beds.

By the time Keef and I got back to the festival on Sat morning, the tent was all spick and span and Trev the perfectionist was busy checking the beers.

The Saturday lunchtime session has been getting more popular over recent years - not just with tickers (with rumours that Mick the Tick is in attendance) but also friends and families who come along for the chilled-out atmosphere.

John Bell has come over from Chester to see for himself - and it's not long before he has got chatting to one of the more avid beer hounds in attendance - or beer terrorist as John describes him. John used to think Colin was odd with his bottling - not any more.

(left) Former MP Nick Winterton and his successor David Rutley talk to a local voter


Also on parade is the new MP for Macclesfield - David Rutley - a Tory who has been recently parachuted into the constituency. He's been dragged along by outgoing MP Nicholas Winterton who has been a regular at these Sat sessions ever since the festival started.

Rutley is a Mormon and so is drinking water and feeling rather conspicuous as I take a few shots of him and Winterton. Let's hope he's as supportive of real ale as old Nick has been.

Once the lunchtime session is over and everyone has left, we wander out to pick up a chinese and manage to relax for a half-hour meal break before its time to dip the beers again. Trev is nothing if not thorough.

A familiar face joins us - Brian, landlord of the Waters Green, is one of the sponsors and has come up with his brother Matt and ex-ticker mate Jonesy for a pre-opening tasting.

(right) Brian, Matt and Jonesy

Brian fills me in on his plans for the pub now that he and Tracey have bought it and says they're looking forward to seeing DAFTS dropping in next season.

The evening session starts off quite busily but again we've got plenty of staff so we're not rushed off our feet. My feet are starting to ache though as apart from our meal break, I've been on them all day.

By the time we approach closing time everyone seems to have had enough to drink - and once the place is a bit quieter we make the final dipping of the barrels which is a bit quicker this time now that quite a few barrels are empty.

The once everything has been dipped, the remaining beer is tipped away. It seems sacrilege but the barrels will be taken away in the next day or so and the tent taken down within 24 hours so we get as much done as we can. Not the most glamorous of jobs.

It's 3am by the time I get to bed for just a few hours before I'm up again just after 8am for my early train back to London. I'm well and truly knackered but it has been fun.