GBBF 2010

As the new season finally approaches, there was a week of drinking to be done at the Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court.

Normally I just take a few afternoons off work and pop down to drink with whoever has come down to London to visit the festival but this year I decided to try my hand at being a GBBF volunteer.

I opted for working the set-up weekend before the festival opened and then a couple of sessions working on the bars themselves.

I turned up bright and early on the first Saturday at 8am and after signing in, I was given a hi-vis jacket and told to go and find some work on the floor. I wandered off and found the nearest group who turned out to be Sarah Durham and her Wet Stock Control team.

This team are responsible for the arrival of the beer at the festival - first the large consolidated orders from the major beer wholesalers on articulated lorries and then later from individual brewers themselves.

(left) Setting up the Belgian & Dutch bar

The barrels are unloaded, checked off against what we're expecting and once we're happy we've got what we want, the beers are borne away by forklift to their bars.

It may not sound very exiciting but it was great fun meeting the brewers who brought their own wares. All of the wet stock team were hardened GBBF volunteers and were very welcoming to a newbie like me and it was a fun weekend.

The festival opened on Tuesday afternoon - this is trade session when all different parts of the brewing and pub industry get in for free - and I was working on the BSF (Bier Sans Frontiere) bar, specifically the Belgian and Dutch beers.

This is the bar where I've spent a lot of my time at previous GBBFs so there were quite a few familiar faces around when I turned up at 8:30am. Plenty of work to be done filling the cool cabinets with beers - mainly rearranging them to allow for the Italian beers that had turned up late.

I didn't make a great impression when I knocked a bottle of Orval out of one cabinet and it smashed all over the floor but they're a forgiving lot. I'm sure I'm not the first to have made this faux pas.

There were a few familiar beers from Holland - Ij and De Prael in bottles and draught plus three huge barrels from De Molen - plus the usual suspects from Belgium.

There were some good beers from the Italians too - the West Coast IPA was very good (Steve liked this so much he went back for more) whilst the Revelation Cat Single Hop Lambic divided opinion although the geuze-hounds I know really enjoyed it.

And when the festival opened I met quite a few familiar faces - Steve, landlord of the Pembury Tavern; Evin from the Kerney brewery; James Brodie from Brodies beers and Steve Freer, occasional Darlo fan and publisher of the Tynemill Times.

(right) The three huge barrels from De Molen

I also got to meet Tandleman, one of my favourite beer bloggers, who was working on the German bar of BSF. A nice chap, it was good to finally put a name to a face.

In the evening the public were allowed in so Liz joined me from the other side of the bar whilst she waited for various London Millers.

I was at the festival next day too but that as a punter - Steve had come up from Cardiff and had bagged a couple of seats as I joined him for a steady afternoon of drinking.

Steve and I were back the following day - I was working again whilst he continued from where he left off the previous night.

By this time, we all knew that Castle Rock Harvest Pale had been crowned Champion Beer of Britain - a beer well known to quite a few of DAFTS from our visits to the VAT & Fiddle in recent seasons.

Not the most complex or ground-breaking beer in the worked but it is a very good, consistent session beer and from that perspective as good a winner as any in recent years.

Later in the day I met Trevor, my chum from the Macclesfield festival, and I helped him to try out a few beers with a view to next year's beer list. Unfortunately he went to the loo and lost his notes which rather spoilt his day and so he trudged off disconsolately for his train home.

(above) Punters and Pints

I was left chatting to Dave, one of the brewers from Kinver Brewery, who was down for a few drinks. Coincidentally we had been drinking his beers when we met him - and very good they were.

And then it was all over for me too. The volunteering really enhanced my enjoyment of the festival and gave me a greater insight into the scale of the organisation behind it and the number of volunteers who make it all possible.

I'll be back to do my bit again next year...

GBBF 2009....

...is now over for another year.

As it traditional at this time of year, I've spent three afternoons at the Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court - apparently the biggest pub in the world if you believe the adverts.

The first session was Tuesday afternoon - the trade session, fewer members of the public but more of the brewing trade and the beer press/bloggerage fraternity - and I had fully intended to just spend a couple of hours wandering round, trying the odd beer and taking it easy.

However it transpired I spent most of the afternoon leaning against the foreign beer bar, chatting to other enthusiasts and barstaff as well as trying a variety of great beers, my favourites including :

- Heintje from the De Prael brewery - a steady wheat beer from the Amsterdam brewery and a great first beer of the day - a shame they didn't bring their Johnny as well though

- Foederbier from Bockor (Belgium) - a lambic beer not normally available in this form as it is used as a base for Bockor's other brews such as the Jacobins fruit beers - very tart but quite soft

- Bloed, Zweet & Tranen (Blood, Sweat & Tears) from the De Molen brewery in Holland - a smokey, stout-like beer - at 8% it's a good sipping beer

(left) Takeaway beers

- Woodwork Series beers from Revelation Cat (Italy) - this is a combination of New Zealand hops, Munich malts, and champagne yeast - there are four versions based on the barrel used (French Bordeaux, US, acacia or local wood).

These and a few more decent brews meant I left an hour or two later than planned - I woke up at Barking tube station, a few stops further on from home than I would have liked and had to double back. Still, that's a good day in my book.

On Wednesday I meet up with Richard, my old chum from Northallerton, plus occasional DAFTS compatriot and fellow football/beer enthusiast, Geoff Luke and his mates.

During the day I bought a wonderful book which was being launched at the GBBF - Played At The Pub is produced by the Played In Britain team who aim to document the sporting heritage of this country and who have produced some wonderful books on football stadia, lidos and specific books on sporting venues in places such as Manchester and Birmingham.

From a brief skim though it, it looks to be a cracking read and includes a few pages on Darlington Quoits club. The author, Arthur Taylor, was there to sign it too.

Also in attendance was Simon Inglis, perhaps best know to football fans for his seminal book, The Football Grounds of Britain, but who is the series editor for Played In Britain. Simon and his partner Jackie once visited Feethams, one of his favourite grounds, where Simon gave a talk and it was good to catch up with them both.

Later in the day we were joined by Liz - spoilt for choice at the massive cider stall - and then a horde of London Millers descended upon us, keen for beer.

(left) Richard and Liz

As we were sat near the North East bar I spent most of my time drinking beers from there - most of them I've tried in the Quaker House before but all worth drinking again. No chance of a dodgy beer here!

Quite predictably, London Miller Paul Martin rushed off to what he called the CAMRA Crap shop - one of those stalls selling glasses, beer towels and the like - so that he could add to his never-ending collection of pewter tankards (assuming he can sneak it past the memsahib).

(right) Paul Martin can't resist the lure of pewter

The Thursday afternoon session was a slightly more sedate affair - I met up as usual with Trevor, my mate from the Macc festival, and the usual posse of folks who all meet up on this day.

Also in attendance was Robert, Liz's younger bro and one of the western London Millers, who comes along as part of the Gloucester CAMRA mob.

Later on, I bumped into a couple of folk from Darlington CAMRA, Nick and Brendan, by Bar Nouveau. Brendan was able to give me the good news that the Quaker House is no longer for sale and is in safe hands. Excellent!

A pleasant afternoon's drinking and chatting but I must be getting old as by 4:30pm I was looking forward to getting home and having the remnants of Tuesday night's curry.

Still, it was an enjoyable three days and I'm sure I'll be back next year (not difficult when I work in Hammersmith though). After all, it is the perfect way to prepare for the opening day of the season.

Played At the Pub cover image used with permission