After reading Brewdog James' Blog about his unfortunate cancellation from GBBF, it reminded me of my visit to GBBF last year.
At Hardknott we have been brewing since 2005 but as yet have not to my knowledge been put forward for any consideration for sending beer to GBBF. I have been asked by a number of people if and when Hardknott beer will be at GBBF, the answer is I don't know.
I was recently informed by a local CAMRA member that there was one man in Cumbria responsible for deciding which Cumbrian beers will go to GBBF. I tweeted about this and received numerous replies indicating that this could not be true. I have no evidence to support this either way.
At GBBF last year, shortly after arriving, I visited the Cumbrian stand to check out the beer selection. I scanned the breweries exhibiting and was greatly disappointed. There were no beers represented from some of the best Cumbrian breweries. This surely gave a poor impression of what Cumbria had to offer.
I wandered away disappointed. I headed for the BSF bar where many fellow twitterartti had gathered. I consulted the program for inspiration and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a beer was listed from a very small microbrewery. This particular brewery is set in a very small pub in a very small village in a remote area of Oregon on the most westerly coast of the USA.
What made the beer stand out to me was because we know the brewer so well. In fact Ted of the Brewers Union 180 stayed with us at The Woolpack Inn on numerous occasions. Not only did he visit us and help to brew but also bought a selection of handpulls and British pint glasses, in fact he filled a pallet of goodies to transport back to Oregon where he intended to buy a pub and set up a micro brewery.
We have since visited Ted and his pub and brewery where Hardknott Dave joined in with some brewing and made some Cumberland sausage for a Boxing Day speciality. We used to say Brewers Union 180 was like a sister pub to The Woolpack Inn and was the next best beer to find at GBBF after Hardknott.
But please can someone tell me how a firkin of beer from a small brewpub 5014 miles away from London be served at the Great BRITISH BEER Festival, when beer from Hardknott Brewery only 227 miles away, and which can be frequently found in London, but cannot be found at the GBBF?
I believe Ted's beer will be at GBBF again this year and better than that Ted will be visiting Hardknott brewery this year too to brew with Hardknott Dave. Maybe we could send some Hardknott beer to Ted in Oregon 5014 miles away and he could send send it back to GBBF for us under a pseudonym.
Perhaps the GBBF is TOO inclusive - after all, you won't be finding any British or other foreign beer at the Great American Beer Festival.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, some of the Cumbrian beers there were OK, but it certainly is true that none of the best were.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned to Ann via Twitter, this needs to be taken up with your BLO and regional director. There's no reason can see that your beer would have been overlooked but I don't like the idea its deliberate
ReplyDeleteSteve, it might be the case that toeing the CAMRA line and cow-towing to their demands for inane information like OG of every brew might well have helped. Unfortunately, whilst our current BLO is a fine chap who I have known very well for a long time, his direction from above seems very sadly directed at causing us irritation rather than building bridges.
ReplyDeleteThe fact remains that it is not just our brewery that gets overlooked. It seems you are more likely to get into GBBF if you supply low-cost, uninspired beer to Wetherspoons.
Has BrewDog ever had beer in Wetherpoons? I don't believe so, I rest my case.
Al, GABF is about good beer I believe, not dispense method.
ReplyDeleteEach year all camra active members are invited to make suggestions to the gbbf beer orderer for inclusion. It helps if you have a strong blo to lobby for you. It also helps if you have won local camra, siba or other beer festival awards. I can elaborate but better done over a pint ......
ReplyDeleteFrankly I'm surprised you haven't tackled this before. Providing you are on good terms with your BLO, that's the place to start. They can flag up your interest in appearing at GBBF. There is no mystery or hidden agenda, although the process can appear to be a little cumbersome.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't room for everyone everytime, but a newcomer such as yourself stands a better chance.
As to non-appearance of other breweries, there can be several reasons for that. I know award-winning brewers who aren't interested in the GBBF and politely refuse. Sometimes it's as mundane as not filling in the paperwork. Often, though, it's simply that small breweries cannot meet the technical demands required of them.
Dave, I know you admire Brewdog, but be wary of worshipping false idols:) They're not that different from most brewers in one crucial request: they want to sell more beer. Therefore, they do sell beer to Wetherspoons. So no GBBF conspiracy theory there:)
Yes Brewdog Edge featured in the November beer festival last year and I believe they have been in talks about trialling brewdog branded fonts in select bars, though this has been put on hold until the new brewery has been built as they just don't have teh capacity at the moment.
ReplyDeleteDidnt BrewDog produce 'Edge' for the Wetherspoons festival? Think they've been in Wetherspoons a lot.
ReplyDeleteOK, I'll have to admit I'm wrong on the Wetherspoons thing.
ReplyDeleteWoops, that was me, that is what happens when you leave someone else on your PC and they don't log out.......
ReplyDeleteWhen we contacted CAMRA about getting our beer into the GBBF we were told to ask our BLO to intercede on our behalf. We were too late for last year but four kils of one of our beers will be at the GBBF this year (and a firkin for the staff bar).
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteIf the GABF is about "good beer" then I guess we need to change our definitions and presuppositions given some of the biggest stands at the event are for Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors - not to mention that Blue Moon won the Large Brewery of the Year award.
The method of dispense thing is annoying at times, that's for sure, after all it means good brewers like Lovibonds will never be at the GBBF.
@Tyson, I think you'll find Dave has indeed tackled this subject before.
ReplyDeleteIn complete agreement with the sentiment of this post. Dave - as others have said, Edge featured in a Wetherspoons festival last year. Earlier this year I went to The Coronet on Holloway Road in London to find cask versions of Hardcore IPA, Punk IPA and - if memory serves - Alice Porter all on at the same time. No idea if this was a one-off.
ReplyDeleteBest pint of Punk IPA I ever had was in a Wetherspoons, as it happens. Three pints actually, since it was so good.
ReplyDeleteWhat's inane about wanting to know the OG of a beer?
It's really archaic to be bothering about OG these days. Most people, including Camra members, just use ABV as a guide. However, for reasons best known to themselves, the high-ups at Camra want such info. This can be a real pain as many brewers simply don't give that much detail.
ReplyDeleteFinding the OG of beers does have historic significance for CAMRA so I don't begrudge them still asking for it.
ReplyDeleteSteve and Ed Thank you for your suggestions to consult with our BLO. We did have a good BLO once and I believe we may have a good one again now. Unfortunately due to CAMRA politics we have been without a BLO for the last 2 years during our most exciting transition period from brew pub to independant brewery.
ReplyDeleteEd, I do begrudge them asking for OG in a way that suggests not doing so will inhibit selection for GBBF. Frankly, and most importantly, it could be very legitimately considered commercially sensitive information.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, OG is varied by most brewers, based on achieved attenuation, forcings to determine limit of attenuation, factors such as mouth-feel and many other issues.
I am committed to constantly improving my beer. As a result the OG figure moves as I hone in on something that I hope may one day represent perfection.
Being constantly asked for this figure by my BLO, knowing full well that the demand is being made from an officious and damaging individual further up the chain of command, does nothing to improve relations between CAMRA and brewers.
If I want the OG of my beer to be widely known I will publish that figure.
Dave - anyone who wished to could estimate your OG (pretty bloody accurately) from PG and ABV. Why anyone would want to - I dunno. CAMRA like to know it for the GBG. I don't really understand why they want it - I'm not sure that they know anymore - but why not tell your BLO if they ask? They'll only ask for your regular beers, and all you can tell them is the number you were aiming at the last time you brewed it. So it might be a little different next year - we've certainly tweaked ours - but so what?
ReplyDelete