Festival goers Nick Sturley & Shane Gilchrist |
The organisation of GBBF is a well oiled machine and everyone knows what they are doing to produce great beers served in pristine condition ready to serve for the first day. Great credit is deserving for all of those who work so hard to make this happen, but below the surface, just like an iceberg, is all well with GBBF?
I have attended the last five consecutive GBBF's so what has changed in that time. The UK beer market has certainly changed dramatically with the influx of craft ales and pressure from other sectors such as gin and cider, but has GBBF, the showcase for cask ale moved on to address this?
CAMRA bar |
It is time for CAMRA to grasp the nettle and start to showcase craft keg beers and lagers from UK brewers, whether they are brewery conditioned or naturally conditioned. That probably means enticing these brewers themselves to showcase their beers as its as much about badge style, design and meeting the brewers as the beers themselves. Cans should also be welcomed with open arms, quite why these are frowned upon is beyond me as often these mimic a beers draught version better than a bottle.
Tiny Rebel brewers bar |
So for the future, imagine a different GBBF, an event to be proud of that truly showcases all that is best in the world in UK beers. It would feature the best of cask beers, keg and lagers from the UK. Bottled beers whether they are bottle conditioned or not and of course cans. Brewers would be welcome, the bigger regional brewers set the standards and their big brands help to keep the market robust against other sectors, but its important the event is also accessible to the smaller craft brewers as well.
St Austell Brewery Proper Job Ambassadors on trade day |
In conclusion, I am still a great fan of GBBF but I think there is a wonderful opportunity to make this it a quiet brilliant event if changes are made now. If it carries on in the current format for the next five years I fear numbers will have declined further and someone will invent another event that will take its place. Please don't let that happen, its too good to lose CAMRA.
Some spot-on insight here. It is after all the Great British *BEER* Festival not the Great British Cask Festival. Maybe part of the problem is CAMRA itself? Perhaps a rebrand to Campaign for Quality Ale (CAMQA) would help. Always a great day for us lucky Ambassadors, but I'd love to see some younger blood attending too
ReplyDeleteThx Steve, agree the bigger issue is CAMRA that needs to change as much as the festival. I like the quality theme suggestion, overcomes all the guff about naturally conditioned beer etc. Trade day was a fine day for sure though, here's to 2018!
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