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As for the festival, well done to Swindon CAMRA for putting on yet another great event. Most CAMRA run beer festivals are well oiled machines and everyone knows what they are doing and this was no different. I was also delighted to meet many old friends from the branch who all made me feel most welcome. Swindon seems to have a solid core of enthusiastic volunteers all of whom are intent on making sure both they and their festival goers have a good time.
The beer festival itself is an event for showcasing the best beers, with some music featuring in a supporting role rather than one of the main protagonists. There are over 100 beers plus ciders on show attracting in excess of 2,000 visitors across the three-day event. What Swindon do well is to limit the glass size to the half pint (lined at a third). This promotes trial of lots of different beers rather than pint glasses which can lead to problems associated with over indulgence!
The festival has changed little over the years, bar an extended food area. Yes, it would be great if they could showcase keg/craft beers as well, but I am realistic enough to know the latter bring a technical services challenge that the volunteers wont have the necessary skills or equipment to overcome. I think for many regional beer festivals, showcasing craft keg is a step too far without the support of CAMRA head office.
I attended with my day job as St Austell Brewery and we are always popular guests. Our beers for the event included well known brands like Tribute and Proper Job, along with the perennial favourite at this event, Bucket of Blood - it is Halloween of course! We always try to feature a couple of new beers and were delighted to have a wonderful beer called Dear Boy, brewed to commemorate St Austell's BLO from Cornwall, Gerry Bazin, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Dear Boy, as Gerry would refer to people, sold very well indeed and there were many requests for St Austell to bottle this or make it a permanent part of the portfolio.
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