Reflections on GBBF 2018

Another Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) done and dusted for this year. Well done to all the CAMRA members who work so hard to put on the UK's biggest and yes, best beer festival. We should not forget that the vast majority of these people are unpaid volunteers so a big thank you goes to all of them. I was lucky enough to attend for the whole event so here are my thoughts on the good, bad and the ugly reflections for 2018. Lets start in reverse order, the ugly.

CAMRA attracted Greene King as a main sponsor and well don't both parties for the marriage. GK are perhaps the UK's largest cask ale brewer. I don't like all of their beers but respect them hugely for their efforts in promoting their cask beers and brewing consistent beers that their customers want to drink. If they invest in promoting the likes of Old Speckled Hen it helps lift the whole cask market - they are not just investing in their own beers, they are investing in the category. Why then when the GK XX Mild was announced Champion Mild was large booing heard in the main hall. If you are a CAMRA member and were part of this may you hang your head in shame. The beer was fairly judged to be the winner and as such deserved its place on the winners podium. Furthermore, you don't bite the hand of your major sponsor!

Hopefully the GK marketing team will not be put off by this ill-judged response from a minority. I for one tasted the mild and agree its a fine beer, worthy of the award.

Now for the bad. It has to be the attendance figures. I never saw the final figures but was keeping a daily track. I estimate this to be at least 5,000 down on the previous year. A very disappointing response. Its easy to blame GBBF and say its all the fault of the festival, but the facts are cask ale is having a tough time at the moment with sales significantly down so its as much a declining interest in the category. CAMRA wont be able to sustain the event at Olympia if the figures continue to decline so we all hope this trend begins to reverse next year.

It is also true other established regional food and drink festivals are struggling for attendances so GBBF may well be caught up in the same scenario.

Lets finish on the good. CAMRA are trying hard to bring a fresh look and feel to the event. The Planet Rock sponsorship was a great fit. Beer festivals have to offer more than just beer and the band line up for the Thursday seemed to attract a lot of interest. CAMRA need to take a leaf from the craft beer festivals where they have a programme of DJ sets running. It attracts younger people, its not just about the beer. The street food line up this year was also excellent, a big variety from the usual pie and pasties to Indian and Mexican. I think there were circa twenty-five food stalls so the choice was superb.

One interesting newcomer to the event was Budweiser Budvar. they were serving live tank beer, at last a lager style beer readily available. CAMRA do need to grasp the nettle here and extend and actively promote key keg, tank, craft beer, whatever you want to call it. Cask beer will always be king at this festival but the other beers attract a different customer that the festival badly needs.

A busy night on my brewery bar

Brewery bar support has been declining but this year saw significant players Greene King, Fullers and St Austell all supporting the event, plus their were interesting new comers like Thornbridge. The brewers really need to support this festival, why would you not want to showcase your brands at an event in the capital city that attracts lots of media interest with an attendance of circa 40k people? The cask market has big problems at the moment so rather than shunning such events the brewers should be actively supporting both this event and other major regional festivals and working with CAMRA. Both brewers and CAMRA want the same thing, to promote cask ale so cost/budgetary restrictions accepted, it seems a little odd that more brewers don't want to be represented.

Finally, having spent the last week at the festival on a brewery bar I can say its hard work at times, but also very rewarding with the chance to share a love of beer and pubs with lots of like minded folk. I enjoyed my week and look forward to 2019.