One of the most annoying things about music festivals (aside from the ticket price) is the lack of any decent beer. At Glastonbury this year I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of cask ale outlets across the festival site, certainly an increase on the previous Glastonburys I had been to.
In addition to Otter Avalon Ale and Otter Avalon Bitter being available on most bars there were some bars focussing on real ales. The Cockmill bar in the Acoustic field hosted a mini beer festival over the weekend with offerings from Otter, Glastonbury Ales, Cheddar Ales, Butcombe Mendip Spring and Wychwood Hobgoblin ranging from £3.50 to £4.00 a pint. All were kept in good condition for the duration of the festival. There were also to be “meet the brewer” sessions arranged though I didn’t make it along to any of these.
I was also pleased to stumble across the St Austell Bar in the Left Field. Here Tribute and Proper Job were available on tap, alongside their brand new Trelawny Ale which is a copper coloured session ale with plenty of Galaxy hop peach character. Would definitely drink it again if I see it on tap.
Obviously the Burrow Hill Cider Bus remained in its usual spot by the pyramid stage and some Thatcher’s ciders were also on draught in the Bimble Inn in the Park Field. Being an Oxfam Steward I was lucky enough to have access to Butcombe Bitter (a favourite of mine) and Weston’s Scrumpy on draught at £3 and £2.70 a pint respectively.
Overall I was pleased with the increased availability of cask ale at the festival which reflects the increasing interest in cask ale and local provenance currently sweeping the country. If other festivals follow suit it can only be a good thing.
I haven't noticed much difference in the availability of decent beer at Glastonbury since I first went in 2007. I do like the Otter beers they had this year more than the Woodfordes Wherry they had a few years ago though.
ReplyDeleteI went to Camp Bestival a few years ago, and they had two bars. One of them sold canned John Smiths for £4 a can, the other sold decent local beers for £3.50 a pint.
Did you find the St Austell bar?
ReplyDeleteYes, but didn't try it. It was never the nearest bar to me when I wanted a beer and I'm not enough of a St Austell fan to go there specially (Proper Job is a nice pint, I'm not keen on the others).
ReplyDeleteIf I'd known they had a beer I hadn't tried before I'd have made the effort. I'll look out for Trelawny next time I'm down in the south west.