Latest news with #beerfestival
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Commemorative Banks's beer a 'thank you' to city
The makers of Banks's beers have said a specially-brewed IPA will be a "fitting tribute that honour the brewery's legacy". Its brewery in Wolverhampton will cease operations in the autumn, after 150 years, with production moving to Burton-upon-Trent. Carlsberg Britvic said its Sesquicentennial IPA would be available exclusively at the Wolverhampton Beer Festival from 24 to 26 July. Julie Gale, senior production manager at Banks's, said: "This is a thank you to our drinkers, publicans, fellow brewers, our amazing, dedicated team at Banks's and everyone who's supported the brewery over the years." Banks's Brewery opened in 1875, but last October the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company announced it would close as part of a company restructuring. The brewery has had a close relationship with Camra's Wolverhampton Beer Festival since it started in 1977 and has a history of supplying limited-edition beers. It described the anniversary beer as "dry hopped with Ahtanum, from Washington State, USA, and the new English variety, Opus, the beer has a bold floral aroma, with vivid flavours of orange and grapefruit citrus along with fragrant elderflower and subtle herbal hints." Ms Gale, who led the team brewing the Sesquicentennial IPA, said Banks's beers had "become a symbol of craft, heritage and local pride". She added: "We're incredibly proud of what this brewery has stood for over the past 150 years, and we couldn't think of a better stage than the Wolverhampton Beer Festival to share this beer with the community." Carlsberg Britvic also said it was working with local stakeholders to preserve items from the brewery. They include the brewing ledgers, which will be entrusted to the Wolverhampton Archives, along with other documents. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. More on this story Mystery beer to bring cheers as Banks's bows out Drinks giant first occupier of huge logistics hub Banks's Mild and Bombardier among ales axed by brewer Banks's Brewery set to close in its 150th year Related internet links Banks's
BBC News
14 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Commemorative Banks's beer a 'thank you' to Wolverhampton
The makers of Banks's beers have said a specially-brewed IPA will be a "fitting tribute that honour the brewery's legacy".Its brewery in Wolverhampton will cease operations in the autumn, after 150 years, with production moving to Britvic said its Sesquicentennial IPA would be available exclusively at the Wolverhampton Beer Festival from 24 to 26 Gale, senior production manager at Banks's, said: "This is a thank you to our drinkers, publicans, fellow brewers, our amazing, dedicated team at Banks's and everyone who's supported the brewery over the years." Banks's Brewery opened in 1875, but last October the Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company announced it would close as part of a company brewery has had a close relationship with Camra's Wolverhampton Beer Festival since it started in 1977 and has a history of supplying limited-edition described the anniversary beer as "dry hopped with Ahtanum, from Washington State, USA, and the new English variety, Opus, the beer has a bold floral aroma, with vivid flavours of orange and grapefruit citrus along with fragrant elderflower and subtle herbal hints." Ms Gale, who led the team brewing the Sesquicentennial IPA, said Banks's beers had "become a symbol of craft, heritage and local pride". She added: "We're incredibly proud of what this brewery has stood for over the past 150 years, and we couldn't think of a better stage than the Wolverhampton Beer Festival to share this beer with the community."Carlsberg Britvic also said it was working with local stakeholders to preserve items from the include the brewing ledgers, which will be entrusted to the Wolverhampton Archives, along with other documents. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
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Neve Gordon-Farleigh BBC News, Norfolk Reuters The annual beer festival has been held at The Halls for about 45 years An annual beer festival has announced it will relocate its festivities while the venue it has used for about 45 years underwent renovation works. The Norwich Beer Festival has run for more than 50 years and it has previously been held at The Halls, in the city. The organisers said it will take place at a number of different venues this year, with the dates and locations to be announced. Craig Harmer, the festival's organiser, said: "We know how important the Norwich Beer Festival is to the local community, whilst we're disappointed that the refurbishment of The Halls in Norwich will not be complete, we're excited to announce that the festival will continue." While the event usually takes place from 27 October to 1 November, this year it will run at an alternative date. Mr Harmer said the festival typically takes up the whole of The Halls. Works to The Halls were due to be completed in April The Halls in Norwich is made up of St Andrews and Blackfriars Halls and closed at the beginning of 2023 to allow for works to be carried out. The building was due to reopen in April. The 14th Century building required structural repairs to its roof and windows, improvements to make the site into an arts venue and electrical upgrades. A survey of the building showed moisture had built up in the roof's timber after plastic sheeting was installed about 80-100 years ago. Mr Harmer said organisers of the festival were told in 2022 that the traditional venue would need to close. He said: "It's all about supporting the pubs and the breweries... this year we are planning to incorporate everything. "It's certainly made a difference... we have to find places and build it from scratch and see what happens." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Related internet links
Forbes
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Why Small Beer Festivals Are Thriving
The Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival features rare beers from a carefully curated list of the world's best breweries. Firestone Walker Brewing Company Beer festivals are a great way for beer lovers to sample many beers in one place. Often, such festivals offer beers not otherwise available in the local market which makes them a draw for even the most seasoned beer lover. For a time, the biggest beer festivals were the biggest draw. More beer. More people. More fun. But that seems to be changing. For the 2024 edition of the Great American Beer Festival, the largest ticketed beer festival in America, the Brewers Association, which hosts the event, rolled out a significantly revamped format—for the first time since its inception in 1982. Among the changes to the event, which is held annually in Denver, CO, the number of sessions was reduced from four to three. In its heyday, tickets for the Great American Beer Festival would sell out in minutes. But in response to slower ticket sales, the Brewers Association eliminated one session, significantly reducing the number of tickets available, while at the same time introducing theme areas with more varied forms of entertainment. It is too early to tell whether the changes will revive the Great American Beer Festival, but other 'Great' festivals are also struggling. The Great Canadian Beer Festival has been cancelled for 2025 while the Great British Beer Festival returns in a new venue 2025—in Birmingham, England—after being cancelled for 2024—having been held for 34 years in London. Reports are that attendance has been shrinking in recent years. But reports of the death of beer festivals may be premature. Across the country, smaller, more focused beer festivals continue to sell out, satisfying the beer drinking public's thirst for sampling beers. 'I asked myself, 'What would be the perfect beer festival?'' said Matt Brynildson, brewmaster at Firestone Walker Brewing Company via video call. Firestone Walker hosts the annual Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival in its hometown of Paso Robles, California. 'I'd call up the best brewmasters of the world. We'd bring in the best beer, sent by air freight to ensure it is fresh and brewmasters would be there, so drinkers could meet the maker,' said Brynildson. 'And we would have wonderful food and world-class music.' The first Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival was held in 2012. It sold out in minutes then and now, about 3,500 tickets per year continue to sell out in minutes. 'We have a lot of wine-savvy consumers in Paso Robles,' said Brynildson. 'They have high expectations in their food and beverage experiences, so we have to set the bar high.' By keeping the beer festival small, Brynildson says ticketholders are given a better experience. The festival is built on the back of the relationships Brynildson has built during his brewing career and he knows the breweries he invites make great beer. Curation is the key. On the other side of the country, Good Word Brewing hosts three, small annual festivals in Duluth, Georgia, more or less 40 minutes from Atlanta. The city of 32,000 people has an open container zone within which people can drink alcohol in public spaces. That includes the town green, making it the perfect location for a beer festival. 'I created an event for brewers,' said Todd DiMatteo, owner and head brewer at Good Word, via telephone. 'Bigger festivals don't have the same feeling. They all become the same old, run-of-the-mill events with lots of breweries, mediocre food and maybe some band in the corner.' 'I attend a lot of festivals and a lot feel cookie cutter,' he says. 'So I wanted to create something totally different—something that feels fresh.' Good Word now organizes three festivals each with a theme and each with a curated list of invited breweries. According to DiMatteo, the more focused beer list draws a more interested consumer who is actually interested in tasting the nuances of each beer, rather than just trying to taste as many beers as possible. Having the event on the town green also means the festival goers can bring their families. There was a time when craft beer was a novelty and so was trying them amongst fellow beer lovers. But as the craft beer industry has matured, so have its drinkers. Awash in beer from almost 10,000 breweries in America, craft beer lovers have become more discerning and the curated offerings and more intimate settings of smaller beer festivals seem to be resonating with them. Here are seven small beer festivals worth visiting: About 70 of the best breweries from around the world present their beers each year at the Paso Robles Event Center, at the end of May or beginning of June. As a condition of invitation to the festival, breweries must have a brewer in attendance to answer questions and explain their beers. Consumers' choice awards, one for beer and one for food, ensure exhibiting breweries and restaurants bring their A game. 'Breweries bring something extra special to try to win the award,' says Brynildson. Ironically, Little Beer is the largest of these three annual beer festival hosted by Good Word Brewing in Duluth. Little Beer is a celebration of lower-alcohol beer held in April each year. Each of 80 to 90 brewers offers beers less than 5% ABV to 500 ticket holders. The outdoor festival is held in Duluth's town square, making it a family-friendly event. Le Bon is a celebration of saison and oysters held next to Good Word Brewing, in September. A dozen and a half breweries offer their finest saison to be paired with oysters supplied by famed shuckers. Mighty Fine Fest, a celebration of west coast IPA, is debuting in June 2025. About 50 breweries will have their hoppiest beers available and will help make Duluth the beer festival capital of America. Since 2009, the Denver Rare Beer Tasting has, as the name implies, served rare beers from some of America's most-respected breweries. Limited to 450 tickets at $200 each, the festival is held each year on the Thursday of the weekend of the Great American Beer Festival, in October each year. Brewers are in attendance to answer questions and proceeds support Pints For Prostates, a 501(c)3 non-profit charity established to raise awareness about prostate cancer, particularly within the beer community. FOBAB is held each year in Chicago, typically on a weekend early in November. The festival primarily pours beers that have been aged on wood or in barrels, ranging from strong, high-ABV imperial stouts and barley wines, to more moderate, but sour and funky barrel-aged sour beers. The festival awards the best barrel-aged beers in multiple categories. Recent editions of FOBAB have added a lager lounge and a non-alcoholic area to offer palates a refresh between the hundreds of palate-wrecking beers. Alaska is not always cold. But it certainly is in January. The Alaska Craft Beer & Barley Wine Festival is held in January each year in Anchorage to spread liquid sunshine during the dark winter. With an emphasis on strong, rich barley wines, the festival keeps festival goers warm as the enjoy local food and live music.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Lincoln Beer Festival downsizes amid shift in drinking habits
A city's beer festival has moved to a smaller venue blaming falling attendances and a major shift in drinking Lincoln Beer Festival has relocated to Southside, a former church on Colegrave Street, for its 43rd year and will run from Thursday until Mark Richards said the change reflected the shift in drinking behaviours, with people going out earlier and fewer younger people socialising since the pandemic."The younger generations in their 20s aren't really going out late at night so there is a lack of footfall in pubs and venues throughout the country in that," he said. The three-day event, offering beers, real ales and alcohol-free options, was previously held at The Drill on Free School Richards said it was "a great shame to leave" but said the festival had to "adjust" to changes in society."We've had to make the decision [to change venues] because our footfall reduced as a result of that," he said. Michael Thurlby, who owns three pubs in Stamford, had also noticed a change in people's drinking habits. "We've had to adapt the hours and the style of our businesses to offer what people want today and not what they wanted 20 years ago," he pub landlord added people were opting for a healthier living by going out earlier with family and drinking more alcohol-free believed attitudes shifted as a result of the 2007 smoking ban and the coronavirus pandemic. The BBC spoke to members of the public about their drinking habits. Bowen Jones, 19, was sat in a pub with a pint of apple juice. He said: "I've never drank, I just don't like the taste of alcohol."Mr Jones said he went out the night before until 04:00 BST, did not drink alcohol, then drove home. "People don't go to the pub so much like my parents used to do," he Jones' friend, Oliver De'ath, 18, said he only drinks on special occasions."I don't really see the enjoyment in it. Sometimes we go out for food instead, I go to the gym. I think it is more socially acceptable [not to drink]," Mr De'ath said. By starting at noon and offering alcohol-free options, organisers hoped to reflect changing drinking event, sponsored by Lincoln CAMRA, will run until 23:00 BST on Thursday and Friday and until 21:00 BST on Saturday. Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
