Sorted. Now Roll Up

I attended my last National Winter Ales Organising Committee Meeting on Saturday. Last this festival I mean. Almost everything is arranged. Last minute snags were identified and decisions were made and we are good to go - though of course there will be more last minute hitches and more decisions needed. I spent quite a lot of time last week doing a tortuous risk assessment for Greater Manchester Police and updating our internal stuff. Others have sweated over beer orders, cider orders, what we need from HQ stores, what we have to buy locally, how we will steward the event, advertise it, get sponsorship, print tickets, discuss and agree food availability, order glasses, design signs, design the programme, order transport for goods and staff, sign up staff to work, arrange duties and a million other less obvious things. It is a giant jigsaw that has to come together by the trade session on Wednesday 18th January. With Christmas and New Year, it doesn't leave a lot of time and plenty of us will be dedicating some of that holiday time to ensuring there are no last minute problems. I for instance will be pulling some stuff together for some of the legal requirements that we have to follow, but then forgetting about it for a week or two. Hopefully.

Those of you that are interested in the beer list can find it here, with foreign beers here and real ale in a bottle here.  As always, genuine beer bloggers are considered as trade, so if you'd like trade session tickets and are a blogger, please let me know and I will arrange for them to be sent to you.

This really is a cracking festival with a great choice of beer, a friendly outlook and of course it is held in Manchester, one of the finest beer cities in the UK.  What's stopping you? See you there then.


National Winter Ales Festival: The Sheridan Suite, Oldham Rd, Manchester from 18th to 21st January 2012

Competing Priorities

In a minute or two I'm off to see Glyn of Rake fame for a pint. He is in Manchester to watch AFC Wimbledon and I am in Manchester to attend a National Winter Ales Organising Meeting. The first meeting to start organising next year in fact, so as Deputy Organiser, I couldn't really miss it.

That's why I'm not at the Beer Bloggers Conference, but I'm not letting anyone but myself down by not being there. If I didn't attend my NWAF meeting I would be.

Simples.

As is our choice of venue. The Marble Arch

The End of the Festival

The end comes suddenly, but like a resinous, hoppy beer, it finishes long. I'll be back there today and maybe after I've had a rest I can get back to some blogging. The two photos show the NWAF site about ten minutes after the last customer left.

Within that time it was transformed from the biggest bar in the UK to a mass of casks, pipes, boxes and sundry bits and pieces of beery kit. After today it will all be gone to its various homes.

And so, thankfully, will I.

Nearly Ready

Sorry for the virtual silence for the last week or so, but I've been organising a big fuck off sized beer festival. Well deputy organising it, which is quite hard enough thank you. And you know what? It's nearly ready now and most certainly will be entirely so by opening time tomorrow, which is if you are trade, 14.30 in new money. For the rest of you it is 17.00

I've mentioned highlights already here, so won't bother doing that again, but it is really something splendid. The bars are built, the beers tapped and vented and the lines cleaned. The foreign and bottled beer has been set up, the cider and perry has been graded (it isn't a subterfuge for early drinking I'm assured) and the thousand and one other jobs have been ticked off. The place is looking great.

We are ready to rock and roll, so all that is needed to really ice my cake is for you (and around 10,000 more) to be there Dear Reader. If you show up, come and say hello.

The photo shows the Champion Winter Ale contenders in their anonymous pre-judging state.

The Nervous Time

One thing about beer festivals is that once it is all set up, it tends to flow fairly smoothly. Not so in the period beforehand . It has been a very intense week with problems (they used to call them opportunities when I was at work) galore. I have been directly involved with various Health and Safety issues, design issues and even, reluctantly, pricing. Others on the Working Party that oversees the National Winter Ales Festival are in the same boat. It is quite stressful. No matter how carefully you plan there is always these two fellows, Mr Wibni and Mr Osintot making their presence felt in no uncertain manner. Who are they then? Mr Wibni (Wouldn't it be nice if...) and more commonly, Mr Osintot (Oh shit I never thought of that). I think it fair to say that the nearer you get to the beer festival, the more focused you become, with all the little things you blanked out, or put off, pouring out like water from a burst pipe. The enormity of it all and the sheer level of detail is quite daunting and the margin for error almost nil.

We start set up on Friday this week believe it or not. I can safely predict that it will be chaos at first until we get ourselves organised, but the time the paying customer gets there next Wednesday, it will hopefully all feel like a calm, ordered, well oiled (that's quite possible) machine, but underneath, those of us that are responsible for the success or failure of the whole thing, are, like ducks in a pond, paddling frantically to keep afloat.

But you know what? We will do it and we will make it a great success. Come along and see for yourself.

Fancy a Really Good Do?

Of course you do. Everyone likes a really good do, so why the heck not? There will be beer too. Lots of it. There will be 254 cask ales at this shindig, with "got to try" beers such as Liverpool Organic's Imperial Russian Stout, Wapping's Damson Stout, Adnam's Tally Ho and Thornbridge St Petersburg to keep the winter chill out and to thrill you skinny. Or maybe you'd like something pale and hoppy? Suits You Sir. So how about a splash or two of Phoenix Navvy, Lancaster Blonde, or Marble 3.9? "Something unusual" I hear you demand, so why not have a go at Amber Ales Chocolate Orange Stout, Robinson's Ginger Tom, Dunham Massey Chocolate Cherry Mild or even Hopstar Smokey Joe?

Want to try unusual breweries that you don't often come across? That's fine too, with Irwell Works, Derwent, Tunnel, Fallons and Flipside to name but a few. Want to try some fantastic British Bottled Beer? Of course you do and with beers such as Worthington White Shield, Hardknott Infra Red and Dark Matter, Durham Temptation and many more, you'd be daft not to. If it's foreign beer you'd like, this party has it too, with Belgian classics from Cantillon, Boon, Orval, Rochefort and Oud Beersel (among others), Festbiers, smoked beers, bockbiers and weizen's from Germany on tap and in bottle, draught Czech classics like Budvar and Bernard on draught, more cider and perry than you can shake a stick at and much, much more. I think you get the picture by now.

This vast cornucopia of the brewer's art will be at the National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester from the 19th to the 22nd of January. All will be sold at sensible Northern prices in a fantastic venue with great transport links, reduced price fares on the buses to and from and great food. We expect record crowds, a fantastic time and the best National Winter Ales Festival ever. It's all on the web site.

I hope to see as many bloggers and followers there as possible, so do come and do say "hello".

Can't be much more positive than THAT!

What a Success!

Looking at my blog count for January, it stands at a miserable eight. My worst ever I'm ashamed to say, but then again, I like to think I have an excuse. That bloody beer festival.

To let you into a sort of secret, when we heard that the Co-op wasn't letting out New Century House again, the future of the Winter Ales Festival in a Manchester venue was in severe doubt. The city was scoured for alternatives, with eye wateringly expensive and unsuitable alternatives being weeded out. It was getting difficult. We discovered the Sheridan Suite, firmly plonked in a pretty run down area and a mile and a bit out of town, though otherwise with a lot going for it. (Our booking took them by surprise as it is mostly used for Asian weddings.) It didn't get universal approval and caused some to spit their dummies out, but we went for it and guess what? It worked and people loved it! No-one was killed or stabbed on the way there. There was no trouble or mass invasion of scallies, just wonderfully relaxed people having a great time.

Some details. Last year's record numbers was more or less equalled in a venue that has no passing trade - you have to decide to go. The attendance was well in excess of 8000. We sold much more beer - an effective sellout - and banked more money. My abiding memory of a hugely successful Friday night was looking along Oldham Road and watching a stream of taxis queuing to deposit thirsty drinkers, while passing buses dropped off 10 or 12 each trip.

We had more seating though never enough, but happy groups sat on the floor, making their own personal space. Boak and Bailey were just such a pair. The number of young people, particularly women, who attended was gratifying and proved that "proper" beer can attract that sizeable market without gimmicks, if you create the right setting and enough choice. We had record numbers of volunteer staff from all over the country. I'm indebted to them. The venue management found it amazing that so many worked so hard for no financial reward. Me too. We signed up nearly 200 more CAMRA members, the beer was in record good nick, the food was appreciated, with the real genuine made on the premises curries going down well and though we did have the odd hiccup with the ladies toilets - surely they could cross their legs for 20 minutes while the header tanks refilled? - all was well. We even sold most of the souvenir glasses.

Will we be back? Well, we have a snagging list as long as your arm - standard for a new location - we have to look at price and any alternatives, but next year's NWAF has already been allocated to Manchester. If you weren't there, you missed a treat. Don't miss out again.

The photo shows Thwaites dray horses and handler on the Trade Session.

National Winter Ales Festival - Some Highlights

This festival is hammering its way relentlessly towards us now. Though we don't open until a week on Wednesday, the first beer deliveries will be on Friday this week. Then a lot of anxiety as we pull it all together in an unfamiliar venue and even more anxiety as we wait to see if anyone shows up. The trade session a week on Wednesday will be preceded by a small cavalcade advertising the event, with two horse drawn drays - thanks Thwaites and Robinsons and a vintage double decker bus from Wells and Youngs Brewing, which will be on site all week.

But this is about beer, so a few highlights for you:

Cask: Acorn Gorlovka Stout, Brew Dog Punk IPA, Coniston No.9 Barley Wine, Dark Star Critical Mass, Hydes 4X Strong Ale, Otley O8, Phoenix West Coast IPA, Robinson's Old, Ginger and Chocolate Tom, Holmfirth IPA, Thornbridge St Petersberg.

Foreign Draught: Bernard Dark, Andechs Spezial Hell, Augustiner Edlestoff, Beck Brau Affumikator (unfiltered smoked trippel), Keesman Herren Pils, Lowenbrau Buttenheim Bock, Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock, Vierzehnheiligen Silberbock, Uerige and Schumacher Alt.

Real Ale In A Bottle: Dunham Massey Winter Warmer, Durham Bede's Chalice, Temptation, Fullers Vintage Ale, Titanic Stout, Worthington White Shield.

Foreign Bottles: De Prael Nelis, Emelise Double IPA, Jopen Bokbier, Servatummus Winterkunninkske, Karg Weizenbock, Schneider Eisbock and Danish beers from Indslev, Orbaek, Randers, Rise and Svaneke Bryghus.
And that's just my highlights. There is so much more. If you take your beer seriously, you really NEED to be there!

All at competitive Northern prices too!

Hydes 4X

The thank you party for staff working at the National Winter Ales Festival was held at Hydes Brewery on Saturday. I didn't attend as it happens, but it was reportedly a "good do". In addition to their normal range, the brewery had kindly put on a cask of their strong 4X ale for the delectation of those attending. At 6.8%, it needs to be treated with respect.

I had invited the Head Cellarman and the Organiser to our pub on Sunday, They turned up rather late in the afternoon, with at least one of them (HC) looking a bit ragged. His first pint didn't seem to be slipping down. I asked him what was up. "Four pints of Hydes 4X on top of various other beers" was the answer. This is not to mention the three pints of Copper Dragon Pippin (each) the three of us had in the afternoon at the "wash up" meeting.

Ah well. As I said, a good do. I'm sorry I missed it.

Drunk Dry

By half past nine on Saturday night, we had been drunk dry of cask conditioned beer. There was cider and foreign beer left, but we closed the doors and got everyone out by ten. After an hour of tearing bars down and generally pulling the place apart, it no longer looked like a beer festival, more like the aftermath of a riot. A halt was called and we sat down among the debris, stunned and shattered. Then we got quietly pissed and slunk off, bit by bit to sleep. I got the night bus at 02.08. A top tip here. Do not bring a kebab on the night bus. One guy did so and his refusal to give it up resulted in a 10 minute delay while a flying squad of First Bus heavies were summoned. They gave him one chance, which when turned down, resulted in him being thrown off like a sack of potatoes, kebab and all. This is good. They should have them out during the day, but then their hands would be too full I reckon.

We had record attendance, record beer sales and unfortunately, record queues. The venue is getting too small for our needs. We signed up plenty of new members, there was excellent beer and cider and lots of very hard working volunteers. For those who believe that these events don't attract women, think again. The place was buzzing with them to a distracting level. It should be a financial success too with a bit of luck. There was over 7000 8000 customers and not one bit of trouble. The stewards did not have to ask anyone to leave, or even, as far as I know, to behave. Real ale does attract a better class of drinker. All in all, a good do.

Now I'm off to the last take down session, where we fill the very large wagon that will go back to HQ in St Albans with a lot of cooling kit, beer engines and a million and one bits and pieces. Then I can get back to normal I hope. I am looking forward to that.

The picture, from their own web site, shows New Century House.

Wrong Again

If you want to know the Champion Winter Beer of Britain, Look at Maeib's blog, not mine. It links to CAMRA HQ.

I could just delete the wrong reference and gloss over it of course, but that wouldn't be right would it?

Normal Service

Won't be resumed until next week. I'm just too knackered. Had a good day yesterday though. Numbers are up, I was a judge in the National Porters Competition with Zak Avery and four others. We agreed mostly on the line up and I don't think my palate let me down. I met plenty of nice people from the trade as well as local friends and one or two others including Dave from Dave's Beer Blog, with whom I'd have liked to talk properly.

I did make it out to the last bus, stone cold sober and we start again at twelve. Why do we do this I keep asking my self and others, but the punters seem to like it.

Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild is the Champion Winter Beer though I didn't judge that.

NWAF Update

We are getting there! A huge amount of kit and enough beer to float a battleship is now firmly ensconced in the New Century Hall, Staff have been arriving from near and far and some of us are knackered already and we haven't even opened yet. Being used to handling nines of beer, I had more or less forgotten how heavy eighteens are. I was reminded in no uncertain terms. Everyone is pitching in with both specialist and general teams meshing together. I am multi tasking like I was back at work. There is even some younger people helping us old codgers. Hooray for that.

The final touches are being put today and we are hoping for over 7000 people. The trade session is in great demand. No-one is worrying yet about getting it all back out of the hall, but hopefully, at least the damn casks won't weigh as much!

I'll try and keep in touch over how we are doing, but I can't promise. We open today at four.

Talking Bollocks

I have been. The trade session is on Thursday next week (22nd) from 13.30. Not Wednesday as I alleged.

Sorry.

National Winter Ales Festival

Did I mention here that I am Deputy Organiser for this splendid event? No? Well I am. It takes place next week from Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th at the Co-op's New Century Hall, right opposite Victoria Station in Manchester. It promises to be good. There will be lots of excellent beer, both British and Foreign, cider and lots of other interesting things including the Champion Winter Beer of Britain. I'll be judging in the Stouts and Porters section, as well as doing a million other things. My head is swimming with it already and we haven't got going yet.

I know it is in the North, but do try and come along, drink some beer and say hello.Full details are on this link

The Brewster of Huddersfield

After a particularly long National Winter Ales Festival Meeting, the Organiser, my mate Graham and his Deputy, his mate me, tottered into the Marble Arch for something pale and hoppy to wash away the taste of the Draught Bass we'd been forced to drink in the Unicorn. We - all of us - not just Graham and I, had supped them dry of Copper Dragon IPA and Golden Pippin. The new nine of Pippin lasted barely an hour. It left Draught Bass, a beer that so resembled Pedigree that it might have been a tweak of it. We choked one down and had no more.

Back in the Marble, pints of the daftly named "Pint" were procured and a mate of mine grabbed my ear. "Let me introduce you to a couple of people you'll like". The two lasses turned out to be the owners of Mallinson's Huddersfield Brewery and we sat down to find out a little more. The first surprise was that she knew of me; "you wouldn't be Tandleman?" she enquired! It seems Tara (right) and her business partner Elaine (left) are readers and liked what I wrote about their beers when I visited Huddersfield. We had a pleasant half hour with them, listening to their beer philosophy - scrupulous cleanliness and lots of hops might sum it up. They welcome critical feedback and confirmed that I should tell it as I saw it. They regard all feedback as useful.

Graham was interested in just how many breweries are run by women. Tara knows a few and Graham was able to add a couple more. He has a notion of getting a few of them together at National Winter Ales.Not a bad idea if they are all as enthusiastic as these two!


There is a handy list of outlets on the brewery's web site. They are also doing the house beer at the New Oxford in Salford. I'll report on it soon.