On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go along to the Trade Session of The Great British Beer Festival 2018 at the Olympia in London. This year marks the 41st GBBF for CAMRA and was set to be the biggest yet. To be honest I’ve not really rushed to attend this festival as I didn’t feel it was for me. However this year I pledged to drink more cask ale as part of my New Beer Resolutions so I thought I’d give it a try.
The first thing that struck me was the sheer size of the event’s venue. The Olympia was so much bigger than I was expecting, as well as light and airy under the domed roof. Then I found myself quite overwhelmed by the number of beers available. The festival boasted featuring over 400 breweries pouring more than 1000 beers, ciders and perries. It felt like being in a sweet shop and I had no idea where I was going to start. I always thought that at this type of festival there would be a lot of perhaps 'old fashioned' traditional ales but I was wrong. There were the styles you’d expect to see like mild, golden ales and porters but as I went along the bars I found there were a few more modern takes on traditional brews. One that stood out was Melba by Thornbridge Brewery which surprised me with how peachy it tasted. The International Bar also didn't disappoint as it showcased some top breweries from Europe and America. Unfortunately the American beers were not available for the Trade Session but there was plenty of other great international beers to try!
I had the privilege of meeting some of the guys from Siren Craft Brew and congratulated them on winning Champion Beer of Britain with their Broken Dream Breakfast Stout. This was well deserved as Siren have produced so many great beers, a couple of my highlights include Limoncello IPA and more recently their collaboration beer with DEYA Brewing Company, The Sky Was Pink. I asked them what they’ll do now they’ve won CAMRA’s highest accolade and they said they will probably brew more crazy beers!
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed The Great British Beer Festival. I was concerned that it would be a bit old fashioned for me but I was impressed by the range of more modern takes on traditional ales. I wasn’t stuck for things to try and I felt that although there might have been too much choice, there were enough beer styles to suit everyone’s tastes. I think that the experience has definitely made me think differently about cask ales and I feel that it has given me more confidence to try a few more!
