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7th North Cotswold
Moreton Beer Festival Report. September 12th
to 13th 2014 |
North Cotswold Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale |
|
The North Cotswold Branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) staged the Seventh Beer Festival at Moreton in Marsh Cricket Club on the weekend of 12/13th September. This was two weeks earlier than last year due to moving the second Ale and Steam to August rather than early September. The weather was very kind to us again with close to 800 entrants to the beer tent and in addition many locals enjoying the music outside the marquee. Motor homes and caravans now outnumber the tents which were spread around the cricket field. |
^ Beer set up ready
to go ^ |
|
^ Keen staff ready to go Friday at 11am ^ |
The range of 49 beers were mainly sourced from various parts of the country as far as the Cairngorms in the Highlands including 9 local beers. We expanded the cider range as requested with 16 different Ciders mainly from Hereford with some from Devon this year. Both Beer and Cider quantities were increased following last years sell out. The beer styles included pale ale, bitters, porters, stouts and IPA. |
|
^ Expat from Exmouth meets Legless Bob ^ |
Friday opened at noon and the warm afternoon attracted good crowds who enjoyed music from Red Shift (Northleach) with local schoolgirl singer songwriter Ellen Larson supplementing the afternoon set. Evening band was the local Kinky Farnham Band with 9 members who were very well received and supported by followers. More caravans and campers arrived on Saturday to supplement the ones from Friday who were rather tired after a very late night. |
|
All beers were
still standing on Saturday lunch time though not due to lack of effort to
empty the first barrel which happened on Saturday afternoon when Great Heck’s Black Jesus at 6.5% took
the honours so we are faced with a helpers trip to North Yorkshire. Black
Jesus hails from Goole an IPA with American hops and German malt. They have
risen from 8 BB/week to 45 BB since 2008 |
^ Trade guests from Ebrington and North Cotswold Brewery ^ |
|
^ Red Shift perform Friday PM ^ |
^ N Cots Camra Polo Shirts sales ^ |
|
The winning cider was Celtic Marches Thundering Molly at 5.2% from Wallasey a medium fruity cider with a cracking barrel label. The barrels then dropped fairly regularly through to Saturday evening, but this time we held out with sufficient for the staff party who enjoyed another late night. Also sufficient stock remaining for takeaways to a line of campers on Sunday Morning. . |
^ Getting ready for
dog show ^ |
|
^ Kinky Farnham performing on Friday evening ^ |
^ Kim and Wayne from the Inn proudly front their Bar Banner ^ |
|
^ David Bates from the Mousetrap inspects our new Flag ^ |
Afternoon entertainment broke new ground with performances from No Tools Required (Hook Norton) and our Ellen. Thanks to a local builder Garry Woskett who paid for an extra half hour of No Tools who kept the afternoon going very well. Zool
performed on Saturday night as the headline act with an infusion of the usual
locals. Music to 11:30 both nights was probably half an hour later than
optimum so expect an earlier start next year since we needed to keep the beer
tent open accordingly. |
|
^ Sat afternoon crowds build up ^ |
^ Ellen Larson performs on the big stage ^ |
|
^ Cider interest has expanded ^ |
^ No Tools Required perform on Saturday afternoon ^ |
|
^ Crowds in full flow on Saturday pm ^ |
^ Regular band Zool bring the local crowds in on Sat Night ^ |
|
^ Barrel tipping in progress by Bar Manager Steve Merritt assisted by Exmouth Expert ^ |
Thanks to John Stocks our Festival coordinator for the beer selection and to Sam Price and Barbara at the Craven Arms at Brockhampton. who recommended and supplied the extra ciders including the winner. Also Steve Merrett for the Hartland ciders and some floodlights Our programme was much improved this year thanks to Phillip Ellis our Pubs Officer and GBG coordinator who with his son Domenic spent a considerable time producing it. For answers to the
Quiz questions, please click here |
|
^ Happy staff see the end in sight ^ |
^ Beer running out across the range ^ |
|
We recruited 15 new CAMRA members and on the Saturday rolled out both our 2015 Polo Shirts and Glasses sponsored by Horse and Groom Upper Oddington and the Plough at Cold Aston respectively. Thanks are due to
Moreton Cricket Club who provided the venue with support from their
staff and stewarding the car parking.
Brilliant food from Rob Walker again. Thanks to Richard and Jan Roofing for
the security and much else |
^ Staff relax late on Sat night after another
successful festival ^ |
We are very happy to report a successful event on all fronts and look forward to the Eighth Moreton Festival next year.
Report by: Roger Price, Branch
Chairman