Organising the beer list for any festival takes a lot of effort, skill, imagination and sometimes some luck that the right beer is available at the right time. There needs to be variety in styles, so something for every palate and beers that are either rare or exclusive. The Beer Ordering Team have excelled themselves this year and I’ve been pouring over the list picking out those I really want to try.
As this is the 50th anniversary of the Burton & South Derbyshire branch, three local breweries have produced special commemorative beers. I have covered ‘L’ Of A Beer from Burton Bridge Brewery in depth here, 3P’s from Woodville have brewed 50 Celebration which I am particularly looking forward to and then there is Tollgate’s Burton Five-0, a 5.0% premium bitter, their beers rarely disappoint,
There’s a proper Royal beer here too, Tower Brewery was recently visited by HRH King Charles III, who honoured the longstanding tradition of Burton Royal Ales that stretches back to 1902 with Bass King’s Ale. I know nothing about Ale To The King other than it is a 5.6% premium bitter. I believe it was served at Tower Brewery last Friday but this is the first time it is available to the wider public.
We have a first for the festival, with Burton’s newest brewery Outwoods (located under the Station Bridge, near the Roebuck Inn) supplying three firkins. Not only is this their festival debut, their beer has never been available outside of their brewery tap The Arches before! Golden Harvest, Platform No.3 and the delightfully named Fimbulvetr are all pints of history in the making.
Burton Bridge Brewery’s No Half Measures is being launched here on Thursday. This 4.5% Ruby Ale was a collaboration with Nottingham’s No Half Measures Collective and was brewed on International Women’s Day, it will also be available at Beer Debunked at the Canalhouse in Nottingham on Saturday.
There are a few interesting heritage beers: True North from Sheffield have brought Stones Bitter back to life, this beer was everywhere in the 1980s and I’ve only drank it from the striking orange can before. The Burton Bridge Brewery bar has Czar’s P2 which is based on the classic Bass P2 Stout and it has been conditioning in cask since last autumn. A little more recent and not a really heritage beer, but certainly one that seemed to be lost forever is Fownd‘s King Korvak’s Saga, this was a once staple at the Olde Royal Oak when owned by Fowne’s Brewery (note the different spellings) who went under a few years back, it is a might porter.
Sarah Hughes Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2024 winner Snowflake, makes a welcome return. It sold out quickly last year leaving many drinkers disappointed. At 8.0% it is as delicious as it is dangerous.
Carlsberg have provided a firkin of Martson’s Pedigree Reserve, a 5.0% version of their classic Burton bitter. Do I have high hopes for this? No, but will I be sampling it? Obviously, if only out of curiosity. There’s also Marston’s Old Empire, one of the beers that was discontinued recently, I’ve always enjoyed this IPA and this could well be my last chance. I wrote about the retiring of another Marston’s classic here.
Other beers on my list are Thornbridge Burton Union brewed 1838, Golden Duck’s Tinners Tipple and Nosey Parker, Gates Reservoir Gold which is always a treat, Blue Monkey’s 5.0% Cinder Toffee stout which I am told tastes just like it sounds and last but not least the two craft keg offerings from Burton’s other new brewery G3 Hazy Waves and West Side which are Gluten Free and full of flavour.
I’m be interested in what you are looking to drink and why. No doubt there will be a number of surprises to be found. The Cellar Team have been hard at work since Monday and the beer to be in excellent condition.
Enjoy the festival, I certainly will.
Great list, thanks for posting. Shame that I am out of the country for the festival. Such a shame that Leicester CAMRA didn’t celebrate their 50 years with an event.