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A review of the event held in September
2003
The 2003 Birmingham Beer
Festival was the eighth to have been held at Aston Students Guild in Gosta
Green, Birmingham.
Once again, beers from all over the United Kingdom were on show, with the far
extremes of Scotland and Northern Ireland being well represented. The festival
prides itself in having a large number of new and unusual beers and this year's
event was no exception.
There were the now-regular novelty fruit beers from Church End Brewery, ales
from likes of Kingussie, Orkney and Fyfe, as well as the rather strong Hobdens
Wessex Russian Stoat at 9%.
Entertainment was provided on Friday Evening by 'Back In Time', who kept the
crowd on their toes, with their 50s, 60s and 70s rock 'n Roll sounds. There
were also appearances from Mick 'The Tick' Baker and his friends, whose skiffle
tunes are proving popular and the local festivals and pubs.
This year saw a fantastic range of bottled beers from around Europe, including
Stepan Razin Porter from Russia. Germany and Belgium were well represented and
it was the German darker beers which proved to be most popular.
This year's ciders had a particular emphasis on midlands producers, from
Herefordshire,
Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, but also from Wobblygob in Birmingham. There
were also a couple from the traditional cider producing areas in the West
Country.
Melbourne catering were again present at the festival, with their authentic
German Bratwurst and French crepes.
Another feature of the 2003 festival was the tasting panel for the West Midlands
Premium beer of the year. This was held on the Thursday Evening and included
CAMRA members from around the region and Colin Smith, the licensee of the newly
reopened Bartons Arms. Colin also took a shift behind the bar, which he enjoyed
immensely, apparently.
The event again proved to be a great success, despite the fact that the new
BullRing opened the same week and the holding of International football matches
on the Saturday evening. Here's hoping we have as good an event next year.
© Richard Reynolds,
September 2003
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