Britain has always been famous for its ale and beer has permeated deep into our culture. So to get a glimpse of the industry by going to two beer festivals in two days was a fantastic opportunity, not only to discover some amazing new breweries but to inspire me to create some interesting brews myself.
I was invited along to The Great British Beer Festival, organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), on Saturday. I believe this is the largest British beer festival with over 900 beers on offer. Granted, they aren't all British (I'll get to that in a bit) but the vast majority come from all over the UK. On Sunday I went to the London Craft Beer Festival, which is much smaller, intimate and the complete opposite of TGBBF.
It's astonishing to see such a large number of beers yet so little diversity. I tried dozens, and some really stood out as fantastic beers, but the vast majority tasted like "English ale". The Great British Beer Festival highlighted the homogeny of traditional breweries.
I would like to reiterate my previous point that there were some great beers which stood out and by all means this is not an article about how all traditional breweries lack creativity, but it seems most are missing an opportunity to create something new.
It seems like a lot of the beers are using the same grain bills and the same hops. When I asked a barman on the stand "what hops does this beer contain?" he answered "saaz. They all have saaz". It was a bit disheartening to hear that. Brewing should be innovative and experimental, not creating a drink you've had 25 times before.
I went round trying various beers I thought might stand out from the others by reading the description, but usually they all tasted too similar: the third blonde beer of the day tasted like the first and second, they all tasted like the best bitters I sampled, which tasted awfully familiar to the IPAs.
Brewers who tried to mix New World hops with traditional brewing styles seem to be afraid to let those flavours come through. Quite often there'd be an IPA brewed with Cascade or Columbus, but it seemed they would be placed too early in the boil to really let the flavours come out.
The best beer of the day came from the small Belgian stand. I had a terrific Belgian IPA, bitter and black IPA.
I had a great day sampling beer and getting a perspective of what CAMRA, one of the biggest beer groups in Britain consider the best beer from around the country. The London Craft Beer festival was the opposite of TGBBF in almost every way. Hosted in the Oval Space, it was a much more intimate venue, possibly an eighth the size of TGBBF, yet there was more diversity in this room than the whole of that hall. Out of two dozen craft breweries, maybe two or three were from outside the UK, the rest showcased what British brewers are really capable of.
The majority of beers were pale ales and IPAs, yet with this one style there were so many variations of it. From single hopped to lemongrass, there were plenty of innovative and experimental brews by British brewers who are trying to break the norm and challenge themselves and the drinker.
I realised that a lot of the brewers present at the festival were like me: they weren't content with the homogeny of traditional ale, yet were inspired by the few which stood out and wanted to create something different. BrewDog, one of Britain's biggest craft breweries and possibly the most well known, started for this reason. As one of the first breweries in the UK's craft beer revolution their beer was considered new, exciting and innovative.
Punk IPA, their flagship beer, is now a staple beer and readily available around the UK, but is now becoming "standard". As a standard beer it's a good beer, but since its climb to fame there have been many breweries which have created more interesting IPAs, let alone the hundreds of other beer styles. At LCBF I enjoyed a lemon saison, a ginger and lime ale, beers brewed by heavy metal bands, and a wealth of nothing short of perfect beers.
I think as long as there are breweries pushing the boundaries, home brewing will be about trying to push them even further and this innovation feeds off itself. As breweries create new and interesting beers, this makes home brewers try and recreate and improve them, which in turn pushes the breweries to create something even better.
I was invited along to The Great British Beer Festival, organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), on Saturday. I believe this is the largest British beer festival with over 900 beers on offer. Granted, they aren't all British (I'll get to that in a bit) but the vast majority come from all over the UK. On Sunday I went to the London Craft Beer Festival, which is much smaller, intimate and the complete opposite of TGBBF.
It's astonishing to see such a large number of beers yet so little diversity. I tried dozens, and some really stood out as fantastic beers, but the vast majority tasted like "English ale". The Great British Beer Festival highlighted the homogeny of traditional breweries.
I would like to reiterate my previous point that there were some great beers which stood out and by all means this is not an article about how all traditional breweries lack creativity, but it seems most are missing an opportunity to create something new.
It seems like a lot of the beers are using the same grain bills and the same hops. When I asked a barman on the stand "what hops does this beer contain?" he answered "saaz. They all have saaz". It was a bit disheartening to hear that. Brewing should be innovative and experimental, not creating a drink you've had 25 times before.
I went round trying various beers I thought might stand out from the others by reading the description, but usually they all tasted too similar: the third blonde beer of the day tasted like the first and second, they all tasted like the best bitters I sampled, which tasted awfully familiar to the IPAs.
Brewers who tried to mix New World hops with traditional brewing styles seem to be afraid to let those flavours come through. Quite often there'd be an IPA brewed with Cascade or Columbus, but it seemed they would be placed too early in the boil to really let the flavours come out.
The best beer of the day came from the small Belgian stand. I had a terrific Belgian IPA, bitter and black IPA.
I had a great day sampling beer and getting a perspective of what CAMRA, one of the biggest beer groups in Britain consider the best beer from around the country. The London Craft Beer festival was the opposite of TGBBF in almost every way. Hosted in the Oval Space, it was a much more intimate venue, possibly an eighth the size of TGBBF, yet there was more diversity in this room than the whole of that hall. Out of two dozen craft breweries, maybe two or three were from outside the UK, the rest showcased what British brewers are really capable of.
The majority of beers were pale ales and IPAs, yet with this one style there were so many variations of it. From single hopped to lemongrass, there were plenty of innovative and experimental brews by British brewers who are trying to break the norm and challenge themselves and the drinker.
I realised that a lot of the brewers present at the festival were like me: they weren't content with the homogeny of traditional ale, yet were inspired by the few which stood out and wanted to create something different. BrewDog, one of Britain's biggest craft breweries and possibly the most well known, started for this reason. As one of the first breweries in the UK's craft beer revolution their beer was considered new, exciting and innovative.
Punk IPA, their flagship beer, is now a staple beer and readily available around the UK, but is now becoming "standard". As a standard beer it's a good beer, but since its climb to fame there have been many breweries which have created more interesting IPAs, let alone the hundreds of other beer styles. At LCBF I enjoyed a lemon saison, a ginger and lime ale, beers brewed by heavy metal bands, and a wealth of nothing short of perfect beers.
I think as long as there are breweries pushing the boundaries, home brewing will be about trying to push them even further and this innovation feeds off itself. As breweries create new and interesting beers, this makes home brewers try and recreate and improve them, which in turn pushes the breweries to create something even better.
