BRISTOL CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

A couple of weeks ago I went to Bristol for the first time, to attend Bristol Craft Beer Festival on behalf of Mikkeller. I was quite excited, I had never been anywhere in England apart from London, and traveling for work was also a first. Furthermore I had only heard good things about Bristol from costumers at Mikkeller Bar and I have to say, it did not disappoint!

The journey ended up taking quite a bit longer than expected but I made the best of it and had a Kriek and a sandwich in Brussels airport before browsing the more than impressive beer selection in the taxfree. Belgiens surely love their beer!

After my 13 hour delay I was obviously behind schedule so after leaving my bag at the hotel I met up with Greg of We are BEER, Casper and Joey who worked the Festival and headed straight to Hunter& Son´s in Bath for our tap takeover there. James and his wife took great care of us and I had a chance to showcase some great Mikkeller and Warpigs beer and try Hunter and Sons Imperial stout collaboration with Dugges – Sidamo Dimtu. Big thumbs up! If you ever find yourself in bath looking for a beer or a cup of outstanding coffee be sure to stop by.

Before the festival started I headed to local Bristol brewery Moor for a quick pint. They had a really cosy taproom tucked on the side of their brewery facilities. Moor Nor Hop was a great session-able beer, perfect for a pick-me-up before having to stand up all day tapping beer myself.

As soon as the festival opened its doors we had people line up to try our brews. The crowd that showed up for Bristol Beer Festival were some of the most genuine, enthusiastic and friendly beer geeks I have met, it was awesome to have a chance to pour everyone who stopped by a beer and have a chat. What the guys from We are Beer have managed to do really well with this festival was that it was as much about hanging out and socializing as it was about having beer. Each evening people partied and danced and during the day they hung out, enjoyed the food, beer and the other people present. We were not too lucky with the weather but it didn’t matter, I didn’t see a frown the entire weekend.

On the final night of the festival Smallbar hosted an afterparty and Mikkeller tap takeover. Jack from left handed giant/smallbar was a phenomenal host, and it was great to get to hang out with all the guys from the festival one last time before headed off back to Copenhagen. And take a look at this tap list! Really cool to have all these beers on tap at the same time!!

Looking forward to next year, and thank you to everyone who came by.