{"id":5814,"date":"2025-09-24T11:42:46","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5814"},"modified":"2025-09-24T11:42:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:42:46","slug":"beer-festival-news-september-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/09\/24\/beer-festival-news-september-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Beer festival news -September 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pig\u2019s Ear Beer Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five! (days of fantastic beer in the heart of East London)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four! (bars serving cask, keg, foreign beers and cider)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three! (classic pub games to play)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two! (hundred(ish) beers to try)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One! (Pig\u2019s Ear beer & cider festival 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thunderpigs are go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thunderpig One calling Lady Pignelope. \u00a0International Caskbrew are scrambling to save East London from the scourge of boring beer. \u00a0Get into your pink Rolls Royce and tell your trusty chauffeur, Porker, to head for Hackney\u2019s Round Chapel from 2 to 6 December. \u00a0See the advert below or, for more information, go to www.pigsear.org.uk<\/em><\/a> or search @pigsear<\/em> on social media. \u00a0FAB: Fancy A Beer? \u00a0We certainly do.
Alex Wall<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Dulwich Beer Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2nd Dulwich Beer and Cider Festival in May went very well.\u00a0 We had a couple of extra beers on and attendance was slightly up on last year.\u00a0 We managed to sell out of both beer and cider.\u00a0 Beer of the festival was SS9 (a 9% ABV stout) by Leigh on Sea Brewery and a trip to present them with their certificate has been arranged for 6 September. \u00a0The cider of the festival was Dorset Nectar.
Andy Large<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingston Beer Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another successful Kingston Beer Festival took place in June, with over 1,350 attendees who drank 96% of the beer and all the cider.  This compares to 88% sold last year, so perhaps the later date and warmer weather encouraged people to drink more.  Our initial intention is therefore to stay with the same weekend (11 to 13 June) next year.   Judging for the Southern regional Champion Beer of Britain round for premium golden beers also took place at the festival and the winner was Surrey Hills Collusion (5.2% ABV).  We raised over \u00a31,400 for the Motor Neurone Disease charity through the sale of the late Clive Taylor\u2019s collection of beer and pub related books plus cash donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Burns<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ealing Beer Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who volunteered to staff the Ealing Beer Festival, held in Walpole Park, Ealing, from 9 to 12 July. \u00a0Without our invaluable volunteers, this festival would not have been possible. \u00a0I am delighted to share that we experienced a modest increase in attendance this year, with approximately 8,000 attendees over the four days.\u00a0 Another positive development is the noticeable increase in the time attendees spent on site. \u00a0We were just shy of reaching our site capacity limit for several hours during the busiest sessions, which was undoubtedly aided by the pleasant weather we enjoyed during the lead-up to and live days of the festival, reminiscent of the 2022 event.\u00a0 Stay tuned for updates on next year\u2019s festival.\u00a0 We are always seeking new volunteers to assist us in planning and managing the event.\u00a0 If you possess a skill set that could benefit us and wish to contribute, please don\u2019t hesitate to contact me, festivalorganiser@ebf.camra.org.uk<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>
Ben Hart<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunshine and success on the railway<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end of July saw the return of the Epping Ongar Railway\u2019s Real Ale & Cider Festival for 2025.  This year, spread across the four bars, we featured 88 cask beers, seven KeyKeg lines and a range of cider.  There was also a rhubarb mead at North Weald!  The mead (from Gosnells in Bermondsey) was especially popular with all 20 litres being sold in two hours!  By popular vote, the beer of the festival was Bishop Nick\u2019s 1555, a classic strong bitter at 4.8% ABV.  The festival space at Ongar was reconfigured and the additional covered seating space made available was much appreciated on the Sunday when a thunderstorm passed through.  The bar at North Weald saw its cask beer and cider range expanded, with an extra ten casks being added to the main marquee by the bus stop.<\/p>\n\n\n

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As ever, we were very grateful for all the help provided by members of various branches of CAMRA.\u00a0 This year, for operational reasons, trains could not operate to and from Epping Forest but this meant that there was always a train at North Weald station, providing around 200 seats close to the main marquee at all times.\u00a0 Epping Ongar Railway has penciled in 24 to 26 July 2026 for next year\u2019s festival but, if you can\u2019t wait until then, the Real Ale Train returns on Saturday 25 October, when buses will pick up outside Epping station for the short journey to North Weald where the fun of ales on the rails starts!
Alan Perryman<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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