As Summer gives way to
Autumn we enter the UK's beer festival season where week after week
events of various sizes spring up; each set in an eclectic variety of
locations from grand halls to sports halls, rugby clubs to church
crypts.
This August bank
holiday the Wirral was fortunate to pay host to two such events.
Wallasey Cricket Club hosted their Cricket, Beer & Entertainment
festival in association with
Ship and Mitre and Hoylake Beer Festival
returned for it's third successive year. This is my round-up of both
festivals.
 |
| Beer festival glass and program |
Wallasey Cricket Club
Friday evening saw me
catch a bus over to Wallasey where after a short walk up
a fairly steep hill and I found myself at Wallasey Cricket Club.
Tickets were collected at the gate and entry was quick and easy. Heading towards the boundary I passed a fast food van offering the
usual selection of burgers, fish and chips. Next to them was
the ever popular local beer festival staple Peninsular Pies.
Strolling over to the
beer tent just a short walk from the pavilion my anticipation was rising.
I'd enjoyed both of the Ship and Mitre's previous Wirral Beer Festival
in Hulme Hall and my expectations were undoubtedly high. Also, in the
run up I'd read that this was to be a 100 beer festival, the larger
of the bank holiday weekend's two festivals.
 |
| Wallasey Cricket Club Pavillion |
Beer was exchanged for cash with refreshingly no sign of beer vouchers.
Melwood provided a hoppy new cask beer called First Test, alongside Bootleg #2 their new keg beer.
Facers provided the
appropriately named Howzat and these stood alongside other
popular brews from the likes of
Brimstage,
Liverpool Organic &
Liverpool Craft Brewery. Kegged lagers & ciders finished the bar and these were topped up with a selection bottled beers.
Disappointingly, only
around 20% of the 100 advertised beers and ciders were available from
cask and keg with the other 80% comprising of chilled bottles. Even
more disappointingly, very few beers were new, with the majority
being similar to those already sold in the Ship and Mitre pub. I was
not the only person to comment on this.
 |
| Ship and Mitre beer tent at dusk. |
That said, with the majority of live sporting events usually offering a
relatively small choice of mass produced national beer, it was really
refreshing to have a large choice of UK and European beers to sample. I really did not expect was just how nice it was to sit in the sun and watch a
game of 20/20 cricket with a good beer. I've always fancied the idea yet somehow never
found time to try, but this is something that I would defiantly do
again
I caught up with Ben
from Ship and Mitre, who commented that the event was never intended
to be a beer festival, but a cricket festival with entertainment and
a beer tent and this is very much what I had already come to realize.
While I probably wouldn't have made a special trip exclusively for
the beer on offer, I stayed for the fantastic combination and enjoyed
myself immensely.
My evening rounded up
with a bottle of
Chimay White, a cheese and onion peninsular pastey and
a pint of
Kaltenberg lager after which I toddled off with a smile on my
face to sample the pubs in Liscard.
Nearly all my negative
experiences of the day result from one thing, the
advertisement. If this (as well as the signage to the toilets) were
improved then this could be a superb way to spend your bank holiday.
What more do you really want than sun, good beer & live sport!
Saturday afternoon saw
me heading over to Hoylake Beer Festival. Sadly neither my vast
hat collection or I were working this year however I really wanted to support them from the paying side of the bar.
This year's festival
saw a slight decrease in the amount of beer being offered down from
last years 80 to a more realistic 65. This freed up space the bar would have used and
left the beer hall feeling considerably more open, allowing easier
access.
There is a certain
charm to smaller beer festivals. The number of tickets often being
limited by smaller capacity, quirky locations seems to help them
generate a more laid back and welcoming atmosphere, especially when
paired with a good selection of beers.
 |
| The main hall at Hoylake Beer Festival |
Hoylake beer festival
is certainly no exception to this rule. Set on Hoylake promenade in
the
Parade School which after it's closure in 1988 (and a brief
period being home to the local pigeons) was transformed into a
Community Centre. The beer festival takes over the majority of the
ground floor of this two story building. The three main rooms allow
for a different ambiance in each. The main hall has plenty of seating
and also held the cider and Peerless bar as well as the entertainment. The
main bar was in an adjacent room and there was also an third
additional quiet room in the centres coffee shop which also doubled
as the festivals Wine bar. Additional seating was provided outside
next to the hot food which this year was provided by
Pen-y-lanPork with vegetarian options also being available (even if they were
not advertised in any of the media)
The beer selection was
well balanced with plenty on offer for all tastes. I overheard a few
people questioning the temperature of the beer however I found the
beers to be in good condition and full of favour. There were a couple of last
minute changes with
Wylem's Angel making an unexpected appearance. Another nice addition was a small selection of unfined beers..
 |
| The beers at Hoylake Beer Festival |
Beer vouchers came by
trading in £12 for 8 halves with smaller denominations also
available. Each half a pint of beer or cider cost a single voucher
regardless of strength. This is by far one of the easiest approaches
to costing as lower ABV beers help cover the cost of higher ones.
Wine was also available and cost two tokens per large glass.
The beer
selection gave plenty of choice for both beer tickers as well as
those who enjoy more recognised brands. There were débuts for two
new local breweries
Deva (Chester) and
Neptune (Maghull, Liverpool)alongside firm festival favourites. Birkenhead's
Peerless Brewing Company
once again sponsored the event and ran their own bar offering the
likes of Peninsula IPA re-brewed specifically for the festival as
well as Storr, their recently kegged lager.
One other significant
change this year was the lack of a Saturday afternoon session. The
decision to open for a longer evening session probably helped stagger
the arrival of paying customers with some choosing to come and finish
early, while others dance and drank the night away. This year also saw a change in the
entertainment with the
Wreckless Elbow being replaced with
The Oil Chickens. The lack of the metal portable toilets was also a
significant improvement, especially for those choosing to sit outside!
As I headed off to some
local pubs with the Wirral skyline stained sky pink, I thought back
to the previous Hoylake beer festivals and how this years
event compared. The layout was spot-on as it allowed easy
movement yet still offered plenty of seating. The number of beers were just about right, as was the offered choice. There could have been a little more choice outside
including other food vendors. I also can't help but wonder whether
there could be room for a small craft keg section as well in the
future.....
 |
| Hoylake Parade approaching sunset |
Needless to say that I
will be back again next year and who knows, maybe my hats will make a
reappearance, though I do hope next years t-shirts aren't orange!
In summary
I'll admit that I was
apprehensive after hearing that Wallasey Cricket Club was hosting an
event over the same weekend (and just under 6 miles) from the already
established Hoylake Beer Festival that both festivals would be targeting the same patrons. Visiting both I think that it's fair to
say that they ultimately would probably appeal to different people.
Though it was really enjoyable to sample some great beers while watching a game of cricket, the Wallasey event simply lacked enough new beer to appeal to the beer tickers that frequent beer festivals. Hoylake on the other hand not only offered a much broader range, but crucially provided clearer advertisement prior to the event. You were also considerably less likely to be injured by an unfortunately placed six!
One thing that is
clear, with several large
festivals running annually, beer demand appears to be increasing on the Wirral. It's fantastic that these events are well supported and that Charities are able to benefit without resorting to abstinence.
Next up?
Ship &Mitre's Wirral Beer Festival in November!
Acknowledgements
Thanks to @djmccahill for reporting an error with the band. I had incorrectly stated that the Loose Moose String Band were former headliners, when it was actually Wreckless Elbow
disclaimer:
All links and information was correct at the time of publishing. If you notice anything incorrect, please let me know and I'll correct it. All photos included were taken by myself.
