Festival to showcase London beer revival

The rebirth of brewing in London will be in full view from 6-8 March at the London Drinker Festival at King’s Cross. The festival, run by the North London branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, will feature beer from many of the 30-plus breweries now operating in the capital.

When CAMRA was formed in the early 1970s, it dubbed London “a beer desert”. Most beer and pubs were in the hands of such brewing giants as Bass Charrington and Whitbread, while the remaining independents, Fuller’s and Young’s, were confined to small areas around their breweries in West and South-east London.

But now choice is remarkable. More and more small breweries have opened in recent years while Fuller’s is represented across the city and region. There’s a lot more to London beer these days than just a traditional pint of bitter – visitors to the festival will find golden ales, IPAs, porters, stouts and many other new and old styles available. There will also be a foreign beer bar with always-popular beers from Belgium.

The London Drinker Festival will be staged at the Camden Centre, Bidborough Street, WC1H 9AU, which is close to all three train terminuses at Euston, King’s Cross and St Pancras – it’s just over the road from St Pancras and off Euston Road.

Times are:

Wednesday 6 March and Thursday 7 March: 12-3; 5-10pm.

Friday 8 March: 12-10.30pm; last entry 10pm.

A trade session on Thursday 7 March will run from 3.30-5pm and is open for publicans, restaurateurs, beer writers and journalists. The session is sponsored by the following London breweries:

Beaver Town; Botanist; Clarence & Fredericks; Crate; The Cronx; East London Brewing; Fuller’s; Hackney; Little Brew; London Brewing Co; London Fields; Moncada; Redemption; Sambrooks, Windsor & Eton.

To get a free ticket for the trade session, which entitles visitors to a free beer, go to:

http://www.ukwineclub.org.uk/idbf-trade.html

For all other information contact festival organiser Christine Cryne on c.cryne@btinternet.com