Twin city beer heads for St Albans fest

Fancy beer from Worms? Then head for St Albans Beer & Cider Festival in the Alban Arena 25-28 September. Four beers from St Albans’ twin city of Worms in Germany will be available, celebrating the link between two historic cities.

Worms – pronounced “Vurmz” -- is one of Germany’s oldest cities and is most famous for the Diet or Assembly in 1521 when Martin Luther was put on trial for heresy and excommunicated, launching the Protestant Reformation. Luther refreshed himself between sessions of the trial with beer from a local brewery in the city.

A modern brewery in Worms will supply four of its beers for the annual festival staged by the South Herts branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale (below, festival organiser John Bishop). There will be a total of nine German beers at the festival, accompanied by more than 80 international bottled beers.

The 24^th annual festival offers a feast of beers from all parts of Britain. The organisers will offer 286 cask ales from 150 British breweries along with 59 bottle-conditioned beers.

The major innovation this year will be 47 “key keg” beers from 24 British breweries. The word “keg” used to be anathema to CAMRA and meant a filtered, pasteurised beer served by heavy gas pressure.

But times change. A key keg is a recyclable, light container rather than a heavy steel cask and the beers on show at the festival are all “live”, which means they contain yeast and meet CAMRA’s definition of real ale. The beers are served cool and appeal in particular to younger drinkers.

For those who prefer the fermented juice of apples and pears, there will be 34 ciders and 16 perries available, all gluten free. One important theme of the festival will be beers and ciders suitable for vegetarians and vegans that are “unfined”, meaning they are not clarified with isinglass or other animal or fish additives.

There may be beers from all round the UK and the world but there will be a strong emphasis on local beers from Hertfordshire. Mad Squirrel Brewery of Potten End will sponsor the main bar with 20 of its beers while the stage and patio areas will be sponsored by Tring Brewery with 18 beers.

McMullen, the county’s oldest brewery and still run by members of the founding family, will stage a beer-related quiz on Saturday afternoon and the winner will get a beer box with 17½ pints of Mac’s beer from Hertford.

Oakham Brewery from Peterborough, whose beers are highly rated in St Albans pubs, will sponsor the Balcony Bar with 17 of their beers. Nene Valley Brewery from Oundle in Northamptonshire will have a range of beers that are all gluten-free.

An innovation this year will be a Learn & Discover stand where CAMRA members will discuss all things beers with visitors. If you want to know how real ale is brewed, the difference between ale and lager, the role of malt and hops and the correct serving temperatures for beer, then all your questions will be answered by experts.

Beer books will be on sale including the 2020 Good Beer Guide, hot off the press. A new book on bygone pubs in Wheathampstead will also be on sale at a stand that offers T-shirts and other products and the opportunity to join CAMRA, which was founded in St Albans in 1971.

All creature comforts will be catered for. Crusty Pie Company will have its range of pies on sale, with plenty of vegetarian options, while the Little Punjab Food Company will offer delicious spicy dishes.

There will be live music on Thursday evening and Saturday lunchtime and evening.

The festival will be open every day from 11am until 11pm. For details of the complete beer range and prices go to: www.stalbansbeerfestival.org.uk/programme.

And whet your whistle for 2020, which will mark the 25^th beer St Albans beer festival. It could be quite a knees-up.

•Roger Protz will host a beer dinner on Monday 30 September at Lussmanns Restaurant in Heritage Close. Information: www.lussmanns.com.