With that being said, I hadn't planned on visiting two different beer festivals in 2 days in 2 quite different places. Following an invitation to celebrate the fact that I will soon be employed again, it was deemed necessary to make the journey to the annual beer festival at The White Lion in the Derbyshire village of Sawley. 
sits at the point of convergence of the rivers Trent and Derwent and The White Lion is at the heart of this small but thoroughly pleasant village. A whitewashed front façade gives way to a twin bar layout interior, with a bar on either side of the main entrance, separated by a wooden partition and the back bar display itself. The interior is wooden, with a few round tables and plain wooden chairs. The walls are decorated with photos of the local area and a couple of pieces of artwork from the Romantic era. To the rear is a gravelled patio style area with hexagonal picnic tables and substantial room to accommodate a small car park. A small stage had been set up in order to provide the festival with entertainment from a variety of local bands. Each of the 2 bars inside has 4 hand pulls, the only regular being Bass. One side contains 3 beers from Hartshorns whilst the other includes 2 beers from each of Dancing Duck and Blue Monkey. These beers are all part of the festival, with the rest set up on a racking system in the upstairs function. Great pains have been made to ensure that all the beers available are local in origin and the food being sold in the car park is all sourced locally. The weather could not be better for the festival and the rest of the beers come respectively from Lincoln Green, Brunswick, Navigation, Mallard, Muirhouse and Castle Rock. The pub is now in the process of installing their own microbrewery called Old Sawley Brewery and the fruits of these labours are also available. The festival took place over the entire Bank Holiday weekend so by the time of my visit, on Day 3 of 4, all the real cider ordered in had already been sold. That didn't matter to me though as I was fascinated by the variety on offer.
My first taste of the brews on offer was Stormin' Auburn from Hartshorns. With a strength of 4.5%, this is an amber ale with a perfect amount of bitterness to the taste. It goes down quickly, perhaps too quickly, as we sit in the sunshine in the very full beer garden, watching a local band of young lads perform a mixture of their songs and some covers of songs by the likes of Oasis and Kasabian. The beer buying process is slightly simpler than that at Newark Beer Festival (see previous blog), as pints can be purchased, either through the use of tokens or cold hard cash. This is a nice touch, especially for those of us who are a tad overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, variety of beer and the significant heat. For my next pint, I changed tack slightly and opted for Duck's Courage (5%), courtesy of Dancing Duck Brewery. This is pale and bitter with hints of spice that add a nice touch to the flavour. I made every effort to take my time with this pint, whilst enjoying the music of a quartet of local rock musicians executing some very good cover versions, including a storming cover of 'I Died in your Arms Tonight'. More of the extended family and friends had arrived by this stage and it was enjoyable catching up with old faces and meeting new ones, including the myriad of dogs on show at this canine-friendly venue.
By the time my glass was empty again, I decided that I'd have a crack at the offerings that Blue Monkey had provided. My option on this occasion was simply called Monkey (5%) and is the brewery's 500th brew (hence the name, which is slang for 500). Golden blonde in colour it carries an unusual mix of toffee and mango, proving once again that Blue Monkey certainly know what they're doing. I thought it was about time that I ventured to the upstairs room to see what else was on offer. This decision was justified all the more by my being able to talk to a member of staff who was in charge of the racking system. He explained to me that the weather had been a big saviour of this year's event, following a wash-out last year which resulted in at least 2 musical acts being cancelled. He certainly knew his stuff and was very helpful at describing the wide choice of beers in front of me. My eventual choice was Stumbling About from Muirhouse brewery. At 5.2% it is a ruby red ale with a distinctive kick that makes it strangely refreshing. Flagging somewhat by this point, due largely to the sheer quantity of ale I'd managed to consume in the previous 24 hours or so, it was about time to call it quits for the evening and we soon made our journey home.
The White Lion is by no means the only pub in the village and there are a few more drinking establishments very close by that I will definitely visit in the foreseeable future. It would be rude not too check out nearby places to see what they have to offer in comparison. At present, I haven't been able to find out much on the history of the pub, however I'll be attempting to find out more about the village as a whole (and any hauntings) before my return visit.
Overall, I'm very impressed by the commitment and knowledge of the staff here and the effort they've made to continue on with one of the lesser known beer festivals in the local area. The pub certainly deserves to do very well from its efforts and, if things continue in this way, they'll certainly be getting even more notice very soon. Obviously the weather has played a significant part in ensuring that the festival is a success but, when small, community-driven pubs like this put so much effort and thought into their work, it's the very least that they deserve. I will certainly be making every effort to keep an eye of developments at the site and the addition of their own microbrewery will only serve to enhance their prospects. All-in-all, if you visit one new pub this summer, you could do considerably worse than Sawley's White Lion.
sits at the point of convergence of the rivers Trent and Derwent and The White Lion is at the heart of this small but thoroughly pleasant village. A whitewashed front façade gives way to a twin bar layout interior, with a bar on either side of the main entrance, separated by a wooden partition and the back bar display itself. The interior is wooden, with a few round tables and plain wooden chairs. The walls are decorated with photos of the local area and a couple of pieces of artwork from the Romantic era. To the rear is a gravelled patio style area with hexagonal picnic tables and substantial room to accommodate a small car park. A small stage had been set up in order to provide the festival with entertainment from a variety of local bands. Each of the 2 bars inside has 4 hand pulls, the only regular being Bass. One side contains 3 beers from Hartshorns whilst the other includes 2 beers from each of Dancing Duck and Blue Monkey. These beers are all part of the festival, with the rest set up on a racking system in the upstairs function. Great pains have been made to ensure that all the beers available are local in origin and the food being sold in the car park is all sourced locally. The weather could not be better for the festival and the rest of the beers come respectively from Lincoln Green, Brunswick, Navigation, Mallard, Muirhouse and Castle Rock. The pub is now in the process of installing their own microbrewery called Old Sawley Brewery and the fruits of these labours are also available. The festival took place over the entire Bank Holiday weekend so by the time of my visit, on Day 3 of 4, all the real cider ordered in had already been sold. That didn't matter to me though as I was fascinated by the variety on offer.
My first taste of the brews on offer was Stormin' Auburn from Hartshorns. With a strength of 4.5%, this is an amber ale with a perfect amount of bitterness to the taste. It goes down quickly, perhaps too quickly, as we sit in the sunshine in the very full beer garden, watching a local band of young lads perform a mixture of their songs and some covers of songs by the likes of Oasis and Kasabian. The beer buying process is slightly simpler than that at Newark Beer Festival (see previous blog), as pints can be purchased, either through the use of tokens or cold hard cash. This is a nice touch, especially for those of us who are a tad overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, variety of beer and the significant heat. For my next pint, I changed tack slightly and opted for Duck's Courage (5%), courtesy of Dancing Duck Brewery. This is pale and bitter with hints of spice that add a nice touch to the flavour. I made every effort to take my time with this pint, whilst enjoying the music of a quartet of local rock musicians executing some very good cover versions, including a storming cover of 'I Died in your Arms Tonight'. More of the extended family and friends had arrived by this stage and it was enjoyable catching up with old faces and meeting new ones, including the myriad of dogs on show at this canine-friendly venue.
By the time my glass was empty again, I decided that I'd have a crack at the offerings that Blue Monkey had provided. My option on this occasion was simply called Monkey (5%) and is the brewery's 500th brew (hence the name, which is slang for 500). Golden blonde in colour it carries an unusual mix of toffee and mango, proving once again that Blue Monkey certainly know what they're doing. I thought it was about time that I ventured to the upstairs room to see what else was on offer. This decision was justified all the more by my being able to talk to a member of staff who was in charge of the racking system. He explained to me that the weather had been a big saviour of this year's event, following a wash-out last year which resulted in at least 2 musical acts being cancelled. He certainly knew his stuff and was very helpful at describing the wide choice of beers in front of me. My eventual choice was Stumbling About from Muirhouse brewery. At 5.2% it is a ruby red ale with a distinctive kick that makes it strangely refreshing. Flagging somewhat by this point, due largely to the sheer quantity of ale I'd managed to consume in the previous 24 hours or so, it was about time to call it quits for the evening and we soon made our journey home.
The White Lion is by no means the only pub in the village and there are a few more drinking establishments very close by that I will definitely visit in the foreseeable future. It would be rude not too check out nearby places to see what they have to offer in comparison. At present, I haven't been able to find out much on the history of the pub, however I'll be attempting to find out more about the village as a whole (and any hauntings) before my return visit.
Overall, I'm very impressed by the commitment and knowledge of the staff here and the effort they've made to continue on with one of the lesser known beer festivals in the local area. The pub certainly deserves to do very well from its efforts and, if things continue in this way, they'll certainly be getting even more notice very soon. Obviously the weather has played a significant part in ensuring that the festival is a success but, when small, community-driven pubs like this put so much effort and thought into their work, it's the very least that they deserve. I will certainly be making every effort to keep an eye of developments at the site and the addition of their own microbrewery will only serve to enhance their prospects. All-in-all, if you visit one new pub this summer, you could do considerably worse than Sawley's White Lion.
No comments:
Post a Comment