Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Bowled Over, or a Sticky Wicket?

The time had finally come! After 2 years of waiting, one of the biggest and best beer events in the UK made it's triumphant return last week. In the wake of a successful event in 2019 and last year's scheduled event cancelled for reasons that, by now, should not need explaining, the air was thick with excitement at the return of an iconic event that unites beer and cider drinkers, old and young, seasoned and fresh in 4 days of frivolity, entertainment and, not to mention, plenty of superb beers! Of course, I speak of the one and only Robin Hood Beer & Cider Festival!


As well as seeing the festival return, there was much eagerness to see how things would pan out in yet another new location. With the change of layout of Nottingham Castle following the recently completed refurbishment, and the backlog of events at the Motorpoint Arena, this year's event took place at a venue that is not only iconic across the land but a notable landmark for the city of Nottingham itself and one that already draws thousands of fans from near and far, sometimes very far. The chosen venue for Nottingham's legendary beer festival was the similarly legendary Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, scene of a significant number of historic moments throughout history. 


Trent Bridge was first used as a cricket ground in the 1830s. The first recorded cricket match was held on an area of ground behind the Trent Bridge Inn in 1838. Trent Bridge hosted its first Test match in 1899, with England playing against Australia.

The ground was first opened in 1841 by William Clarke, husband of the proprietress of the Trent Bridge Inn and himself Captain of the All England Cricket Team. He was commemorated in 1990 by the opening of the new William Clarke Stand which incorporates the Rushcliffe Suite. The West Park Sports Ground in West Bridgford was the private ground of Sir Julien Cahn, a furniture millionaire, who often played host to touring national sides.

In 1950, an electronically-operated scoreboard was installed at this venue, then the world's largest at any cricket stadium.

Trent Bridge has a history of hosting football matches. Notts County Football Club played their important games at the ground from the 1860s, and moved there permanently in 1883 when Nottingham Forest left. However, games early and late in the season had to be played elsewhere due to the cricket and Notts County finally left in 1910, moving to Meadow Lane.

Trent Bridge also hosted an international match, England beating Ireland 6–0 on 20 February 1897.

Despite its renowned history in the annals of sport, it remained to be seen what one of the country's best known sporting venues could offer to a rather different sort of event. Enter myself and Amy, who took on the arduous task of attending this year's festival, in the interests of research, not only to continue an annual tradition but also to compare how this change of surroundings would benefit, or otherwise, the whole beer festival experience. You are all very welcome!

In common with the past few years, we decided to attend the festival on the Thursday, in the hopes of trying to explore the festival site and try some of the more unusual beers before things got too busy, whilst also hoping that said beers had not already been polished off during the previous day's session. Getting the bus to the stop outside the council house, we crossed the road and, prebooked and pre-printed tickets in hand, made our way into the cricket ground through a gated entrance that brought into the main concourse. This is the area where the majority of the beers were located with the main stillage bars and brewery bars tucked under a covered area and a small number of food and merchandise stalls, as well as a smaller stillage and key keg bar spread along the concourse in the direction of the central clubhouse. First impressions were that the site was considerably more compact than in recent years, perhaps not surprising given that the festival was restricted to the hard standing areas with no access allowed onto the hallowed turf of the cricket ground. 

Clutching the tokens we were given upon entry, we next turned our attention to procuring glasses to aid with the beer consumption. Due to a supply issue, there were an extremely limited number of branded glasses specific to this year's event, however the hard working folks at CAMRA had managed to round up some from past events. Drinking from glasses branded with 2018 and 2019 respectively (back in the old times), felt decidedly retro. Speaking of drinking, it was high time that beer was had. Our first stop was the Castle Rock brewery bar, the first one that we came to entering the covered area. I wanted to show my face and introduce myself to the staff working there as I've recently become a Castle Rock employee and it seemed like the decent thing to do. There was certainly an excellent choice of beer in both cask and keg available and I got stuck straight in with the DDH Citra (5%), a strong, hazy pale ale with fresh and juicy notes from the Citra hops. Long time readers will know of my love for that particular variety. Amy went for one of their keg beers, specifically a collaboration with Attic called Tuck Shop (5%), a cloudy IPA with rhubarb and custard that tastes for all the world like rhubarb and custard sweets. We'd certainly made excellent choices to start the day off with and it wasn't long before we needed a top up. Amy suggested we have a wander further down the concourse to explore the site a bit more and also locate the KeyKeg bar as there were a few beers listed that caught her eye. Before we made our way over, I chose my next beer. From Beat in Stourbridge, I selected Jungle Drum Machine (5%) as my next beer. This is a pale ale hopped with Mosaic, Simcoe and Ekuanot for a very juicy flavour. We sauntered over to the KeyKeg bar where Amy was disappointed to discover that Brew by Numbers' Gose Solero had run out. However, the back up plan was Blackberry Gose (3.7%) by London-based Orbit and this went down very well indeed. Whilst we were at this end of the concourse, we decided that we would briefly explore the clubhouse, take a look out over the legendary pitch and generally have a bit of a look around. I must confess that this was the first time that I had ever been to Trent Bridge. Whilst I'm not really a cricket fan, I take a passing interest in England test matches, particularly the Ashes, and events such as the Cricket World Cup. After a few minutes immersing ourselves in the history of Trent Bridge, we made our back outside. We decided that now would be a good time to buy any extra tokens that we might need, before the day got busier and the queues got longer. There were two main hubs for token buying. One was central to the main marquee and another was a small hut at the very far end, right near the clubhouse entrance. We reasoned that this would be the quieter area so stocked up accordingly and got right back to the beer!

During our initial walk around, I had identified the 'Nano Bar', a bar that focused specifically on small batch breweries. I picked out Chick Weed Revenge (5.5%) from Ilkeston's Urban Chicken to be my next target and I'm very glad I did. This is another murky pale ale but livened up with a dash of mango essence. The overriding flavour is very much like mango juice and it certainly belied its ABV! Already by this point, the bars seemed busier, perhaps amplified by the smaller size of the site. Things were generally flowing quite nicely though and it was clear from the faces we saw, that people were very glad to be back and able to enjoy an event of this sort. It was time for a change of a style of the beer front. I decided to go for a darker beer for my next option, much earlier in the day than I otherwise would have done. I found the perfect choice on the Blue Monkey brewery bar, which sat at the other end of the main marquee, opposite the stage. Amy and I were both instantly drawn towards the Guerrilla Chocolate Amaretto (4.9%), which had apparently been the brewery's most popular beer of the day by that point and it was only early afternoon! This did exactly what it said on the pump clip: a deep, rich stout with flavours of chocolate and almond aromas. 4 beers in and already a contender for beer of the day! I would also hop back and forth between beers from local breweries and further afield throughout the early stages of the day. The next choice on my list was chosen effectively for the name alone. With Halloween on the horizon, a beer called Hocus Pocus was impossible to ignore. Brewed by Loddon in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, this is a dark ruby old ale that is both rich and smooth. Despite the increased foot traffic and the general closeness of everything at the site, we didn't find it too stressful or intimidating negotiating our way around. By and large, any crowds were small and not swarming which meant that we didn't feel unsafe at all. We also found a rather good spot to stand, over to one side, where a large concrete block acted as a makeshift table or chair depending on what was required. Another useful thing we noticed is that, whilst there weren't any more toilets than normal, they were definitely closer to the action, and more accessible for any attendees that weren't as mobile. It was time for us to mobilise to the bar again. Another dark beer was next on the agenda for myself and I settled for Dead Man's Fist (5.5%), from Chapter out of Sutton Weaver in Cheshire. This was another excellent beer; a smoked porter with the fiery addition of black pepper. It was certainly a treat for the palate and I needed something lighter afterwards to take the edge off. Amy liked the sound of Navigation Brewery's Elephant Gun (3.5%), a salted chocolate mild, whereas I went to the other end of the spectrum, both style-wise and geographically by selecting Outlaw King (5%) from Loch Leven brewery in Kinross, Scotland. Amy's choice was very chocolatey with an added saltiness and sweetness. My beer was a golden ale, infused with honey and resinous hop notes. The honey was very subtle with the earthy hops to the fore but the whole thing worked together really well. 

Another wander was called for now so we headed back down the concourse, taking everything in. Following a brief chat with a couple of Amy's work colleagues, we found ourselves back at the KeyKeg bar where Amy got some of Vault City's Mango Session Sour (4.7%), which ticked all of the boxes and was very very good indeed! I was once again tempted by the name of a beer, this time from the smaller stillage bar. I just could not ignore a beer called Mariana Trench (5.3%), especially when the brewery is Weird Beard from Hanwell in London. This pale is brewed with NZ Pacific Gem and US Citra hops, combining for massive fruity and tropical hop flavours. Not quite as deep, and definitely not as existentially terrifying, as it's namesake but definitely a beer worthy of a glass. Our leisurely wander back to the main marquee saw us arrive back at the Castle Rock bar just as Amy's beer ran out. How's that for impeccable timing? In its place, Amy went for the Passion Fruit Sour, one of the available KeyKeg beers. This was a complex beer with hops and tropical fruit up top before an underlying sourness kicks in. As we were digesting these beers, we decided to hover by the stage in preparation for the entertainment starting. After a few minutes delay to the scheduled start time, we were told that the planned opening act had been forced to cancel due to Covid. However, the acts planned for later would still be appearing with another performer stepping in to fill the gaps. Whilst we waited to see what this would entail, it became beer time again and time for me to go back to drinking local. Navigation Brewery had their own regular bar and it was here that we returned so I could indulge myself with their Grapefruit Pale (4%). As expected, this is a light, hazy beer with flavours of grapefruit and citrus. By the time of our next beer, the entertainment had started, with resident drag queen Zanda lip syncing to some absolute classics. As the notes of Country Roads, Take Me Home faded, the Nano Bar was calling again. This time, I went for Return of the Hop Monster from RBA, based in Oakwood, Derby. This is a 4.8% New England IPA with Amarillo and Citra hops, delivering a fruity, citrusy punch. Amy went for something a bit darker, opting for The Legend of Q (7%), a strong, dark ale with chocolate hints, brewed by Q Brewery from Queniborough in Leicestershire. 

Our day was well over halfway through by now and we were having a great time. The atmosphere was relaxed and fun, the beers had been great and everybody seemed to just be thrilled to be there. We had noticed one thing though: we were starving! Slightly behind the main concourse, where there was a smaller crowd, we found a stall selling pork cobs with apple sauce, which would be just the thing to get us back on track. Considerably fuller but with our glasses emptier, we headed back to the action. My next choice was more of a traditional style. You can't enjoy complicated beers without paying homage to their original forms. For that reason, I had a go at Foreman's IPA (4.8%) from County Durham's Consett Ale Works. This is a full flavoured, nicely rounded IPA that is a true testament to the style. By this time, a larger crowd had gathered at the stage as Zanda carried on with her set. The crowd joined in with rapturous, although not necessarily in time, renditions of songs by Queen, including Bohemian Rhapsody because obviously, before Zanda wrapped up with Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves and cleared the stage to allow the next act to begin setting up. I was back into my stride now and the singing had dried out my throat. To wet my whistle, Halton Turner from Birmingham had just the thing, in the shape of Whiplash (5.4%), a golden amber beer with an intense finish that was equal parts hoppy and fruity. The time had come for more stretching of legs so we made another circuit of the site which, by now, was much busier than it had been first thing until, inevitably, our glasses were empty. Refill time. I've waxed lyrical here before about my love for both Bristol and its beers and so it would have been remiss for me not to have one of their delicious options. Bristol Beer Factory were the go-to on this occasion and, more precisely, their Entourage (5.1%), an IPA single hopped with tasty, tasty Citra. 

The next band were now on stage. A four-piece from Nottingham consisting of a guitarist/vocalist, bassist, drummer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist, they did a good job of keeping people in the fun zone with a mix of their own songs and covers. We were flagging slightly by now but still had a couple more beers in us. I was intrigued by the program description of the next been I chose. I'd already been drawn to Flying Gang, from Ponteland, Northumberland, by their brewery and to the beer Prince of Pirates (4.7%) by its description as a 'tasty stout'. Upon closer inspection and consumption I can confirm that is a) a stout, and b) very tasty. I was definitely back into the dark beers by this stage of the day and my penultimate choice continued the theme. The epic sounding Beowulf from Brownhills in the West Midlands managed to lure me in with Black & Blueberry (4.5%), a dark ale finished off with a dose of blueberries. It was dark, sweet and delicious. As we watched the band wrap up on stage, we had a decision to make. One more beer. But which beer? My mind whirred. Do I stay on the dark, go completely off-piste or select something from the program that jumps out at me? Ultimately, I went back to the program and decided to finish the day on something lighter. Hwgga, a brewery from Llandrindod Wells in Wales, have a beer called Shaky Bridge (5.1%), an unfiltered pale amber ale with added caramel. Like a dessert to wrap up a particularly filling meal, it was the perfect digestif. We ummed and ahhed about what to do next but decided that we would now call it a day. We wound our way back to the exit and the bus stop to begin the journey home. 

So, the big question is, how did the beer festival hold up at Trent Bridge? I've hinted at a couple of the key points further up. The overall area in use was much smaller which means the whole festival felt much more compact. There were fewer brewery bars but this was offset by the sheer quantity of beers available (more than 1000 at last count). The toilets are more easily accessible and easier to find and, in general, Trent Bridge is easier to get to on public transport, especially when compared to the Motorpoint Arena. All in all, it was a good day out, as it always is but I, for one, would be interested to see what the long term plan is regarding hosting the beer festival. I do feel that this year's event would have benefited from more space but I also appreciate that due to the proximity of the pitch, and the need to keep this in perfect condition, that this may not have been viable, particularly if the weather had been bad. The most important thing, of course, is that the festival was able to go ahead at all and for that we should be mightily thankful to CAMRA, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and the local councils for making it possible, as well as to all the brewers, breweries and volunteers who helped ensure that beer was there to be had and that people had a good time and felt safe. As to whether this is an ideal permanent solution as a venue, the jury, like so many Aussie batsmen at this venue, is definitely out. 



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