Skipton Beer Festival 2008
Beer festival a success
The second Skipton Beer Festival, held in the Town Hall on Spring bank holiday Friday and Saturday, was a great success. Hundreds of thirsty customers supped their way through sixty different cask-conditioned ales as well as traditional ciders and perries, Belgian and German bottled beers and Yorkshire country wines. Following last year's virtual sell-out early on the Saturday evening, about 35% more beer had been ordered, and this ensured that a reasonable selection of ales was available right up to closing time.
Customers voted 'Duchess Anne', a light summer ale from Strathaven Brewery in Lanarkshire, Scotland, as Beer of the Festival. At 3.9% ABV, it has a blend of wheat and lager malts and is flavoured with meadowsweet, making it a refreshing cask-conditioned alternative to lager. Not surprisingly, it was also the first beer to sell out, at 6.30 on the Friday evening.
The festival was opened by the Town Mayor, Councillor Carole Manley, and the collection for her chosen charity, the Airedale Hospital Breast Cancer Unit Appeal, raised £350. The cheque will be presented to the charity outside Skipton Town Hall on Sunday 17th August at 2.30 p.m.
No problems with security or bad behaviour were reported, proving once again that the night-time disorder which so often blights our town centres at weekends is largely fuelled by a mixture of cheap, additive-ridden supermarket lager and so-called alcopops. As an entirely natural product, real ale tends to relax consumers rather than cause aggression.
As organisers of the festival, Keighley & Craven CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and co-operation received from Craven District Council, and particularly from Town Hall Manager Judith Riley and her staff, without which this event would not have been possible. We would also like to thank the staff of Skipton Tourist Information Centre for their eye-catching window display publicising the festival, and all the local pubs and other businesses who allowed us to put up posters. A provisional booking has already been made for 2009 although the dates have yet to be confirmed.
(The photographs are all from the 2007 festival.)
Contact
To contact us regarding the Skipton Beer Festival, please email skiptonbeerfestival@blueyonder.co.uk.
Or phone: Andy Moore on 01274 822841.
