I’d like to add my thanks to all of the venues and to everyone who was out enjoying themselves during the course of the festival. I bumped into some Kent CAMRA members who were blown away by the festival and thought more CAMRA branches should run something like this to not only showcase some fantastic beer, but local pubs and bars too. I also met some volunteers from the previous Steel City Beer Festival who said the festival on tour was a fantastic idea, and would love to see it return in the future!
It made me feel so proud to visit the venues and see people enjoying themselves, and overhear conversations about the beer festival and where people were heading to next. After a tough 18 months for the beer industry, it felt as though this was the lift everyone needed, for both venues and punters. It felt like it really brought everyone together.
Every single venue has had something different from the norm, and I’m sure they will have gained many a regular as a result. From smaller venues like The Bear running their first tap takeover and meet the brewer event, to Heist managing to organise a tap takeover from Hungarian brewery Mad Scientist to showcase beers never before seen in the UK.
I took part in the Neepsend Brewery tour which was very interesting, especially as they had 20,000 pints in their tanks ready to go! It might have taken a while to drink them all though… Everyone involved should be proud of their efforts in putting on a fantastic citywide festival that showcased exactly why Sheffield is such a fantastic place for a pint.
Elliott
As well as Press Officer for the festival, Elliott regularly posts about the local beer scene on Instagram. Find him at thenotsosoberbarcrawl.