Craft and (crap) beer at Glastonbury

[BBC7BBCHEAVEN]

Reviving an old thread, but anyone know if there's any way to petition this with the festival? 

With the amount of UK breweries closing down at a terrifying rate, and now ones as big as Cloudwater saying they are at risk (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64303338) it's going to leave a very bitter taste to see a festival that claims the values Glastonbury does once again supplying macro beer only, who actively cause the closure of smaller breweries and leave us all worse off.

Having bars at the festival available for small breweries would not only improve the event for festival goers but could provide a crucial lifeline to these places 

[efcfanwirral]

1 hour ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

Reviving an old thread, but anyone know if there's any way to petition this with the festival? 

With the amount of UK breweries closing down at a terrifying rate, and now ones as big as Cloudwater saying they are at risk (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64303338) it's going to leave a very bitter taste to see a festival that claims the values Glastonbury does once again supplying macro beer only, who actively cause the closure of smaller breweries and leave us all worse off.

Having bars at the festival available for small breweries would not only improve the event for festival goers but could provide a crucial lifeline to these places 

completely agree with this. All we'll be left with is the Carlsbergs of the world if this carries on.

Not good about Cloudwater. Loving the Sadler's Cat in Manchester (their own bar) - seem to end up in there every time I go over at the moment. 

[Avalon_Fields]

1 hour ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

Reviving an old thread, but anyone know if there's any way to petition this with the festival? 

With the amount of UK breweries closing down at a terrifying rate, and now ones as big as Cloudwater saying they are at risk (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64303338) it's going to leave a very bitter taste to see a festival that claims the values Glastonbury does once again supplying macro beer only, who actively cause the closure of smaller breweries and leave us all worse off.

Having bars at the festival available for small breweries would not only improve the event for festival goers but could provide a crucial lifeline to these places 

It's a great idea. I'd love it. Probably not get round to seeing any bands though....

[moogster]

Couldn't a brewery just apply as a trader or are there special rules for booze?

[incident]

5 minutes ago, moogster said:

Couldn't a brewery just apply as a trader or are there special rules for booze?

Special rules for booze. It's specifically mentioned as something they're not allowed to sell.

[Jacksamthompson]

I love what they do at Wide Awake festival. They have their normal bars then a row of local breweries all trading under small tents. Works really well and essentially a beer festival all of its own. I would spend a lot more on booze at Glasto if this sort of thing was introudced and would add another element to the festival which is currently lacking. Glasto make their own rules regading everything else - why not knock the booze licence on the head as well. 

[Alvoram]

3 hours ago, Jacksamthompson said:

I love what they do at Wide Awake festival. They have their normal bars then a row of local breweries all trading under small tents. Works really well and essentially a beer festival all of its own. I would spend a lot more on booze at Glasto if this sort of thing was introudced and would add another element to the festival which is currently lacking. Glasto make their own rules regading everything else - why not knock the booze licence on the head as well. 

Glastonbury NEEDS a beer festival area of it's own. It's a music festival, it's a food festival, it's an arts festival... But the beer is beyond shit. I found some real ales, in the mainstream beer tents, but they were poorly kept, way warmer than the ideal 12c, and basically undrinkable. 

Let lots of breweries who are used to handling large beer festivals, and have the correct equipment like barrel jackets etc, have an area of their own to host multiple 'beer festival' stalls.

I betchya it becomes one of the most popular areas. 

But therein lies the problem, Carlsberg A/S will have a lot to do with how much 'off brand' beer is allowed to be sold. And given the infrastructure they provide to the festival, you can hardly blame them. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Alvoram

[Skip997]

3 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Glastonbury NEEDS a beer festival area of it's own.

As a non drinker I think this is a great idea.

[Crazyfool01]

11 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Glastonbury NEEDS a beer festival area of it's own. It's a music festival, it's a food festival, it's an arts festival... But the beer is beyond shit. I found some real ales, in the mainstream beer tents, but they were poorly kept, way warmer than the ideal 12c, and basically undrinkable. 

Let lots of breweries who are used to handling large beer festivals, and have the correct equipment like barrel jackets etc, have an area of their own to host multiple 'beer festival' stalls.

I betchya it becomes one of the most popular areas. 

But therein lies the problem, Carlsberg A/S will have a lot to do with how much 'off brand' beer is allowed to be sold. And given the infrastructure they provide to the festival, you can hardly blame them. 

I think somewhere i read that its simply not possible due to the numbers of people/demand and they would sell out almost instantly ... hence all the big bars having tankers .... 

[p.pete]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

I think somewhere i read that its simply not possible due to the numbers of people/demand and they would sell out almost instantly ... hence all the big bars having tankers .... 

Lets assume the craft beer is going to cost an absolute fortune per pint, and they're selling it in 1/3rds / halves to make the prices seem less ridiculous (& give you a chance to try more than one thing before you've had too much).  Even if they do sell out ridiculously quickly they would still be making money on the venture and it'd be worth their while turning up to the festival.  

Maybe don't even open the beer festival area properly until Friday afternoon when all the main stages are up and running so that it's competing with more things (total carnage on Wednesday otherwise!); maybe have it somewhere difficult to get to, so less competition with Carlsburgs bars;  maybe run it on the basis that it's highly likely to run out, so have a 'when it's gone, it's gone' expectation.

Carlsburg still likely to be the biggest obstacle - how often does their contract get renewed and are there any other breweries that could do as good a job but be given the contract only on the basis that they allow some amount of competition of this sort.

[Alvoram]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

I think somewhere i read that its simply not possible due to the numbers of people/demand and they would sell out almost instantly ... hence all the big bars having tankers .... 

Looking at the infrastructure it takes to run even the smallest of the main bars, (I paid a lot of attention, given my own life) I can see that argument is valid. Litteral tankers, not kegs, plugged directly into machines that fill multiple pints in one go. It really is impressive. 

No single brewery could host a stall (I do wonder how cider bus manage so well though.) 

But what I, and others, have proposed, is similar to a solo beer festival. I don't know if you've ever been to one of them, but they attract massive amounts of guests, and the focus is the beer, so they're turning over a hell of a lot of beer. 

They work because there are multiple smaller breweries involved.

How I picture it is a tent the size of something like leftfield or William's green, maybe bigger. With upwards of 20 small breweries each having their own stalls along each length. A small stage hosting very very small acts at one end (The focus here really is the beer) with the open space in the middle being divided into 2 halves, the half closest the stage left open for standing etc, the half furthest away with rows of Oktoberfest style benches.

It could absoloutely work if you could get enough small to medium breweries involved, with enough notice to brew enough beer. 

But like I said, the big boys would never allow something like that!

[p.pete]

4 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

How I picture it is a tent the size of something like leftfield or William's green, maybe bigger. With upwards of 20 small breweries each having their own stalls along each length. A small stage hosting very very small acts at one end (The focus here really is the beer) with the open space in the middle being divided into 2 halves, the half closest the stage left open for standing etc, the half furthest away with rows of Oktoberfest style benches.

Could this replace the phone charging tents?  Not sure if anyone sensible uses them anymore, piss off two infrastructure suppliers for the price of an 8% third-pint of stout

[CaledonianGonzo]

6 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

I do wonder how cider bus manage so well though.) 

This may be controversial, but it's a bit of a niche product and not overwhelmingly popular.  I'll often partake, particularly cos I know its not going to be that busy.

[fightoffyour]

Not sure the mainstream beer sales would even be affected. I don't think I've ever bought a point of lager at the festival - I'd rather drink nothing. I did buy a pint of ale at the Acoustic before PH&JA.

As it happens though, I can bring my own. I brought about 20 craft beers, mainly Cloudwater, last year. Would be much better if they sold it there.

[Crazyfool01]

13 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

(I do wonder how cider bus manage so well though.) 

cider bus has 2 big tankers parked near it 

[Alvoram]

5 minutes ago, p.pete said:

Could this replace the phone charging tents?  Not sure if anyone sensible uses them anymore, piss off two infrastructure suppliers for the price of an 8% third-pint of stout

Nah, we need that tent when all of the bigger bars suddenly realise it's EE that provide the data network, so their PDQ machines won't accept payments unless they run and grab an EE sim. 🙄🙈😂

[Alvoram]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

cider bus has 2 big tankers parked near it 

Oh really, I didn't see that to be fair. I did only visit them once, and it was after dark. 

 

So are the big barrels they pulled our cider from fake? 😮 

Edited January 24, 2023 by Alvoram

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Alvoram said:

Oh really, I didn't see that to be fair. I did only visit them once, and it was after dark. 

yeah just checked one some of the overheads round to the left as you look at the bar 

[Alvoram]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

yeah just checked one some of the overheads round to the left as you look at the bar 

See the big cider barels at the back? Are they fake then, or do they also sell Carlsberg, and the tankers are for their products? 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, Alvoram said:

See the big cider barels at the back? Are they fake then, or do they also sell Carlsberg, and the tankers are for their products? 

not sure but the bar continues around to the right ... maybe the tankers are for that or there is a tent/bar opposite they supply but they don't back one to that 

[p.pete]

1 minute ago, Alvoram said:

See the big cider barels at the back? Are they fake then, or do they also sell Carlsberg, and the tankers are for their products? 

Don't think they sell Carlsburg - you can have rum in your cider if you want - presumably they're just for show / the tankers feed through them.  The cider does come out of those barrels as far as I can remember though.

[p.pete]

Just now, Crazyfool01 said:

not sure but the bar continues around to the right ... maybe the tankers are for that or there is a tent/bar opposite they supply but they don't back one to that 

There is another bar just opposite the cider bus, so maybe that's the nearest they can park the tanker for that one?

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Crazyfool01 said:

not sure but the bar continues around to the right ... maybe the tankers are for that or there is a tent/bar opposite they supply but they don't back one to that 

dispensers on the bar are cider ? barells maybe the cider brandy or hot and spicy cider ? 

[Alvoram]

Just now, p.pete said:

Don't think they sell Carlsburg - you can have rum in your cider if you want - presumably they're just for show / the tankers feed through them.  The cider does come out of those barrels as far as I can remember though.

It was dead when I visited, and they definitely poured them from those barrels. Looking at the amount of pumps across the bar though, they're probably just for show. Guessing the lines just run through them, and they'll use all pumps, including the front bar, if busy. 

 

[The Nal]

6 hours ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

Reviving an old thread, but anyone know if there's any way to petition this with the festival? 

With the amount of UK breweries closing down at a terrifying rate, and now ones as big as Cloudwater saying they are at risk (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64303338) it's going to leave a very bitter taste to see a festival that claims the values Glastonbury does once again supplying macro beer only, who actively cause the closure of smaller breweries and leave us all worse off.

Having bars at the festival available for small breweries would not only improve the event for festival goers but could provide a crucial lifeline to these places 

Maybe if these crafty places stopped trying to rip people off they'd sell more? 

This cloudwater crowd charge 6 quid for a can for some of their beers. Get fucked lads.