Craft and (crap) beer at Glastonbury

[majormajormajor]

Warm ale (ie. Otter etc) really isn't what I'm after when it's summer and I'm hungover. I wish they had some session IPAs on keg around the place. 

[majormajormajor]

7 minutes ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

There was one year I was there had a full Brooklyn beer bar with all their different beers on, that was such a welcome addition but I think it's been gone since 

I remember that being in the theatre field, maybe five years back? 

[marathonsteve]

[plaskins]

34 minutes ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

Acoustic tent field bar is called The Cockmill, and this year had quite a few offerings from the Otter, Shipyard and Ringwood Breweries.

I only ventured up to that bar for the bootleg Beatles on Sunday this year, unfortunately by that point they'd practically run out of all the ales on offer. 

[BBC7BBCHEAVEN]

Greenman really knocks it out of the park don't they.

My first Greenman festival was actually where I had my first tiny rebel beer (cwtch) although they might be too big for it these days? Couldn't believe there was a beer festival within the festival, blew me away

[marathonsteve]

11 minutes ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

Greenman really knocks it out of the park don't they.

My first Greenman festival was actually where I had my first tiny rebel beer (cwtch) although they might be too big for it these days? Couldn't believe there was a beer festival within the festival, blew me away

 

[catavento]

1 hour ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

Not sure how you would be able to serve cask at Glastonbury? It’s a fresh product, and requires careful looking after. During a hot Glastonbury it would be undrinkable, and readily go off. There’s no cellars.

Yeah, that's often been my experience of cask at festivals really, lots of stuff that's off or not right. Seems to work sometimes (and then you've got things like outdoor beer festivals, which have the same problem with temperature etc) but as you say, needs careful looking after. 

[BBC7BBCHEAVEN]

1 hour ago, majormajormajor said:

I remember that being in the theatre field, maybe five years back? 

Yeah, the beer tent is still there but seemed to be just the generic stuff 

[Eks101]

2 hours ago, marathonsteve said:

There has been Belgium beer on draught before, which was truly excellent but it wasn’t there this  year

Grimbergen Blonde. It is (partially) distributed by Carlsberg and pops up occasionally at events they supply for.

[marathonsteve]

1 minute ago, Eks101 said:

Grimbergen Blonde. It is (partially) distributed by Carlsberg and pops up occasionally at events they supply for.

Thats the beer they were serving draught at Glastonbury

[Aeroplane Over the Sea]

This is definitely solvable. Frankly the likes of Tiny Rebel, Gipsy Hill, signature etc are reasonable operations now. Two tribes do a great job  at end of the road; they could easily give areas over to some of these smaller breweries and split it up a bit. Would be a great approach 

[billum]

Yep, agree with the sentiment on here - 2019 was great with that craft beer @marathonsteve posted above, and other bars having a great selection all over the site

This year, greatly disappointing, with almost the same generic selection everywhere, including Cockmills in the Acoustic Tent field and the craft beer bar in Theatre, and Avalon, all selling pretty much the same poor selection

As hinted here, it sniffs of some sort of clampdown by the dreadful corporates (Carlsberg?) - really hope that changes for next year (but tbh little expectation that it will). Will just have to work on my ability to carry stupendous quantities of decent ale in with my luggage.... where can I get a trolley..... 😄

[Isaact]

It stinks of the kind of thing they have agreed to due to Covid financial pressures. 

Not surprising if they have taken some sort of exclusivity payout from Carlsberg.

[incident]

In terms of a change that could be made very easily, Carlsberg have started taking Angelo Poretti to some festivals since the pandemic - Just putting that on at a handful of bars would be a huge improvement without threatening the monopoly and presumably without any supply issues.

[Superscally]

5 hours ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

Not sure how you would be able to serve cask at Glastonbury? It’s a fresh product, and requires careful looking after. During a hot Glastonbury it would be undrinkable, and readily go off. There’s no cellars.

There's tons of cask at Glasto. Tons.

[billum]

3 minutes ago, Superscally said:

There's tons of cask at Glasto. Tons.

Yes it's like at any beer festival - they have ways of storing it and keeping it at the right temperature out in a field in almost any kind of weather

[Derby_Dave]

6 hours ago, BBC7BBCHEAVEN said:

Is there realistically anyway to petition the festival to bring in smaller UK breweries to supply beer instead of having the same crap lager site wide?

Maybe I'm alone in this but I would love it the different bar tents were actually different. Why not let people like Tiny Rebel, Brew York, Cloudwater, DEYA etc. have their own tents around site.

It would make travelling around the he different areas a bit more interesting and help justify the £7 pints if you're actually getting a decent beer. (Would also be nice to have some sours and different IPAs instead of only lager or dodgy ale)

 

Am I just a puke, or is anyone else annoyed at the Carlsberg only setup? 

100% with you.  I despise the crappy cheap lagers on offer.  For £7 a pint I would expect a unicorn being milked to fill my glass.

Wouldn’t it be great to have some real, real ales etc to taste.

Someone please tell me Burrow hill are still there? (Which I am fully aware don’t do real ales) 😂

Edited November 6, 2022 by Derby_Dave

[Superscally]

2 minutes ago, Derby_Dave said:

100% with you.  I despise the crappy cheap lagers on offer.  For £7 a pint I would expect a unicorn being milked to fill my glass.

Wouldn’t it be great to have some real, real ales etc to taste.

Someone please tell me Burrow hill are still there?

There are. Lots. You just need to look.

[Derby_Dave]

Just now, Superscally said:

There are. Lots. You just need to look.

Cheers, I will look.  Not been for a good number of years.

I remember Otter brewery having a few beers on offer last time I went.

[Superscally]

1 minute ago, Derby_Dave said:

Cheers, I will look.  Not been for a good number of years.

I remember Otter brewery having a few beers on offer last time I went.

Yeah Otter are well represented and sometimes a bit cheaper. I wish I could be more useful in terms of location giving, but I found it easy to find good beer, but I did move around a lot. Think there was a stunner of a bar not far from BBC introducing this year, but no guarantee in same place as last time. Cornish and Avalon always have some good ale.

[efcfanwirral]

1 hour ago, incident said:

In terms of a change that could be made very easily, Carlsberg have started taking Angelo Poretti to some festivals since the pandemic - Just putting that on at a handful of bars would be a huge improvement without threatening the monopoly and presumably without any supply issues.

I'm the same, I'm not even asking for much. almost all the other festivals i go to I can just about take the lagers on offer, I'm not even after some sort of super amazing craft beer. Just a lager that isn't normal Carlsberg. I get that many don't like commercial lagers and that's fine, but a totally different problem - I imagine the bar is much higher. I dont have high standards for lagers at all and even I hate normal Carlsberg. I like Export, its surprisingly different. Its just on about 2 bars that are out the way. And if I'm in the area I'll get a San Miguel from the San Remo bar but am rarely there 

I was sure they had Tuborg in the past to shield people from the Carlsberg brand. But this "reformulation" a few years ago where they supposedly improved it is just as bad as it always was for me.

I liked the new Brothers plus different cider is easy enough to come across. Would be fine if there was pretty much any other lager option, especially as we're on public transport. My main problem is I don't really like "ale".

Feels like the lager option is based on "lads" being willing to drink anything. Maybe that's mostly true but I imagine they'd find they sell a lot more if it was something else 

Edited November 6, 2022 by efcfanwirral

[Flying_Hellfish]

There's a bunch of non-Carlsberg beers there, just need to know where to look.

For now I am happy enough with the Coleman for cans, but yeah...  it would be great to have different breweries with their own tents, scattered about. But I say that as a beer geek.

 

[Popsider75]

Bearded Theory had bars run by Vocation and Thornbridge which was ace.

To be honest, luckily for me these days I'm in my van so have my ruck sack well stocked from the fridge for the day and just buy the odd ale.

I treated myself to a batch of Oakham Citra and Fyne ales this year.

I would rather drink tap water than Carlberg and it's ilk!

I agree getting some craft ale brews in over and above what the likes of Avalon do would be great.

[Superscally]

37 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'm the same, I'm not even asking for much. almost all the other festivals i go to I can just about take the lagers on offer, I'm not even after some sort of super amazing craft beer. Just a lager that isn't normal Carlsberg. I get that many don't like commercial lagers and that's fine, but a totally different problem - I imagine the bar is much higher. I dont have high standards for lagers at all and even I hate normal Carlsberg. I like Export, its surprisingly different. Its just on about 2 bars that are out the way. And if I'm in the area I'll get a San Miguel from the San Remo bar but am rarely there 

I was sure they had Tuborg in the past to shield people from the Carlsberg brand. But this "reformulation" a few years ago where they supposedly improved it is just as bad as it always was for me.

I liked the new Brothers plus different cider is easy enough to come across. Would be fine if there was pretty much any other lager option, especially as we're on public transport. My main problem is I don't really like "ale".

Feels like the lager option is based on "lads" being willing to drink anything. Maybe that's mostly true but I imagine they'd find they sell a lot more if it was something else 

I've always been bemused why Export isn't a staple in pubs. It's genuinely a peak in the lager genre.

[fightoffyour]

You don't even need it on tap, just get a massive fridge full of Track gold tops next to the Glastonbury sign and we're sorted.