Beer festival at Oxford Town Hall attracts real ale fans

The festival opened in the main hall of the St Aldate's venue last night and continues today and tomorrow.

About 60 breweries are supplying 100 barrels of beer and cider for the festival with the local contingent including 17 from Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties.

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Otherwise beers have been sourced from all over the country, many seldom seen in the city.

Dave Richardson, a spokesman for the Oxford branch of real ale group  CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), which organises the festival, said: "The festival got off to a great start - we opened at 4pm yesterday and about 600 people came through the door.

"Friday is usually our busiest day and we can usually expect more than 1,000 people.

"We are open from 11am until 11pm and it gets very busy in the evening.

"We would encourage those who want a wider choice of beer to come during the day if they can."

Mr Richardson said the festival would reopen at noon tomorrow and could remain open until 11pm or until the beer runs out.

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He added: "There's an opportunity to try different beers from the North East, the South West and Wales - from all over the country and there are some I have never heard of.

"It's such a good choice of beers from around the country and there are lots of different styles - bitter, mild, porters and stouts - there are even beers with special ingredients like chocolate and fruit.

"As well as those speciality beers there are also 20 different ciders - nearly all of them local."

The 'beer of the festival' will be chosen by a tasting panel in a so-called 'blind tasting' session.

There were fears that the festival might not go ahead this year when it was suggested the town hall fees would rise.

But then a deal was agreed between CAMRA and the city council and it went ahead.

Mr Richardson added: "It's an excellent venue and we're grateful to the city council for helping to make this happen - particularly Ed Turner who has been very supportive.

"It's such an attractive hall, it's where the festival has been held for years and we wouldn't want to go anywhere else."

The CAMRA campaigner added that there was plenty of seating available, and food, and said the volunteers serving could offer advice about the styles of beer and whether they were gluten-free or not.

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Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

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