Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival

This past weekend there was the 29th annual Pig’s Ear Beer & Cider Festival in Hackney, East London.  As “CAMRA” (Campaign for Real Ale) members, it only cost us 2 pounds (about $3.20) to enter.

Beer festivals in the UK are very different from what I’ve seen at beer festivals in the US. In the US, you pay one set price and that covers your sample glass and all the beer you can drink during the length of the festival. In the UK, at the CAMRA festivals, you pay for beer as you go.  Definitely seems more civilized this way and not just a contest to get drunk in the shortest amount of time.  Let me caveat that by saying that doesn’t mean people don’t like to get drunk in London. Go to an English pub on any weeknight, especially around the end of the month at pay day, and you’ll see what I mean.

However, I think running the festival this way is a nice change from what I see in the U.S. You can order a half pint or a full pint of beer but you have a large amount of choices. At this festival in particular there were over 150 choices of real ales, ciders and perries from a variety of breweries, many local within East London.

It was held at the Round Chapel building, which was at one time a church, built in the 1860s, and is now a community and arts venue.

I started with a half pint of Blackwood Stout from Grain Brewery, located in South Norfolk, England. It was both smooth and malty, had a great flavor. I’m not a huge fan of cask beers in general. I’ve enjoyed trying them and think I need to develop a better understanding of cask beers and real ales now that we’re in London, but usually don’t find them to be suited to what I normally like.  However, I would order the Grain Blackwood Stout again.

My husband had the Brewers Swansong Chocolate stood from the Borough Arms Brewery in  Cheshire, England and was very happy with the flavor and quality of his beer.

These festivals bring in a variety of people, young and old. I saw some interesting looks/outfits as well –  cowboy hats, long haired men, people who brought their own picnics to the festival (sandwiches and plastic tupperware containers filled with chips/crisps, peanuts and other snacks), and a few people whose shirts were a little too tight to fit their pot bellies.

But that isn’t stopping me! I think I’m going to volunteer for the next CAMRA festival. There’s one in the Battersea area of London in February.  The whole festival is staffed with volunteers, which is pretty amazing in itself.  And I can learn a lot more about beer this way.

Nothing like the literal slogan above from Colchester Brewery.

A fun Saturday afternoon in Hackney. Considering this was the 29th annual Pig’s Ear festival, you can only imagine what’s in store next year for the 30th one!