IoM leads ale fest charge with complete sell-out
By: JimOldfield
April 28th, 2012
The Isle Of Man’s first beer festival went down a storm – with EVERY single beer, cider, perry and wine selling out on the third and final night (Saturday, April 14)!
More than 60 real ales went up on sale – but by the Saturday morning, half had already sold out and organisers kept up an Internet tally of remaining ales as they swiftly fell away in the hands of some 1,500 real ale enthusiasts.
In the end they supped their way through a staggering 4,500 pints of beer, together with 800 pints of cider and perry!
The festival – held at the Masonic Hall in Douglas – was a pilot event and organisers from Isle of Man CAMRA, who “hope to grow the festival slowly over the coming years”, admitted that the turnout was beyond their wildest dreams.
For more information, together with forthcoming members’ pictures of the event, visit the website below.
At the same time, 100 ales were being showcased at the annual Coventry Beer Festival – among them new local brewers Byatts who launched last year to become the city’s first commercial brewery in 90 years.
Byatts was joined at the event by two new Warwickshire breweries – Old Pie Factory in Warwick and Sperrim Brewery, based at the Lord Nelson pub in Ansley.
As 2,000-plus visitors flocked into Butts Park Arena, Shropshire brewer Salopian took the crown for the top West Midlands golden ale, with its Oracle ale
