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Tom Hall
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W
e all turn into our parents eventually, or so the saying goes.
In my younger days, my dad insisted I was missing out on the
world of real ales, with their antiquated names and feudal
iconography.
My first beer was consumed on my 18th birthday and not a day
earlier, obviously. The lifeless, fizzy concoction I pretended to
enjoy was popularised in the mid-80s, and carried a brand slogan
proclaiming it to be the best lager in the world, probably.
The craft beer boom in the late 2000s proved that ‘probably’, was an
optimistic adverb as the UK woke up to the dizzying variety of flavours
that the world’s brewing boffins could muster. I, meanwhile, grudgingly
accepted that my dad had a point.
The festival market, however, has been slower to catch up. The
plethora of lacklustre beers has been down to strict licensing deals and
out-dated business models that made for slim, Soviet-style, pickings
at green site bars.
Our cover feature (p28) charts the rise of craft beer events and
examines how festivals are embracing diversity and quality in their
beverages. We also review Cocktails In The City (p15), an event that
brought together some of the country’s finest mixologists.
Meanwhile, the rise of supermarkets at festivals is examined as
a potential threat to the unique food and beverage experience that
festivals are famous for (p18).
Overall, though choice is emerging as the real winner at modern
events. And we’ll drink to that.
Tom Hall, Editor
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