Solihull Beer Festival
2009 Festival: More Beers Than Ever Before!
The 11th Solihull Beer Festival will take place on 2-3 October 2009 at Solihull Royal British Legion.
Following the huge success of last year's festival we are laying on even more beer - there will be no fewer than 40 interesting and unusual ales lined up. There will also be entertainment, with morris dancing for the Saturday afternoon session and live music for Saturday evening.
Once again, there will be a display of malt and hops allowing you to touch and smell the natural ingredients which go into Real Ale. Hot and cold food will be available at all sessions.
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| Session day |
Times |
Admission |
Special attractions |
| Friday 2nd October |
5:30 pm - 11:00 pm |
£2 |
Official opening by Malcolm Stent |
| Saturday 3rd |
11:30 am - 3:30 pm |
£1 |
Dancing by Silhill Morris Men |
| Saturday 4th |
5:30 pm - 11:00 pm |
£2 |
Live music from Emma Kotka Band |
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We are using a token system again this year to minimise queueing on the door and at the bar. You pay a fixed £10 on the door for your entry card, which includes:
- Your admission (with a £1 discount for card-carrying CAMRA members),
- £2 deposit on your commemorative glass (when you leave you can reclaim your deposit or keep the glass),
- The rest in refundable beer tokens (any unspent tokens can be cashed in or donated to our chosen charity - last year we raised £183 for Diabetes UK).
Top up token cards are also available for £5 each.
You will also be able to vote for the Beer of the Festival. The winning beer will be announced at the end of Saturday evening.
2008 Festival Breaks New Records
Our tenth annual festival proved to be our most successful to date at the British Legion, Solihull. Having run out of beer by 8:30pm on the Saturday last year we upped the order this year but still ran out by 9pm! This was due to attendance being up by over 20% compared to last year. Indeed, Saturday lunchtime attendance was up by 100%!
First beer to run out was O'Hanlons Yellow Hammer followed by the Champion Beer of Britain 2008 Triple fff Alton's Pride, whilst Beer of the festival was Bob's Chardonnayle followed by Pictish Liberty and Thornbridge Jaipur. Eleven new members were signed up and we raised £183 for Diabetes UK from returned beer tokens. Festival Organiser Steve Dyson said, "The bar staff worked really hard over the weekend to serve people as quickly as possible and they all give their time for free".
2007 Festival Exceeds Expectations
Marking Solihull CAMRA's 25th anniversary, the 9th Solihull Beer Festival, which took place on 5-6 October 2007, was a record breaker. Terrific support from the local press ensured the largest attendance yet at Solihull Royal British Legion,
so much so that the 30 festival ales ran out two hours before closing time on the Saturday.
Astonished organisers have already said that more beer will be lined up for the next festival. Fortunately the Legion's own bar also serves a selection of real ales, and drinkers were able to enjoy the event to the very end.
The atmosphere was fantastic throughout. Irish folk group Cairde were especially popular, and there were even outbreaks of dancing (great fun but, given the mellow state of many of the dancers, unlikely to win many votes on Strictly Come Dancing!)
The specially-brewed anniversary ale, Tunnel's Solihull Silver Shield, was in great demand, and ultimately the festival-goers voted it Beer of the Festival. Other especially popular brews included Church End's Pilgrim Father and Son, Rooster's Wild Mule, Fernandes Bier Keller Bitter and Pictish Mandala (named after the Buddhist symbol, not the South African premier!)
2006 Festival Sets New Standards
The 8th Solihull Beer Festival, which took place on 29-30 September, went down well with its hundreds of attendees - as did the 32 different cask-conditioned beers were enthusiastically drunk. The Beer of the Festival was voted as Pictish Brewery's Alchemists Ale.
I K Brunel, whose 200th birthday falls this year and whose "likeness" appeared on commemmorative tee-shirts and glasses, would also have been proud of the festival's innovative spirit in the form of two interactive displays. Attendees were invited to feel and smell a range of hop varietes kindly donated by branch member Bob Jackson and local breweries Tunnel and Weatheroak (many thanks to all three), and to browse an offline version of this website through a touch-screen display.
2005 Festival a Great Success
Solihull's 7th Beer Festival - 643 Delighted Drinkers drink the festival dry before 10.00 p.m on Saturday! Another resounding success.
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