GBBF: The Evolutionary Spirit*

*With apologies to legendary scouse combo, The Wild Swans

My one day out to GBBF 2010 was the Trade Day. It's changed a lot since I first went in 2000. Then, you had a lot more trade attendees - crisp and snack sellers, hospitality trade businesses - who would check in for the Tuesday afternoon to schmooze with decision-makers then disappear like Wills o'the Wisp before Joe Cask turned up. Brewers and brewery bigwigs showed their faces, bought one another a beer, maybe collected a gong off Roger Protz, and were gone.

A few years back, Trade Day changed. I think it changed as Bieres Sans Frontieres, the GBBF foreign beer bar, changed. The word was out about US craft beer, and canny drinkers and their sutlers, the RB and BA types, knew they could find beer that wasn't coming to Britain outside of the fest. Scandinavia and Japan, The Netherlands, all got in on the act, making BSF the most interesting place to drink. The upshot was that, from opening time on Day One, there were punters in.

These days, you don't see any hospitality tradespeople, and the brewers are the faces of their breweries to increasing numbers of regular drinkers. I think that's a good thing, generally. Shepherd Neame have evolved their space into a brewery 'experience' with brewers on hand to chat about using new hops. There were also plenty of London-area Sheps managers in attendance. Wells & Youngs shared the Boggle 'best tee shirt' prize for their Eagle IPA shirt, along with the striking Moor Brewing shirts. Skinners sent the Falmouth Marine Band to accompany their singers, and the irrepressible John Keeling was generous with his time and the Fullers expense account. He also launched Brewers' Reserve No. 2 and all proceeds from this week's cask sales will go to charity.

Zak Avery and Glyn Roberts have offered their own views. Glyn's is telling, to me. He notes the number of events timed to coincide with GBBF. I've commented before about the effectiveness of Cask Week, which doesn't have a focal point. I suppose if you could take GBBF on the road and give other UK cities the chance to make a week-long festival of it, then we'd be on to something.

CAMRA's GBBF organising team have tinkered with the layout of the bars, but Earls Court is a very defined and constraining space which hampers any significant layout changes. I personally found the new 'alphabetized by region' bars confusing, though I do like the theming. The big change is that BSF now has a whole bar 'island' more or less to itself (it's sharing with glasses this year). The US/RoW bar appears to be the single longest bar in the place, and this year they have 80 casks of beer and fridges full of bottles, some of which are recent arrivals to our shores.

This growth is supported by the US Brewers' Association Export Development Program under the stewardship of Bob Pease. Remarkably, the UK is currently their second biggest market after Sweden, but they are seeing room for big growth, and they are able to smooth the path for subscribing members who want to export, to take advantage of US government and logistical help. Bob says that plenty of brewers are interested, and that he is taking back requests to US brewers like Russian River. When I see what an umbrella body like the BA can deliver for their members, it does prompt a rueful smile. Interests in UK brewing are so splintered and sometimes opposed, that developing something like this seems a long way off. Having said that, a representative from UK Trade & Investment was there. Hopefully he can push at some open doors...

From Left: Doug Odell & Steve Holt; Bob Pease & Martin Hayes from Cask; Don Burgess;
Matthew Waldron, UK Trade & Investment

The CBoB announcement was a bit of an anti-climax, but there was a first gold medal for Thornbridge Jaipur in the Strong Ale category. Once again, no love for Dark Star Hophead, which has never even medalled here. I can't believe there are three better Golden Ales on the day, but it happens most years. What do I know? Castle Rock's delicious (but not as delicious as Hophead) Harvest Pale won CBoB for the second time.

I leave you with this. A snap of the coming wave in British brewing. In shot you have two CBoB gold-medal winning brewers in Mark Tranter from Dark Star and Kelly Ryan of Thornbridge, while standing to my right was Evin O'Riordain of SIBA-winning Kernel Brewing in London. Justin Hawke of Moor Brewing won silver in the Bitter category for Revival, David Bailey of Hardknott (site under construction) and Dominic Driscoll from Marble Brewing are brewing interesting and desirable beers while Phil Lowry attracted my attention here with his efforts at Brew Wharf. These brewers are seeing increased demand, two of them have seen their breweries triple in size, and they are innovating and doing all the things that UK brewers aren't supposed to be capable of. Seek out their beers!

David Bailey (Hardknott), Dominic Driscoll (Marble), Mark Tranter (Dark Star), Kelly Ryan (Thornbridge), Phil Lowry (brewing at Brew Wharf), Justin Hawke (Moor Brewing)
Edit: Thanks to Kelly Ryan for putting names to faces!

Hard (K)not(t) To Like These...

See what I did there?

So, as I write, The Rake in Borough Market is hosting an evening of beers brewed by David Bailey, lately a publican and award-winning blogger but now turning his hand to larger-scale brewing as Hardknott Brewing. Glyn Roberts at The Rake had approached David with an offer to feature his beers and lo, it came to pass...

I popped along at kick-off to sample the precious pong and hopefully say 'hullo' to Mrs & Mrs Hardknott. As I arrived, Glyn had arrayed the beers across his three beer engines, with cellar runs available for the fourth. Dave and Ann had supplied Continuum, Cool Fusion, Dark Energy and Infra Red in cask, while Aether Blaec and Granite were available in bottles.

I quickly ran through the cask offerings in half-pints to see what I liked. The sensation of the early evening is Cool Fusion, a 4.4% golden ale with ginger and chili. The ticker contingent had settled on this and were enthusing about it with the rest of the gathering. Ginger ales might be the hipster sup du jour, but this isn't your Crabbies. This is subtle, a spicy nose and vibrant refreshing mouthfeel, the ginger not overpowering, and a long finish when the chili announces itself. Some resiny notes in there as well.

The Dark Energy Stout is 4.9%, a concoction from the mad scientist's lab, with a complex grain bill and generous hopping. I'm a fan of Storm King stout from Victory Brewing in Downingtown, PA, and a mention of astringency in dark beers had Dave musing on earlier versions of Dark Energy where this characteristic was more noticeable. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing, but I say go for it! A big earthy nose with a suggestion of red fruit (raspberries, I thought), the hops dancing all over the palate and a long roasty finish with hints of dark chocolate. A complex and very drinkable stout.

The Infra Red IPA at 6.2% was ruby, bright and inviting. Cascade on the nose, a warming viscous mouthfeel and the Centennial hops arrive late to provide a slow and lazy mouthful. An insidious IPA, this one. No hop beast getting in your face, more tapping you on the shoulder asking if you'd mind kindly stepping outside for a little chat.

Dave brought along a couple of them Northern sparklers, so we were treated to some experimentation with the Cool Fusion and Dark Energy. I've never had an opinion of beers dispensed through a sparkler, though as a Southerner there's been a natural suspicion that the beer will come out as flat as a pancake with a 3-inch head. However, a trip to Yorkshire last year immediately disabused me of those prejudices. 23 pubs in eight towns in two and a half days will clarify your thinking about some things.

There were also snifters of the bottled beers: Aether Blaec, the 8% stout aged in whisky casks, and Granite, the 10.4% barley wine. Ann pronounced herself a fan of the latter, and I would concur. Dave brewed it by boiling for 24 hours to reduce the wort, then dry-hopped during maturation. I don't think he meant it, but this beer is suggestive of some of the better American seasonal barleywines: not boozy, some balancing bitterness from the hops but reminiscent of a port wine. Try and get hold of a SPH Old Herb, or an Anchor Old Foghorn and see for yourself.

The Aether is an obvious cousin of the Dark Energy, but there's vanilla on the nose and it's warming and not overly phenolic or boozy as some barrel-aged beers can be.

My time tonight was short but sweet. Dave is an enthusiastic and curious brewer, and he admits he's still learning. His beer names are playful and give away his love of the sciences, and his branding is distinctive and modern. He has plans for some of his beers, and I saw he and Burnley Dave from the Wenlock Arms deep in conversation before I left.

Look these beers out, and enjoy...