Beer & Cider Festivals

From the outset we have always planned to sell the majority of our cider through local pubs, and if we decide to bottle any of our cider in the future, there are also a few local farm shops we would love to supply. Beer festivals have never really figured in our plans, not because we dislike them, far from it, it's more because we wanted to establish a 'local' market for our ciders. Beer festivals are often very enjoyable events, and there's no doubt they can be a great showcase for the ciders of smaller producers like ourselves, but I see little point in giving exposure to ciders at festivals which cannot then be tracked down in regular outlets.

In the past we have sent barrels of our cider to festivals in Leicester, Newcastle, Northampton, and Reading , as well as several of the smaller pub festivals which are now commonplace throughout the Summer months. Supplying this number of events can seriously stretch our limited supplies of cider, and so we've decided that this year our cider will only be going to our regular pub outlets (Criterion, Leicester & Hatton Arms, Gretton), plus two excellent local CAMRA beer festivals.

The Northampton Beer Festival takes place in the grounds of Delapre Abbey in Northampton, from Thursday 29th to Saturday 31st May. If the sun shines, as it did last year, it is a lovely under-canvas event, with a good range of draught cider available at the 'Mad Apples Cider Bar'.

Later on in the Summer we will be supplying our ciders to three of the pubs which take part in the popular Welland Valley Beer Festival (20th - 22nd June). This event takes part in several Welland Valley pubs, including our local Red Lion in Middleton (pictured right), and has the added attraction of a vintage bus service which links the pubs on the Saturday of the festival.

Further details of both these festivals will appear on the Northants CAMRA website nearer the date: http://www.northantscamra.org.uk