CAMRA Chelmsford Beer Fest

So Wednesday night, my friends, my sister and I went to the CAMRA Chelmsford Beer Festival, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts this was a Chelsmfordienne debut on the Beer Fest Scene – so I was eager to try it.

I was a little worried about the weather, and made sure I had some boots and my ‘poncho in a pocket’ in preparation for any oncoming rain, frankly we were very lucky and even when it did rain, we got under the big marquees, and there was a great atmosphere inside them.  We saw some people we knew, it wasn’t too too busy, and as it was the beginning of the Festival, none of the better beers had run out.

We were off and ready with glass and programmes in hand with a guide to all the beers on offer, there was a lot to choose from and I was not sure where to start. My boyfriend advised that my sister and I should start off with the Cider, we had half a pint of Springfield Red Cider. It is always best to get a half pint, that way if you don’t like it, you don’t have a whole pint to drink – not that such situation happened to me!

After our cider we moved onto Belgian Beer, I have been known to dabble with a couple of Belgian beers before, and these are a lot more palatable for those who aren’t hardened beer/real ale drinkers!  We had, chocolate flavour, Kriek cherry flavour, coconut (my favourite as it was almost a pina-colada-esque beer) and Babar (with a honey kick). The Belgian beers were my favs.

There was a little quiz that you could take part in, which was run by CAMRA, live music and food.  I was especially tempted by the Pie Emporium - you can check their website out here for their delicious delights!

The more I drank, the more I liked it, we probably had around 5 half pints each in total.  It made such a change, plus it was mid-week drinking, something I do not make enough time for clearly!

The ambiance was great, people were on top form, the fact it was raining outside made no difference, it wasn’t muddy at all.

Can I please remind you to sign the petition to ‘save the British Pint’ for all you pub punters and beer guzzlers, it’s important to stop this beer escalation tax. Just think of poor Pip in your local pub (I am sure you all have one), soon he won’t be able to afford all those beers he necks, and there will certainly be no chance for you by the time you reach his age!

For all those Beer Festival regulars, you will not be disappointed and for those who are First Timers like me, then get yourself down there for a Big Beautiful Beer experience – trust me, even if you think you are not keen on beer, like myself, there is certainly something for everyone!

Please do make a comment if you do have the time to make it down there!