NEW INN CROPTON BEER FESTIVAL

Earlier this year, in May 2015,  Mrs Ken found on T'internet a special offer not to be sniffed at. Dinner, Bed and Breakfast at the New Inn Cropton, including a trip round their own brewery.

The  Great Yorkshire Brewery, perhaps better known as Cropton Brewery, is in the village of Cropton close to the North York Moors National Park and  near Pickering, . The New Inn is the Brewery tap. 


After our tour, we adjourned to the bar for some free sampling ( well why else do it ?) when one of the locals happened to mention that a Beer and Live Music Festival was being held in November. Apparently it has been held for the last 20 years. Given that the first night coincides with my birthday in November, it was a no brainer to book another overnighter to visit their 21^st festival. 

 

At the back of the pub a large marquee had been erected when we arrived mid afternoon. I managed to sneak in before proceedings started at 6pm. At one end was a small stage for the two bands that were to perform later , at the other end  was the beer. I immediately noticed something different. ( Have a close look at the picture below ) Well for a start the casks don't have any chillers, the principle reason being it

was bloody cold ( less than 7deg). Also note no piping to handpulls !. All beer was served by gravity. Chatting to the head brewer later that night, he said it saved a hell of a lot of time and effort just having stand alone casks. Every beer was in perfect condition , just the right temperature. One bonus was that as it was fairly dark later, the barmaids couldn't see the half pint line on my glass so every beer I asked for in the bottom row was served about half an inch above the line. Great !

Obviously the brewery itself showcased their own beers, eight in total being available in the pub's two bars. The brewery with the most beers ( in the marquee) was Wentworths ( South Yorks) with seven, three of which were stouts. One of these, Frambrozen Noir had an aroma and taste of sweet raspberrys. Gorgeous ! There was one North East representative , Camerons Gold Bullion. Having said that , there were choices from all over the UK. 

Now getting back to mine host the head brewer. He was helping out behind the bar while the first band was on ( cant recall their name but very good doing guitar based covers) He was also helping himself to the beers,  one in particular- Vocation Divide and Conquer - a 6.4% Black IPA. Now I don't do black Indian Pale Ale - emphasis on the words Black and  Pale- but everyone who came to his part of the bar was persuaded to try it, He kept saying it was the best beer at the festival, even better that the ones he brewed himself ! I had one just to shut him up. Saw him the next morning in the bar when we were checking out and he looked decidedly worse for wear, more so than me!

Now I believe I may have a Doppelganger ! After the first band had finished we moved into the pub conservatory and sat on a table opposite a couple. Hello she said, I remember you from last year's festival . Me :- Er I don't think so, this is our first time.   The look on her face was priceless. These people who drink to much. Shocking !


I would thoroughly recommend checking out this place to either stay over, visit the brewery or the beer festival or all three !  Its one of the best festivals I have ever been to. There was a cover charge of £3 which included a glass, and every pint was £3 , so good value. People we chatted to return regularly. Great birthday night  ; we will certainly go back next year .

.Check out Pub and Brewery here