The Sunderland Octoberfest is currently underway so here are some notes on what has happened so far.
The first day of set up was Monday ; I was on my way back from a holiday in Madiera so missed all the hard graft - loading all the bar racking and other assorted heavy stuff from our lockup into the venue, the Bonded Warehouse near the Sunderland Fish Quay. The beers, ciders and festival glasses had all been delivered last week to Maxim Brewery for safe keeping. ( thanks guys !). So....
Part 1 - Tuesday set up day.
Tuesday
4th October , bright and early. Correction, not bright but early. I'm
waiting to be picked up in a hired van to collect the beers etc from Maxim Brewery - time for me to do some work !
While waiting to be picked up, time to reflect on the holiday week, having returned the previous evening. 7 days of heat lazing in the sun. And , no sign of any "Craft Beers or Black IPAs anywhere".
While waiting to be picked up, time to reflect on the holiday week, having returned the previous evening. 7 days of heat lazing in the sun. And , no sign of any "Craft Beers or Black IPAs anywhere".
Anyhow, we had to do 2 trips from the brewery and while this to- ing and fro- ing was going on the bar racking and bar front were being installed in the venue.
Also available were some large brewery banners from Maxim and Camerons, two of our sponsors. The Camerons banner was huge and at various stages throughout the day some of the guys made many aborted attempts to find somewhere to hang it. The warehouse has a small paved area at the back with a high fence so, at last a home for the banner !. ( see photo) . I have heard that since it went up it could be seen from the International Space Station !
There are many things that need doing to get a festival ready, some of which has already been mentioned. There is also the technical stuff ; installing the beer lines, connecting the chillers, and fixing the handpulls to the bar. While all this was happening, two of us were tidying up the waterproof sheeting that covered the bar top and front. Yours truly, wearing a fetching pair of knee pads, demonstrated his skills trimming the plastic so it was less of a tripping hazard and to make it aesthetically pleasing. Although looking back, I guess the punters would be more interested at looking at the pump clips than what the bar looked like.
Tuesday
ended with all beer set up , connected to handpulls, nicely polished
with their pump clips ready for Thursday and the Grand Opening.
Part 2 - Thursday and the Grand Opening.
This
would be my last day at the festival as a family weekend was planned in
Glasgow. Difficult decision, beer festival or some great real ale pubs
in Glasgow.
What I like about working at a beer festival, as well as being part of a team that helped set it up, is meeting the punters that come to enjoy some great beers.
27 beers and 6 ciders and perry's were on offer. Soon after opening one guy came straight across to pump number one ( Arbier Renaissance ) and boldly stated he was going to work his way along all the beers. In a way he was the perfect customer because I could work out from behind the bar which beer he was going to have next.
Unfortunately, after number 9 , ( half pints ) he lost his place and couldn't remember where he was up to- neither could I but we had an educated guess . Soon after that I never saw him again - he may have dozed off somewhere ; although he did say he was coming back on Saturday - let's hope they didn't run out for him.
There' s that term "craft" again ! - ed
So, in between pulling beers, and drinking them, I had a great time and the 5 hour session just flew by. My favourite beer I hadn't had before was Maxim - Maximum Speed and favourite beer I had had before was Elland 1872 Porter.
Already looking forward to next year.
Next issue - food and drink in Glasgow
