Friends & Family & Beer Festival 2020
Writing about a beer festival in the times of lockdown and global pandemic doesn’t quite sit right. At the time of writing this I am starting to see some beer festivals announce they are running again which is hopefully a positive sign of things to come.
I haven’t been to a festival since February. Given the events of 2020 this feels like a lifetime ago. It was a smashing event and one of my favourite festivals I’ve ever attended. So sit back and read about more enjoyable times, before the world went to shit, at Friends & Family & Beer.
Friends & Family & Beer is organised by Manchester craft bigwigs Cloudwater with the festival originating in 2019 (and it had a few hiccups). Luckily, everything was in order for 2020. Cloudwater have built a huge reputation for producing excellent brews so I knew it was going to be a good one. The festival is not-for-profit and raises money for Manchester charities so I was more than happy to do my bit to help with the fundraising. The ticket cost £60 which included all pours from any of the breweries. I’ve been to a couple of festivals like this now where you don’t have to worry about cash or tokens and it works brilliantly. Simply walk up and try whatever you want from the array of top notch craft breweries.
The main festival ran over two days. An industry expo and evening session took place on Friday followed by two on Saturday; a daytime and evening session. Other fringe events at local bars took place in the week leading up to the festival making Manchester the craft beer capital for this weekend. We attended the Saturday early session as the early bird gets the best samples...
The festival boasted 327 beers from 64 breweries. These included big names from the UK including Deya, Left Handed Giant, Verdant, Northern Monk among many other smaller and newer breweries. Others came from further afield in Europe, like Sweden’s Dugges, Norway’s Lervig and Denmark’s Mikkeller. Most exciting of all were the plethora of breweries from North America, including Arizona Wilderness, The Veil and Other Half.
Guaranteed pours were also available from some of the most sought after breweries including Omnipollo, Trillium and Other Half. A separate sheet was provided on entry with each sought after brewery listed. Once you’d received your guaranteed pour, the sheet was stamped and you were sent on your merry way. This ensured everyone had a fair chance to try beers by these breweries without everyone scrambling for the favourites.
The festival took place at the Manchester Central Convention Complex. A terrible name for such an impressive venue. This modern convention centre is converted from the original Manchester Central railway station. Something you're reminded of seeing the huge arched roof and windows in the festival room. It also served as a temporary field hospital as part of the coronavirus response… so recent attendees probably haven’t had quite as much fun...
It’s easy to get overwhelmed at a festival like this with so much selection and personally, I think over planning can ruin the fun of the day. Although I wanted to sample the guaranteed pours, I mostly picked my pours at random from breweries I had not heard of or that had travelled some distance to attend. Particular favourites were Origin of Darkness, a collaboration by CRAK and Collective Arts. This was a rich pastry stout, with chocolate and pistachio cannoli. The type of indulgence you seek out at a festival such as this.
Threads, a modern day version of a british strong ale (similar to barley wine) made by Trillium in collaboration with Monkish, Other Half, Cloudwater and The Veil was top notch. Strong but sweet and full of vanilla bean flavour.
The most outstanding beer I had though was Cinnamon Baked Pear Sour by Evil Twin, a fantastic sweet, sour and spicy concoction that wasn’t far from Christmas. I also enjoyed The White Sow, a mint chocolate chip milk stout by The While Hag Irish Brewing Company which really was like drinking mint choc chip ice cream.
There was also a lot of awesome grub on sale from the various food stalls dotted along one side of the main festival room. I picked up a platter of some delicious steamed bao buns with three different fillings that went down very well. Craft beer festivals always have the best food.
I don’t know if the festival will be running in 2021 yet but I’m really glad that I made it to this one. Hopefully things will improve in the new year and we will all be able to enjoy some quality beers in the company of friends without the impending fear of death.
