Travels With Nate

Walk up the stairs. Turn the corner. A corridor lined with tables and white drapes. I hear chattering a clinking glasses but I see no beer. Turn right. Ah, a table full of glassware but still no beer. I walk directly to the table and purchase my pint glass. I turn around. Ahh… tables with keg fonts and bottles. I instantly walk towards Brewdog ’s bar as I see my buddy Joe working behind there. He takes my glass and pours me a half of Libertine Black Ale, a beer I already know and love. We take a walk around the room to find more kegs, bottles and familiar faces from twitter. We have a Steen Brugge Wit Blanche from the Palm Breweries and chat to the guy behind the stall who I know only as @SpyRight . The Wit is refreshing. It has the right balance of orange and coriander with a lovely creaminess. Next stop is Curious Drinks to catch up with Pat . I try the IPA and it’s nice but I wasn’t too thrilled with the earthiness of it. I then decide to drink an old love, Curious Brew, ...

Woo! Craft beer! But not just craft beer. Woo! Music! And Woo! Street Food! That’s probably not the most professional start to a festival preview ever but who cares for professionalism these days? Especially when next Friday and Saturday (22 nd & 23 rd of February for those of you who aren’t staring at a calendar right now) is the first ever Craft Beer Rising trade show & consumer beer festival. Set in the grounds of the historic Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in London, Craft Beer Rising is set to be the next big independent beer festivals where the breweries and food producers run their own bars and stalls, serving their beer precisely how that want it to be served and of course there will be music throughout the two days. So, what are the details?

Norwich Beer Festival is always good fun and really well organised although sometimes I find that the beer list lacks what I want. Maybe that’s because I’m a beer snob. I don’t fucking know. This year, however, the list fucking rocked. I thought it would be a good idea to drink (mostly) in thirds because I wouldn’t get so drunk. What a fool I am because I drink the same amount, just more different beers. I went to a few different sessions... I didn't drink all of these in one! I sadly forgot to take photographs.