Saturday 25 June 2011

Isn't 40 a bit Old to Start Playing Games?

After booking my flights and room for the Great American Beer Festival I've been thinking. Never a good thing, me thinking. Always seems to create some sort of hoo ha, thinking. People take beer so seriously nowadays!
With The Rake turning 5 years old this year over GBBF I've been wanting to find a different kind of festival. I've had aspirations to organise a 'craft beer festival' myself but there's just no way I'll ever have enough time, anyway, Shock, horror, splutter, craft, keg! Aye keg dispense, and you know what, I don't apologise for liking keg dispense, why should I? After all, some of the best beers on the planet are served from kegs(what's the matter beardies? afraid you're going to taste something?).
I personally think that the UK is screaming for this sort of festival, i.e, one that celebrates all forms of dispense and gives you a greater range of beers to choose from(oh yes he did!).
What the USA does really well is give all forms of dispense, yes keg. bottle, can and cask a great forum to show off their beers. We really don't do that very well at all. What I mean is that if you want to find a great festival you have to go to a small scale festival which doesn't have anywhere near enough budget to throw at advertising.
After all, with CAMRA doing things like this from The Morning Advertiser, what do the rest of the craft beer world have to do to get noticed. Maybe something like GBBF? (Just a suggestion), without the shite, crap, marketing gimmicks like Mascots. After all, if you need a mascot to sell your beer, is it really good enough? And considering how seriously these people supposedly take 'real ale', are you kidding me?
Would you buy a beer from this Penguin?
Tony Jerome as you can see from the piece was quoted as saying 'In CAMRA's 40th year, we are all about raising a toast to the brewing industrys most celebrated figureheads'. Really? By getting them to bring along a mascot? Surley the industry's most celebrated figureheads are worth more than a used Penguin suit? No? Ok then.
Seriously, after 40 years, isn't it time to shake off the jokey, stereotyped image of 'What's the Matter Lagerboy' T-Shirts, socks, sandals and long scruffy beards?

Isn't life supposed to begin at 40?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to go to a beer festival in the UK which has less than 20 beers on but each one isn't one of the breweries regular beers.

rabidbarfly said...

Interesting idea.

Eddie86 said...

If I had more money the beer festival I put on last year would have had keg as well. Might try harder this year as it's over August Bank Holiday instead. If I do I'll give you a bell for thoughts and ideas (and to find out which days you'll be working the bar for me)

Eddie86 said...

And not all 'mascots' are bad:

[img]http://st1.morningadvertiser.co.uk/content/img/articles/89229/230x170.jpg[/img]

rabidbarfly said...

Ed - Bring. It. On. My brain(for the little it's worth) is here for picking.
Can't open that link with a pic tho

Eddie86 said...

http://st1.morningadvertiser.co.uk/content/img/articles/89229/230x170.jpg If that works better? It's only the Hobgoblin girl (giggles childishly)

Anonymous said...

What you on about? You already run the best little beer fest in town ;-)

Matt

Ed said...

I'm not screaming.

rabidbarfly said...

Shocker!