A festival of superlatives would be the best way to describe
this year’s SIBA South East Beer Festival, which once again was hosted
by Tonbridge Juddians Rugby Club. This was the 11th
such event and, as in previous years, the festival took place in a spacious
marquee erected in front of TJ’s clubhouse.
For me, the best aspect has always been the family nature of
the festival, with the club’s large marquee opening out onto part of the
playing area, giving plenty of room for people to sit out and soak up the sun,
along with the beer. I missed the opening Friday evening session, but on
Saturday afternoon my wife and I headed down to the rugby club, where we met up
with her two nieces, one of their partners, a few friends and the odd dog.
We brought our folding chairs along with various items of
food to enjoy with the beer, and with the weather staying fair (wall to wall
sunshine, in fact), it was a question of applying plenty of sunscreen and
trying to stay cool. The majority of festival goers were sitting outside
enjoying the fine weather, leaving plenty of space inside the marquee and ample
room to move about and peruse the rows of different casks. There were also a
number of live acts lined up, to entertain the crowds.
Before the festival throws its doors open to the public, the
beers are judged. This after all is a contest for places in the SIBA SouthEast Region Competition. The number
of brewers exhibiting this year was 62; down slightly on last year’s total of
74. Between them they mustered 187 different cask ale across nine separate
categories, and were sourced from
brewers in the counties of Berkshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle
of Wight, Kent, London and Surrey, which together make up the SIBA
South East Region.
The tasting and judging of the beers takes place earlier on
Friday, and I know several people who volunteer as judges each year. I was
asked to judge as well, but declined due to a combination of work commitments,
along with the fact I prefer to drink and enjoy my beer, rather than attempting
to pigeon-hole and assess it against others. Besides, I am not overly bothered
as to which beers won awards in the various categories, although I am obviously
pleased for the individual brewers.
As in previous years, all beers were priced at one token per
half pint, regardless of strength, which certainly made life easier for the
mathematically challenged amongst us. Tokens were priced at £1.70 each. I
didn’t go overboard on the sampling, but I enjoyed most of the beers I sampled
and the ones which really stood out were:
Five Points XPA 4.0% – from Five Points Brewing; Skyline American
Pale Ale 5.3% from London Brewing Co and Signature Pale 4.1% plus Backstage IPA 5.6%,
both from Signature Brew.
We stayed until around 9pm,
just as the sun slowly began to sink behind the trees at the fringe of Tonbridge
Sportsground. It was as fine a summer’s evening as one could wish for, and
the perfect end to what had been a most enjoyable day. This annual beer
festival really has come into its own, and has been taken to heart by the good
townsfolk of Tonbridge. It is now firmly fixed in the local social calendar, and
is talked about long after each event – surely the ultimate accolade!
As ever thanks go to Tonbridge Juddians, and all
their hard-working volunteers, for once again, putting on such an excellent and
highly enjoyable festival, and to the brewers from SIBA South-East , who for
provided such a fine range of beers.
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