GBBF week...

As I pointed out in my last post, my first official week for Hardknott could not have been timed better - GBBF week. The following is an attempt to thank all the people I met and spoke to...

Dave and Ann had managed to wangle a ticket to the trade session for me, this being the best opportunity to meet all the people whom I had previously been talking to on twitter as well as following their blogs.

So it was an early start for me on the Tuesday, catching the train down to London. It seems that half of the brewing community in South Cumbria was gathered on the same train down the west coast mainline. I met up with Ben from Hawkshead Brewery at Lancaster station, and once on the train he was joining up with Matt and the rest of the Hawkshead boys. Roger Humphreys and his Cumbria Legendary Ales team were also on the train already, as we all discovered when we got on the platform at Euston 3 hours later. I travelled across London with the Hawkshead crew, which was a great opportunity to catch up with them.

Once at Earls Court, it was difficult not to be impressed by the scale of the event. I am by no means a CAMRA supporter - I admire what they have done in the last 40 years, however they seem to be out of touch with the progress made in brewing and the latest techniques and flavours - that all said, the organisation that must've gone into the event would be immense.

Setting my priorities right, I got a pint first (A Cape Cod IPA from the American bar, very tasty), then set off in search of Dave and Ann. Their advice was to head straight for the Bieres Sans Frontieres bar, a task not made easy by the virtue of there being 3 in total. I wandered round for a full ten minutes, from the American Bar, to the Dutch/Belgian bar, on to the Czech/German bar. It was only when I returned to the American bar, to almost the exact point where I had bought my first pint, that Dave suddenly appeared, chatting with Dean from Mr Foley's in Leeds and Jonathan Queally.

"Ah," he says, "We're over there, on the table by the pillar."

Hadn't thought about looking around tables...

I went and sat down next to Ann and was introduced (by Twitter name) to @Kristym809 (Kristy McCready), @Robsterowski (Rob), @Aletalk (Steve), @BeerreviewsAndy (Andy Mogg) and @Jamesbwxm (James).

As far as what I was drinking, my notes just aren't as comprehensive as they ought to be. I can tell you what I had and I can tell you whether I liked it or not, but for the most part I can't say why (if that makes sense). I tried a variety of the beers on the American bar, the best of which was probably a Lagunitas IPA which I had towards the end (my notes just say "WOW", in quite scrawly handwriting.

In the meantime, on my travels to and from various bars, I met up with Zak Avery, Glyn Roberts, Stuart Howe and Nigel Stevenson. Not to mention Jeff Pickthall, who was staying studiously close to the Czech bar, particularly the Broumov Coriander beer. It was also great to see the Cumbria Legendary crowd, especially given their fantastic win in the Champion Golden Ale category for Loweswater Gold. Great beer and great people too, thoroughly deserved.

I feel like I've waffled enough here, so I'll turn this into a two-parter and tell you all about IPA Day at Mr Foley's next time I think.

Until then...