Beer fans enjoyed an array of tasty tipples at the weekend as CAMRA Kernow celebrated 'the best festival it has run to date' in Falmouth.
Over the course of Friday and Saturday, staff at the 2013 Falmouth Beer Festival poured more than 18,000 pints of beer to real ale lovers from across the county and in excess of 7,000 pints of perry, cider and ginger beer.
There were some changes for this year’s festival, with the introduction of a third of a pint measure which organiser Gerry Wills said should “give people the opportunity to try more of the beers”, and which he said had received a positive response.
There was also a web app allowing drinkers to access up-to-the-minute bar lists via smartphones and tablets, which received 76,000 hits during the festival.
CAMRA press officer Fran Brennan, who developed the app as a basic version the day before the event, said: “I built the app to try and circumvent the problem of not being able to update our printed programme. The programme is as accurate as it can be when it goes to press but as barrels run out and/or get replaced we felt it would be great if we could find some way to let people know in real time.”
Penryn-based brewery Rebel Brewing Co had a successful festival, as its chocolate Mexi-Cocoa stout took first place in the Specialty Beers category and also won the Champion Cornish Ale of the Festival award.
Guillermo Alvarez head brewer at Rebel, said: “We couldn’t be more delighted. It’s just brilliant that so many people like our beer.”
The 2013 festival will be the last for organiser Gerry, who has announced plans to step down from his position.
He said: “I’ll be looking for someone from within the branch to shadow me over the coming months and during the course of our next event – the St Ives Beer Festival in July 2014 – with a view to taking over the role of organiser.”
CAMRA Kernow said it was “absolutely delighted” at the success of the Falmouth Festival and that Gerry had been “instrumental in making the festival what it is today.”
The festival attracted ale-drinkers from as far away as Finland and the US, with American Brewing News writer Stephen Hodos travelling from New York to serve as a staff member and pour pints during the weekend.
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