Change of venue leads to GBBF triumph
The new Earls Court venue for the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) has been hailed a great success.
The eagerly anticipated change of venue from Olympia was welcomed by both brewers and visitors, attracting record numbers of more than 66,000 people between August 1 and 5. The significant millionth visitor to the festival also walked through the doors on Thursday, August 3 while the trade day boasted a record 5,400 attendees.
Cains sold out of both its lager and Raisin Beer early on Friday evening. Sudarghara Dusanj, joint managing director of Cains Brewery said: "The move to Earls Court was really good. When we were at Olympia it always seemed to be empty because you could see that second floor, but Earls Court is in a much more 24-hour part of London and it didn't stop being busy, even into Saturday when it usually tails off."
Sarah McGhie, spokeswoman for Charles Wells Brewery was also pleased with the new venue. "The event was great and seemed a lot better because there seemed to be more space. We also had a lot more younger people attending and there was a lot of sampling going on. With the record attendance our beers sold out-just under 5,000 pints of them.
Stephen Crawley, managing director of the Caledonian Brewing Company, previous Champion Beer of Britain winners with Deuchars was also enthusiastic about the new venue.
He said: "The GBBF was a great showcase for our beers, especially with the introduction of our new product, Caledonian XPA and we were delighted with the consumer interest. In fact, such was the demand for our beers that the pumps of the Deuchars bar ran dry and emergency stocks had to be summoned! In just 4 days of the Festival we sold over 7,500 pints from the Deuchars Bar."
CAMRA Festival organiser Marc Holmes said: "This year's attendance has been phenomenal. It is likely that the change of venue from our former home at Olympia and the introduction of third of a pint measures roused peoples' curiosity, and the numbers were way up this year."
