Great British Beer Festival
Sunday 08/12/2007 6:17 PM (In the United Kingdom: 11:17 PM)
When I was on the tube between Heathrow and my hotel on Thursday evening, I saw a sign for an event that I knew I'd need to attend and document the next night:
That's right: the 30th Annual Great British Beer Festival at Earl's Court, hosted by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale).
In case you're wondering, "Real Ale," according to the CAMRA website is "a type of beer defined by its traditional production. Also known as 'cask conditioned' beer; the fundamental distinction between real and other ales is that the yeast is still present in the container from which the beer is served, although it will have settled to the bottom and is not poured into the glass."
I was only there for an hour (there was a little too much testosterone packed into the exhibition hall ... the largest event I've ever attended with absolutely NO line for the ladies' room), but I got some pictures of Brits at their finest -- stupid hats, pink hair, and all:
There was also an aging David Bowie cover band:
And, of course, taps as far as the eye could see:
And the first time I've ever seen guarded "beer check" tables outside the toilets:
I also thought this was pretty funny: different districts of the UK were represented, as one would expect ...
... you get the idea, right? But then, in the farthest corner from the entrance and across the exhibition hall from the band, I found this sign:
So, in the name of research, I braved the drunken crowd to get some photos for you, but I called it an early night and headed home ... right around the time I saw this guy:
Almost forgot: I also saw this tshirt for sale at the Beer Festival (sort of odd since nearly all of the other ones had something to do with drinking):
I know, I probably should have bought it, but I didn't.
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