Update to beer list

Updating the beer and cider list takes time, is it thought to be a useful exercise?

I will be correcting the beer list after they have been delivered on Monday (and Tuesday for the late deliveries [and probably Wednesday for those really late deliveries!!]). Once the Festival is underway beers will run out so the listing will not reflect what is still available.

Remembering that I am one of those happy(?) band of volunteers which will be working from 9/10am until midnight (moan, moan) updating the listing will not be done until I get home at 1am when I would rather be in bed. If the availability of Cruddington's Best Bitter is the only reason you would attend, and you think this update is essential, let me know. If you are going to turn up and be surprised by what is available, I can have an extra hour in bed.

Personally I like the element of surprise. There are many instances where, if I had known in advance what was on offer at my excellent local multi-ale pub, I would not have ventured out on a cold and rainy (well it is Manchester) evening.

Please give your views, both for and against updating the listings (and please accept if I am too tired one night I may not be capable of updating it).

More obscure ales please!

I think that all beer festivals should sell only obscure, rare and one-off ales. When there are hundreds of tasty real ales on sale why do they pander to people who drink tasteless lager ? As for the inclusion of foreign beers (excepting Scotland and Ireland of course!). These are not “proper” beer so why are they included?

Don’t get me started about those other drinks not made from the grain of the barley. Who would think of crushing apples and pears and leaving them to rot for several months then drinking the effluent that they produce!

National Winter Ales Festival is GO

Yes the National Winter Ales Festival is again going to happen in the New Century Hall, Manchester from Wednesday 17th January until Saturday 20th January 2007.

We are trying to make this Festival even better than the 2006 event, so we would like to know what YOU would like to see included in the festival.

One group of people, the beer buffs, are asking for even more unusual beers from obscure breweries.
Another group would like more accessible, mainstream beers which they are likely to find down their local.
A final group simply ask for "A pint of lager, mate".

How should we address these diverse views?