Norwich Beer Festival: Oktoberfest and Tastings Announced!

Norwich’s beer festival announce a new range of pre-booked Beer Tastings – news on the dedicated cider bar in the main hall – and a new Oktoberfest in the marquee!

On Monday 24th October, the Norwich Beer Festival will open the doors to its 44th festival at The Halls with a 4pm preview for CAMRA members and a 5pm public opening. 

Tickets in advance or pay on the door

Advanced tickets are still available for many sessions or simply pay cash or card on the door!  For more information, beer lists and admission times and prices, visit the dedicated ticket purchase page. 

Lunchtime sessions are 11.30am until 3pm and evening sessions start at 5pm – with all-day opening on Saturday until 9pm.  Visitors can pay-on-the-door for all sessions or advanced tickets are still available for most sessions.  

World Beer Bar and Oktoberfest

The very popular World Beer Bar returns to the marquee with its eclectic mix of overseas treasures including Trappist and fruit beers.  Cheryl Cade, World Beer Bar Manager, has organised an Oktober Festival running on Tuesday evening and Wednesday! 

The Oktoberfest showcases a fantastic collection of German beers from, Hacker Pschorr, Hofbrau, Paulaner and Sparten plus some amazing German beers from microbreweries in the heart of Germany. A small example is Keller & dark beers from Kundmüller, Bayreuther and Kaiser. 

If Pils & Heels are more you thing, you will find breweries like, Schwarzbräu, Pott's and Hasseröder Brauerei to name but a few.  For the craft beer lovers try beers from Crew Republic.

During the week, the World Beer Bar will also be graced by beers from China, eg Niubic Barrel Aged Bayberry, Raspberry & Hazelnut Sour (2022) from NBeer (牛啤堂); Buckskins beers from Taiwan as well as Indonesian beers from PT Bali Hai Brewery.

Alternatively, in the marquee can be sampled draught beer from Pohjala (Estonia), Bangar, an Imperial Stout with Chocolate and Chilli. A new range of Sours and Gose alongside beer from Ireland to get you in the mood for Christmas with White Hags, Yule Brew! 

Check out the Norwich Beer Festival online lists and the free printed programme for more details. 

Live music

Live music can be enjoyed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Blackfriars' Hall, with local artists playing some well-known classic covers and originals! Hot and cold food is available throughout.

In St Andrew’s Hall will be found a dedicated cider and perry bar – with over 60 local varieties, alongside the occasional wine or mead!  

Soft drinks and water are available on request at most bars, along with alcohol-free and low-alcohol options at the World Beer Bar. Also look out for our ‘free from’ area with all gluten-free, along with ‘free from’ options at the Curiosity Bar.  Vegan beers will be marked and can be selected at the ‘free from’ area or throughout the festival.  

Craig Harmer, Norwich Beer Festival Organiser comments: ‘We have a swift entry system, with cash or card payment, so you shouldn’t be waiting long before you taste your first drink, and the pre-opening queue soon disappears !  If you’re feeling generous, don’t forget to donate any remaining unstamped vouchers to the festival charity, we offer our programmes for free in the hope visitors will donate to the charity.’

Branch Charity for 2022

This year’s charity is Nelson's Journey and they would be hugely grateful for any donation, no matter how small, and unspent vouchers can be donated at the glasses counter, charity stand or to charity volunteers.  Nelson’s Journey work hard to bring back the smiles of young people and children who have experienced the death of a significant person in their lives.  

Tutored beer tastings

There are tutored Beer Tastings on Tuesday and Thursday this year.

Tuesday 25th Oct, 12pm - 1pm - Beer & Cheese Tasting at Norwich Beer Festival
4 Beers & 4 Cheese samples
This tasting is led by beer & cheese sommelier Cheryl Cade, also a Great Taste judge.
It will be a blend of local & international produce specially selected for your enjoymentSeated in the medieval splendour of the Halls Cloisters.

Thursday 27th Oct - How to judge beer like a professional - at Norwich Beer Festival
6 Beer samples, Cost £15 pp (not including entry)
This tasting is led by CAMRA & World Beer Awards judge, Cheryl Cade who is also a beer & cheese sommelier.
It will be a blend of local & international beers specially selected to get your taste buds tingling alongside your brain cells.
Seated in the medieval splendour of the Halls Cloisters. 

Additional costs and pre-booking applies for these limited-number events, and are not included in the entry price nor advanced tickets.

 

For more visit the Norwich & District CAMRA's website beer festival pages: norwich.camra.org.uk/festival/fest2022.htm

Norwich Beer Festival Beer Selection for 2022

 Norwich’s beer festival is set to open with some well-loved and ‘wow!’ beers and ciders to delight the new, the selective and the connoisseur! 

 On Monday 24th October, the Norwich Beer Festival will open the doors to its 44th festival at The Halls with a 4pm preview for CAMRA members and a 5pm public opening. 

For a modest entry fee, or free for CAMRA members and joiners, over the week visitors can enjoy 320 cask-conditioned beers, world beers and local ciders and perries.

Lunchtime sessions are 11.30am until 3pm and evening sessions start at 5pm – with all-day opening on Saturday until 9pm.  Visitors can pay on the door for all sessions or advanced tickets are available for many sessions.  

Norwich & District CAMRA are promising a fun festival, with music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and many popular golden session beers including Cold Black Label’s Singing Sword, Red Willow’s Weightless and some lighter options such as Saltaire’s South Island and a light, refreshing Ploughmans Lunch by 8 Sail. 

Or you might want to try Ritual, a floral IPA, or check out the ‘Bad Day at the Office’ from the aptly-named Scottish Alechemy, along with other session and premium goldens, such as Deya’s juicy, hazy Steady Rolling Man and Liquid Light’s Vacuum Boots with surprising hints of peach and mango!

For those wanting something special, organisers recommend looking out for Downton’s Elderquad or Honey Blonde, Spey Valley’s Stillman’s IPA, Bristol Beer Factory’s Expresso Martini Stout, Brew York’s Rhubarbra Streisand, Portobello’s Market Porter, Green Jack’s Fruit Bat or Big Dog, Nethergate’s Venture Point 5, Opa Hays’ Das Bier, S&P’s Blackberry Porter, Humpty Dumpty’s Radschlaeger, Tombstone’s Blackfoot or Papworth’s Saison D’Etre - with premium beers, stouts, porters, bitters, milds, with every shade from golden, to reds, browns, coppers and dark beers. 

For those wishing to ‘keep it local’, we are promised East Anglian and Norfolk’s best, with beers from Ampersand, Barsham, Beccles Brew, Beeston, Billericay, Boudicca, Brancaster, Bruha, Bull of the Woods, Chalk Hill, Cliff Quay, Earl Soham, Elgoods, Elmtree, Fat Cat, Fengate, Golden Triangle, Grain, Green Jack, Humber Doucy, Humpty Dumpty, Lacons, Leigh on Sea, Mighty Oak, Mile Tree, Milton, Moongazer, Moonshine, Mr Winters, Nethergate, Old Chimneys, Opa Hays, Panther, Papworth, Pell & Co, Peoples, Poppyland, S&P, Shortts, St Peter’s, Stow Fen, Tindall, Tombstone, Three Blind Mice, Tydd Steam, Wildcraft, Wolf, Woodfordes and Xtreme – with a Moonshine raspberry and Xtreme Xion of particular note for porter lovers.

The select beers of the Curiosity Bar this year will showcase Brecon Brewery, with beers created from the fabled waters of the Brecon Beacons, including a dark burgundy hopped porter and a raspberry and vanilla salt black and pale saison. 

Also featured are some Rat Brewery beers, such as the Lumber Rat and Rat Attack, alongside some rhubarb and strawberry flavoured options from Xtreme and other speciality, differently flavoured choices.

Featuring in St Andrew’s for 2022 is a bay of traditional wooden casks known as ‘Beers from the Wood’.  Wooden-served beers are distinctive, gently carbonated with soft aromatics and infused with delicate flavours, such as chocolate, different hops and capsaicin. 

Wooden-served beers will include Clun Brewery’s Citadel, a premium blonde hoppy IPA and Darwin’s Galapagos chocolate stout and Ossett’s dry hopped ale and chocolate orange porter, along with Vocations aged imperial smoked Lady of the Glen, alongside many more. 

For a lighter wooden-cask experience, there will be Harrogate’s Blond, a delicate zesty fusion of English and American hops, or Half Moon’s Dark Masquerade mild or Darwin’s malty, golden Expedition and more.

Live music can be enjoyed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Blackfriars Hall, with local artists playing some well-known classic covers and originals! Hot and cold food is available throughout.

Craig Harmer, Beer Festival Organiser ,adds: ‘If you’re new to real ale, real cider or world beers, our bar staff are knowledgeable and can make recommendations.  If you’re new to the festival, we advise you to collect your drinks stamp card then take a look around the different areas. 

‘Grab a free programme and ask staff about the colour coding on the barrels.  Perhaps first consider joining CAMRA and enjoying the 2-pint and entrance refunded offer?  One other bit of advice, do please avoid bringing heavy bags and coats as there’s no storage in The Halls.’

Soft drinks and water are available on request at most bars, along with alcohol-free and low-alcohol options at the World Beer Bar. Also look out for our ‘free from’ area with all gluten-free, along with ‘free from’ options at the Curiosity Bar. 

Vegan beers will be marked and can be selected at the ‘free from’ area or throughout the festival.  The free-from range includes beers from Ampersand, Barsham, Brentwood, Fat Cat, Moongazer, Nene Valley, St Peter’s, Totally Brewed, Wildcraft and Poppyland.

Track the state of all the festival beers by viewing the live listing.

For more information can be found on the Norwich & District CAMRA website.

Norwich Beer Festival Music Announcement

Norwich Beer Festival is to host a new line-up of live music and performance! 

In previous years, music has been hosted in the main St Andrew’s Hall.  This time, for the first time, music will be hosted in Blackfriars' Hall.

The best-loved beer festival will run from Monday 24 to Saturday 29 October 2022, (October half term), with music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

Getting the weekend started early is The Macarnos, an upbeat, acoustic band consisting of four talented friends. Playing covers and original songs on Thursday evening, the band are known for their crowd pleasing, foot stomping performances, skilfully switching instruments and lead vocals. 

Friday lunchtime, visitors will be entertained by the acoustic sounds of singer songwriter Alton Wahlberg.  Alton has a unique indie/folk style with raw brutally honest lyrics that regularly make audiences laugh, fall silent then sing!

Friday evening at the Norwich Beer Festival, Blackfriars Hall will be filled with the sounds of The Dirigibles, a new wave, rock and roll style band!  A popular four-man group who live, breathe and love the music they play!  Visitors to the festival will enjoy the bounce and bop of this infectious ensemble.

On Saturday, delighting festival visitors from 12.30pm will be three performances:

The first is Terry Adams whose influences include David Gray, Stereophonics, Travis, Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Weller. 

Next up is Faith, offering an acoustic version of their full band, with emotive songs, a rock edge, melodic vocals and dangerous guitar antics! 

From around 3pm, Felix Simpson will be showcasing his original material and covers.  With a decent musical pedigree, with cousins in the successful band Busted, Felix has developed a catchy alt-pop sound, combined with his more powerful soulful vocals.

Craig Harmer, Festival Organiser, explained Saturday is a good day to visit the festival as it is open all day from 11.30am until 9pm and is not too busy so you can usually just walk straight in at any time.  

Craig adds: 'Gone are the days of waiting for a long time in a queue.  We now have a fast-track queue system and everyone is surprised how quickly they enter the Halls and are able to purchase their glass and tokens, now with cash or card, even on the busier Thursday and Friday.'

Entrance is FREE again for CAMRA members all week, who must join the queue and have membership cards ready (unless joining at the festival).  CAMRA members are also invited to the preview from 4pm on Monday 24 October and can stay on for the evening session! 

For those joining CAMRA at Norwich Beer Festival, there is a special 2022 promotion which can equate to 2 free pints – and your entry fee refunded!  CAMRA membership gives free access to all sessions and free or reduced access to local and national CAMRA beer festivals.

Local branches host socials including organised crawls, young members’ events and day and evening coach trips to country pubs, national festivals and breweries!  More information, including the Christmas crawl, can be found on the Norwich & District CAMRA website.  Membership also provides discounts in over 4,700 national pubs and free drinks vouchers!

Festival advance tickets are still available for many sessions or simply pay cash or card on the door! 

For more information, beer lists and admission times and prices, visit the beer festival web pages.

 

Norwich Beer Festival Announcements for 2022

Norwich’s best-loved beer festival returns in October 2022 – with a preview for CAMRA members! 

The 44th Norwich Beer Festival, run by Norwich & District CAMRA, returns to The Halls, with music in Blackfriars Hall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday! 

Pre-event tickets are available on the website or simply pay on the door!

All eyes are now set to the October beer festival where over 300 cask-conditioned real ales, of every variety, will be on offer, with the more unusual found at the Curiosity Bar, now in its 4th year!  Alongside is a dedicated cider and perry bar – with over 60 varieties, from the very sweet to the very dry and mostly from local cider producers of East Anglia.  The very popular World Beer Bar also returns to the marquee with its eclectic mix of overseas treasures. 

Running from Monday 24 to Saturday 29 October 2022, (October half term), this year local ales will be spread throughout both halls and, for the first time, Blackfriars will host a selection of bands and music! 

Every day, including Saturday, visitors can pay on the door with cash or card! Whilst there is usually a queue before opening, we have a swift entry system, so you shouldn’t be waiting long before you taste your first ale, lager, cider – or wine from the cider bar!

Soft drinks are available at most bars, so do please ask, along with alcohol-free and low-alcohol options available at the World Beer Bar.

Also look out for our ‘free from’ bay with all gluten-free.  Vegan beers will be marked and can be selected at the ‘free from’ bay or throughout the festival.

Members’ FREE entry!

CAMRA membership can be secured at Norwich Beer Festival, giving you free access to all sessions!  This can also open up a year of offers and social occasions as membership gives free or reduced access to most local and national CAMRA beer festivals and branches host social occasions with discounts, such as day and evening coach trips to country pubs, festivals and breweries!  Look out for our special 2022 promotion for new members.

Entrance is FREE again for CAMRA members who must join the queue and have membership cards ready (unless joining at the festival).  CAMRA members are also invited to the preview from 4pm on Monday 24 October and can stay on for the evening session!

Things a newcomer should know

Only persons over 18 will be admitted, so do bring ID!  To speed entry, please don’t bring heavy bags nor big coats as there is no storage area.

When arriving at the Halls, beers are purchased through a stamp card system.  These are bought from the glasses stand, along with your glass – or pre-ordered as a pack on the pre-sale ticket page.  You can return to the glasses or World Beer Bar for further stamp cards.

There is a limited number of Norwich Beer Festival collectible beer glasses, with this year’s unique logo.  If you’re missing a glass in your collection, our merchandise stand team will help, where you can also purchase popular hoodies, t-shirts and memorabilia.

Lunchtime sessions are 11.30 until 3pm and evening sessions start at 5pm.

Hot and cold food is available and more information can be found on the Norwich & District CAMRA website.

This year’s charity is Nelsons Journey

The Charity would be hugely grateful for any donation, no matter how small, and unspent vouchers can be donated at the glasses counter, charity stand or to charity volunteers.  Nelson’s Journey are, this year, celebrating their 25th anniversary and have been working hard to bring back the smiles of young people and children who have experienced the death of a significant person in their lives.  

Soon to be announced

Shortly to be released are details of the beer selection and how to access the live beer and cider list!  Also, in the coming days and weeks, live music in Blackfriars Hall and smaller ticketed ‘tastings and talks’ events will be announced.

New to CAMRA? 

Our new members offer will be announced soon, also giving free access to Norwich Beer Festival throughout the week and reduced or free entry to CAMRA local and national events including Norwich’s popular beer and cider coach trips!