The 37th Derby Camra Summer Beer Festival

L misses her swim, I miss my bus. We oversleep, I can’t even offer a more interesting excuse. At least we can slag each other off over a beer tonight at the Derby Beer Festival.

It’s Derby’s 37th annual Summer Beer Festival and I’ve been to most of them. I meet L in Derby and we head there straight from work.

This year, due to the closure of Derby’s Assembly Rooms, the whole thing will take place in a marquee on the market square. This is fine apart from a chronic lack of seating.

Every year has a theme and this year’s is 50 years of Derby Mountain Rescue. They also claim to have at least one beer from every Derbyshire brewery, of which at last count there were 28. We stall try a few of them

Me (all halves)

1 Townes Pynot Porter 4.5%

2 Cornish Crown Porter 5.2%

3 Castle Rock Midnight Owl 5.5%

4 4Ts Chocolate Stout 5.5%

5 Fullers ESB 5.0%

6 Caveman Clovis Point Brown 5.2%

7 Cornish Crown Porter 5.2%

8 Fullers ESB 5.0%

L (all thirds)

1 Raw Dark Peak Stout 4.5%

2 Deventio Cleopatra 5.0%

3 Deventio Cleopatra 5.0%

4 4T's Master Forever 4.2%

5 Fullers ESB 5.0%

6 Ashover Liquorice Alesort 5.0%

7 Deventio Cleopatra 5.0%

8 Bollywood??? (not on the menu)

(Friday 11^th July)