Don’t worry, the festivities for beer lovers don’t end on Boxing Day
SOMETIMES it seems that Christmas begins just after you’ve come home from your summer holidays and finishes on Boxing Day, writes Neville Grundy.
As a result, January and February are often seen as dead months, with little of interest happening.
The good news for beer drinkers is that there are some interesting events here in the North West early next year.
Now in its seventh year is the Camra Manchester Beer & Cider Festival, which will run from Thursday to Saturday, January 23-25 in Manchester Central, Windmill Street, Manchester.
Beers will be brought in from around the north of England for the huge new Coast To Coast bar which will be offering ales from Merseyside to Humberside via Lancashire, Manchester and Yorkshire.
You’ll be able to try some of the very best beers and ciders from the UK’s booming brewing and cider industries.
The festival introduced a gin bar last year, which went down well. For this festival the gins will be drawn exclusively from the many outstanding local distilleries.
Tickets will be on sale on the door, but you can be certain of getting in by buying them in advance from mancbeerfest.uk.
The nearest railway station is Deansgate.
The 40th Camra Liverpool Beer Festival will run from Thursday to Saturday, February 20-22 in the impressive surroundings of the crypt of the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.
More than 200 ales and ciders will be on offer.
The theme will be “The War of the Roses” with a wide range of beers from Lancashire and Yorkshire breweries competing against each other to win the coveted Beer of the Festival award.
There will be entertainment on Friday and Saturday evenings, and food stalls are there should you get peckish.
This is the longest-running beer festival in Merseyside.
The Metropolitan Cathedral Crypt is on Brownlow Hill, about 10 minutes’ walk from Central Station.
To join the fun, buy your tickets at tinyurl.com/ s6yahyn.
Both festivals offer concessions for Camra members, as does the St George’s Hall Beer Festival (January 30 to February 1) that I mentioned last month, tickets for which are at tinyurl.com/ygrwsoca
If you decide to go to any of these festivals, don’t leave it too long to buy tickets as some sessions will definitely sell out.
The Southport & West Lancs Camra website is at: southport.camra.org.uk.