It’s not long now till Weymouth Octoberfest returns to Weymouth Pavilion Ocean Room on Friday and Saturday October 3rd & 4th, in two sessions each day. Weymouth Ocean Room provides the perfect location for seaside views and seating for over 300 people, a definite event in cask ale drinker’s diaries.
The organisers of the event West Dorset Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) are delighted by ticket sales so far and would like to indicate a low ticket warning on lunchtime sessions.
Festival Chairman Adrian Carey said” I’m really looking forward to trying the diverse range of beers from East Anglia, especially the ones that have been resurrected by Copper St. I would like to thank my fellow committee CAMRA members for all of their hard work put in on the lead up to the festivals and hope all the volunteer staff and customers have a great experience”
This year there are some great offers to get extra free beer. CAMRA members automatically get a free pint on top of the pint included in the admission ticket but also anyone producing an NUS card will be able to claim a free pint from the CAMRA stand at the festival and on the Saturday evening session anyone with a “Blue Light Card” can also claim a free pint. Furthermore as part of a new membership initiative, the first 20 people who join CAMRA at the festival will get £5 off their joining fee while everyone who joins at the festival will receive two free pints as part of their membership package
The evening music this year will be two festival debut performances by local acts. Dorchester acoustic duo “Blue Bridge” bring their range of classic and contemporary songs for every occasion on the Friday night, while young up and coming Weymouth raw talent “ The Undecided “will be playing a range of indie rock covers including Kings of Leon, The Killers, Wheatus and the White Stripes to name but a few.
As always there is a theme to the beer selection and this year organisers are delighted to announce it’s the turn of East Anglia to be high-lighted. Customers can expect to sample over 55 cask ales from breweries from the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk along with a selection of ciders from the east of the country. Many of the breweries and cider producers will have never been showcased in Weymouth and due to the logistics of East Anglia, many will never return.
Bar manager Rich Gabe who orders the beer said” I am really looking forward to this year’s event, there will be two beers from each brewery, some will be long established breweries that customers will instantly recognise while a lot will be micro breweries some recently established, I am hoping to take customers on a real ale odyssey. Selecting the beer this year has been a sheer joy”
Amongst the Norfolk breweries customers can expect to see Ampersand, Humpty Dumpty and Woodforde’s; from Suffolk there will be Earl Soham, Nethergate and Old Cannon. Whilst Cambridgeshire will see Milton, Papworth and Xtreme.
This year Copper St brewery of Dorchester in conjunction with the “Dead Brewers Society” will be the guest sponsor brewer resurrecting six beers from long shut breweries in East Anglia. This will give customers a once in a lifetime chance to sample original recipes from breweries they will have never tried before, look out for further announcements on these breweries.
Alex Bardswell who selects the cider promises all ciders will be real and traditional with no concentrates added. Products from Blue Barrel, Cromwell and Potton Press in Cambridgeshire, with Wriggers close to the Essex/Cambridgeshire borderline. Norfolk hopes to bring us Crones, Whin Hill and Norfolk Raider. Alex has advised that some of the ciders will be stronger than local Dorset ones.
Tickets are on sale now from the following outlets priced £12 and include: Festival entry with over 300 seats, music in the evening sessions, commemorative glass and programme listing all beers and ciders with tasting notes and 2 beer tokens. Saturday evening customers get three beer tokens.
On Line:
- www.camrawdorset.org.uk
Weymouth:
- Dolphin Hotel & the Globe.
- Weymouth Pavilion Box Office (with booking fee)
Portland:
- Royal Portland Arms
Dorchester:
- Copper St Brewery Tap
- Convivial Rabbit Micro
Adrian Carey Octoberfest Chairman. Photo Credit Rich Gabe