FESTIVAL MAGIC RETURNS TO HEREFORD And it wasn’t just Beer on the Wye

It goes without saying that the lockdowns that came with the Covid emergency proved to be catastrophic for our pubs, brewers and cider-makers. With pubs unable to open (and latterly treak, hen only outside or via table service) it’s a miracle (or maybe a testament to the resilience of those who run them) that we haven’t seen more of them close for good.

However, another area that struggled were our festivals. And for beer, cider and perry-lovers there was widespread disappointment when Herefordshire CAMRA’s showpiece Beer on the Wye festival was cancelled - not just for 2020, but then again in 2021. To help soften the blow, and with generous support from Hereford City Council, we put on a city pub trail in July 2021. It was felt important that we had to do something constructive. Called Not Quite Beer on the Wye, it was an opportunity for a dozen pubs across Hereford to put on a show through selling unusual and different guest beers and ciders over a long weekend. But, whilst it was great to be able to give our pubs a leg-up at a time they were just coming out of the worst ravages of an extended lockdown, it was never going to be the same as Beer on the Wye.

Fast forward July 2022, and wasn’t it good to see Beer on the Wye back at its traditional riverside home? And after three long, thirsty and fun-free years away, what a show it was! No doubt a combination of fine weather; its prolonged absence, and people simply looking to have a good time, turned it into a record breaker (no, that should be a record-smasher). The photo shows the Cider Bar mid-afternoon on the Saturday, when queues for admission already extended half the length of Greyfriars Avenue. Unless you were there to witness it for yourself, you’d struggle to imagine what it was like later that evening. Even the normally calm Sunday session had a higher attendance than we had on a Saturday in the early years. How crazy is that?! What a way it was to come out of our enforced hibernation; it was fantastic to be back.

Hereford AppleFest

However, not content with the runaway success of this summer’s Beer on the Wye, we were at it again in October - this time in the city’s High Town when a re-invented Beer on the Wye Cider & Perry Bar found itself relocated into a marquee pitched no more than eight feet in front of WH Smith’s. Who’d have thought it? It was all a part of the kick-off event for the city’s inaugural two week-long Hereford AppleFest. Organised by Hereford City Council, CAMRA were only too pleased to be one of a number of active partners signed up to participate in the event. So it was, on Saturday 1st October, we found ourselves setting up a bar that offered no less than 53 different ciders and perries.

Unfortunately, there was a rail strike that day, therefore the thirsty hordes that would normally migrate for the day from Birmingham and South Wales to attack the ciders and perries at Beer on the Wye wouldn’t be joining us. Was it going to work? Would local people be up for it? We need never have worried - you were REALLY up for an autumnal cider and perry fix. Our hard-working team of twelve fruity CAMRA volunteers (pictured) were kept busy on the bar all day. And the overall event was a success too (that was the REAL Doctor & The Medics who headlined on the festival stage!). We’re already looking forward to playing our fruity part in a bigger and better Hereford Applefest next year. But before then we have next July’s Beer on the Wye to organise and run!…

WINNERS AT THE BEER ON THE WYE

Beer

Position	Brewery	Location	Beer	ABV
Gold	Wye Valley	Stoke Lacey, Herefordshire	Wholesome Stout	4.7%
Silver	Ashover	Ashover, Derbyshire	Zoo	4.1%
Bronze	Anarchy	Newcastle-upon-Tyne	Citra Star	5.5%

Cider

Position	Maker	Location	Cider	ABV
Gold	Gwatkins	Abeydore, Herefordshire	Yarlington Mill (Medium)	6.0%
Silver	Fairoak	Bacton, Herefordshire	Medium Still Cider	6.0%
Joint Bronze	Barkers	Hallow, Worcestershire	21 Sweet	6.6%
Joint Bronze	May Fayre	Dormington, Herefordshire	Wasp Whisperer	6.6%

Perry

Position	Maker	Location	Cider	ABV
Gold	Chiblers	Kempley, Gloucestershire	Turners Barn/Red Longdon/Oldfield	5.5%
Silver	Newton Court	Newton, Herefordshire	Panting Partridge	5.3%
Bronze	Olivers	Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire	Farmhouse	6.0%