Cheers to real ale fans who drank Hull beer festival dry

“As the Festival Organiser I thought I'd answer a couple of points.

We have to submit a budget to CAMRA and as we were at a new venue coupled with not selling out last year, approval was given to purchase 60 beers and 20 ciders. On Thursday we usually have 400 visitors but this year we had nearly 750 through the festival on the 1st day. Whilst we were encouraged to see large numbers of people enjoying the beer and cider it was clear from Thursday evening that supplies were going to run low so another 15 beers were ordered and delivered on Friday morning to try to see us through. Again this proved to be insufficient to satisfy our customers thirsts. More will definitely be ordered next year.

The vast majority of beer is purchased with only a small percentage donated as a form of sponsorship.

Only the beers over 5% abv were priced at £3 with nearly half the beers, 34 served on gravity at £2.60 per pint. Real cider at £3 per pint was amongst the cheapest available in Hull.

Hope you all enjoyed the festival and will come again next year.

Stewart”

“Hi again Oldgoldone: forgot to answer your entertaining question[s] - "Do you ever go to church - to beg forgiveness, to give praise, to offer thanks, to enjoy real ale?"

Occasionally, to admire the architecture/windows etc.
No. Why would one need to beg forgiveness? Surely, forgiveness is one of the basic tenets of Christianity and is offered selflessly by believers, or the Imaginary Cloud Being as a matter of course?
No. Give praise to/for what? The fact that our lives are totally gratuitous and simply a naturally-occuring, cause & effect based transition from birth to death in human form?
No. Again, to give thanks to/for what? An entity that is supposed to have created the cosmos yet exists outside it, eternally?
No, not on this occasion.”

“@oldgoldone: This is my earlier comment to which you refer -
"Excellent stuff.
So, normal people can drink thousands of pints of beer in couple of days and no trouble ensues?
Like the 80+ yr-old smoker the other week, how can that be?
That won't go down well [unilke the pints] with the Fun Fascists.
Simply demonstrates that any weekend city centre alcohol-fuelled disorder is a result of irresponsible dispensing of bottles & shots to "pre-loaded" morons."

Clearly, you have missed my point, which is that normal people can consume large amounts of beer & cider and trouble does not arise, in stark contrast to the reports we often see in this esteemed organ of drunken moronic revellers glassing each other in bars, and clogging up the emergency department of local hospitals, murdering each other etc., leading, so the infantilising doom-mongers would have us believe, to the end of life on earth and only controllable by increasing the price of drinks ["Alcohol" is so jargon-y, isn't it? an attempt to demonise the next thing 'They' wish to stop everyone doing] to non-morons, who clearly can drink plenty and simply enjoy themselves.
How you can interpret this as carping about, and/or criticism of the Hull Real Ale and Cider Festival beggars belief. Are you drunk?
Please, and I know this is difficult for some people, at least attempt to understand what others post before embarrassing yourself.”

“The problem with the beer running out on some previous CAMRA festivals in Hull has been down to the stifling heat in the Mortimer Suite in City Hall spoiling the beer before then end of the festival such that it could not be sold. This year's shortage was simply due to the punters drinking the festival dry in record time.

It was a Gamble on both Holy Trinity and CAMRA's part to stage the festival in Trinity - one that could have gone wrong had the event been poorly attended or the behaviour in the building got rowdy. The HDM would be milking the story for sure had that happened interviewing selected 90 year old blue rinse parishioners calling for the Clergy and PCC to resign en mass. There were plenty of young drinkers there Friday night, all having a great time, and it's good to see that people can enjoy themselves in such a building with respect for their environment, courtesy for others and not barging past you at the bar to get served. The beer was not cheap at £3 a pint, but it was kept well and served well. CAMRA had professional security hired in and the police were dropping in as well.

One striking and pleasing thing to see was the number of young people on their first visit to Trinity simply taking pictures inside Holy Trinity with their phones – it is a stunning building.

David makes a valid point here regarding city centre trouble and its root cause - usually irresponsible establishments serving alcohol too cheaply to people who have clearly had enough to drink already. There was a real pub atmosphere in Holy Trinity this weekend, much more so than you will find in many so-called pubs in the city centre.”

“oldgoldone - I do of course appreciate that the organisers have to estimate, indeed guesstimate, the amount of beer they are likely to need. I believe some of it is paid for but much of it is donated by the breweries other sponsors and if it was left over at the end it need not be wasted. The point I was trying to make is that year on year the organisers seem to consistently underestimate the amount of beer needed and this year their estimate was wider of the mark than ever. There was hardly anything left by the time the festival opened on Saturday.
I agree with you about the venue though - much better than Hull College or the City Hall - and lets not forget that in Medieval times churches were used for all sorts of community purposes, not just worship and that for hundreds of years some of the best beer in the world has been brewed by monks.”

“As yet, there has been no resonse from you, dear David_Nivea. You are not usually so coy,for so long. Do you ever go to church - to beg forgiveness, to give praise, to offer thanks, to enjoy real ale?”

“A very good point from Whoknowswhat - well made sir/madam.

But would you have preferred Hull CAMRA to have been obliged to pour unconsumed beer and cider down the drain?

This year's Hull beer festival was was a first - bui not a last at Holy Trinity, I hope.

Each new venue requires a first-time estimate of the likely beer/cider consumption. This time, Hull & E Yorks CAMRA underestimated your copacity for Real Ale. I'm sorry - but next time...”

“Was the festival such a success? Every year it is supposed to finish on Saturday night and every year it runs out of beer well before the scheduled finish. Anyone who had planned to go along on Saturday afternoon or evening would surely have been disappointed. In future I think the organisers need to obtain much more beer or start the festival on the Friday rather than the Thursday.”

“It is good to know that the beer festival went well - though it's a pity that the event's supporters drank the function dry too soon. Because I'm 70+, I clearly recall the hit song 'A Pub With No Beer'. However, a church with no beer is a new one!

I went to the festival on Thursday. I enjoyed 7 half-pints of excellent ale, all of them dark. I also enjoyed chatting with numerous people who I'd never met before. Everybody I sawe was well-behaved - including Matt Woodcock!

As a regular churchgoer (All Saints', Hessle), I had reservations about the wisdom of holding a beer festival in a church. However, I offer thanks and congratulations to Holy Trinity's priests and volunteer workers, to all the Hull & E. Yorks CAMRA people, to those who attended the 'do' for their good behaviour. I hope that the pleasure of enjoying excellent beers in such wonderful surroundings will result in a larger attendance at Holy Trinity's religious services.

Finally, I wonder why David_Nivea felt the need to carp and criticise. Did he attend the beer festival? If so, did he witness any drunken misbehaviour? Perhaps he will have the courtesy to support his suggestion by telling us.”

“Congratulations on a great event. Fantastic news that the thing you have to apologies about on the monday is that the event was too much of a success! Knock on trade into the old town pubs must be good too.”