My last journalistic venture into alcoholic festival reporting resulted in me consuming my body weight in whisky, 15 hours of drinking across 7 different bars and a 2-day hangover. Best writing job ever. Today, I’m approaching the situation with a tad more decorum and no, it’s definitely not because my head is throbbing from last night.
I’ll admit, I was initially sheepish about attending. None of my pals or fellow journos could make it, and I was pretty sure the festival wasn’t going to feel like much of an ideal Saturday night activity for a lone attendee. But, being the brave soldier I am, I sucked it up to claim my free press ticket to drink excellent booze at Aberdeen’s iconic music hall. Woe is me.
One Lucozade, some paracetamol and a healing shower later, I was ready to embrace an evening of beering. As was every other person in Aberdeen, it seemed. The room was packed, mixing an all too familiar smell as a bartender – beer and BO. Smells like a good time! Being by myself, I managed to weave through the tight packed groups and couples to make a beeline for the Fierce stand. Fierce, who were presenting the festival, is a personal favourite brewery of mine, being a gluten free beer enjoyer. Their taproom is a great writing spot with an impressive range of beer and whisky, and I find myself there often. I was excited to check out what they had on offer especially for the festival, and knew I’d be covered for a gluten free drink. I wasn’t so excited to pay £4.90 for a half pint. I found a place to sit down, observe the merriment, and savour my half. Recession indicator? I’ll let you decide.
Cloudwater, Northern Monk, Emperors, Attic, Beak, Bullhouse, Siren, Rivington, Lost Cause, Holy Goat, Tartarus and Elusive complete the rest of the breweries in attendance. Tubby Toms and Doric Studio had stalls set up as friends of Fierce, providing gourmet hot sauces, and exclusive t-shirts respectively. Expert cocktail crafter Milo from The Old Workshop was also there as a friend of Fierce, and I was pleasantly surprised to see him at the event.
I wasn’t able to sample as many beers as I would have wished, as my student funds were running low and majority of the selection wasn’t gluten free, but I was excited to chat to other festival-goers about their choices. Multiple people highlighted the Fierce Iron Brew, a sweet flavoured beer cooler, and I bumped into multiple people raving about Northern Monk’s various IPAs. Recently celebrating their 10th anniversary, Fierce also had a special barrel-aged imperial stout – ‘Very Big Birthday’, weighing in at an epic 12.5%.
The festival has reached another sellout year, with both the day and evening sessions full to the brim. Guests were welcomed with an exclusive Northern Lights Beer Festival glass which was used for all beer sampling, as well as providing a unique keepsake from the event. The bar hosted pies and hot dogs, so every base was covered. Guests were in incredibly good spirits, full of life and happy to chat to me about beer, Fierce, The Gaudie, or anything under the sun. Overall, a successful night and an impressive turnout.
Thank you to the Northern Lights Beer Festival!
