Lucky me! #beersaturday and Oxjam coincide to offer a perfect combination of beer and live music š¶
Every year my lovely little town hosts a charity music event to raise funds for Oxfam (25% of money raised during Oxjam also goes to one local charity). Oxjam has been holding this event for the past 10 years and every year more and more people come out to join the party.
125 artists all coming together to help put on 12 hours of live music played across multiple pubs, cafes, and restaurants. Itās a music extravaganza!
Oxjam begins at 12:00 in the afternoon and until 6pm the event is free for all. After 6pm wristbands are required to enter the venues involved. At only Ā£10 per wristband youād be crazy to go home early. Besides, once the beer starts flowing the crowds get jumping! Itās amazing to see so many people of all ages singing and dancing together and the local bands get to showcase their talents in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
The Mrs and I strolled into town at around 16:30 and by then the pubs were already bursting at the seams with revellers. Two bars later and weād already witnessed some great talents. One young girl had a particularly beautiful voice and made it seem so effortless.
A true star in the making, and if you think Iām exaggerating just ask Gandalfā¦
By this point my good lady and I had already gone through some standard drinks ie Moretti, Peroni, Campari spritzer, etc etc, but it was now time to sampling something a little different. It was in my favourite micropub, Totally Tapped, where I discovered that you can actually combine a pina-colada with beer and actually get away with it! Well, at least I thought so. It sounds a ridiculous combination and it looks as bad as it sounds. A thick yellow drink with the consistency of a smoothie, a description that would put many beer enthusiasts off. Unsurprisingly this was a drink my Mrs ordered but I think I enjoyed more of it than she did. Maybe itās a drink that has to be consumed in a party atmosphere because itās certainly something way out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, it was a drink I enjoyed, as you can see by the picture below š
Moving on from Totally Tapped, it was time we headed off to the Japanese restaurant where weād booked a table to eat. This would turn out to be a meal full of surprises, good ones and bad onesā¦
Donāt be fooled by the look of the food, it was actually quite bland. To make matters worse the portions were tiny although that wasnāt reflected in the price. The one saving grace for this meal was the wasabi sauce. OMG! How nice is wasabi sauce?! I just couldnāt get enough of this fiery hot green goo. Nom nom nom š In fact there were two saving graces, the 2nd being the selection of beer! I was expecting to have a choice between Asashi and Asashi, but thank my lucky stars, this restaurant seemed to have an inside track on Japanese beers šŗ
For me, it had to be the Yebisu. And for the Mrs, it was the Kirin Ichiban. Both beers where very nice and typical of a country with a humid climate. Refreshing and crisp beers but both having their own unique taste. In my opinion the Yebisu was a cut above, having a depth in flavour that the Ichiban didnāt. The Ichiban dissolved quickly to nothing, which in a way left you wanting more. On the other hand, the Yebisu left a lingering malty taste which made you want to savour it and wait before going in for another taste.
A very impressive pair of Japanese ales and I wish weād just gone into the restaurant for beer instead of their lacklustre food.
We left the restaurant hungry but promised ourselves a trip to the kebab house after a few more live acts. Next stop, The Star inn.
The owner of the Star inn is a huge contributor to Oxjam and heās also done a lot of good work helping to revamp a dying pub scene in our town. His pub, The Star, was a run down joint until he took over and now itās a thriving public house serving great food and even better beers. Quite often the owner of the Star will allow a local brewery to do a ātap takeoverā, meaning a brewery can have at least 4 or 5 of its ales being poured from the bar pumps. The Star is also no stranger to hosting bands which makes this place a very entertaining night out.
Our Oxjam experience ended at the Star inn and it was one heck of an ending. The previous year Iād walked into the star as the same band finished there set and all I got to see was people bouncing up and down as the final song came to an end. Well not this year! The Mrs and I got there just as the band, Goose McCoy, had started. We hustled our way through a packed crowd and got a decent spot near the front and from that point on it was an hour of singing and jumping around to some absolutely brilliant covers.
The show ended with a rendition of the song āIām gonna beā by the Proclaimers. Wow! The crowd was mental and there wasnāt a single person who didnāt sing their heart out. By the end of the set my throat felt like Iād swallowed a cactus but I didnāt care at all. The joy weād experienced was worth every scorched vocal cord I had, and anyway, next stop was the kebab house! A good serving of mint yogurt sauce would soon be soothing my torched throat and all thatās left after that is some great memories and a bit of a hangover.
Like with all great events you wish theyād go on for longer, but, quite probably, they wouldnāt be as good if they did. One night is just enough, and much like a good beer, you know itās something special when youāre left wanting more.
Hope youāve all enjoyed my #beersaturday post this week. Donāt forget to check out all the other great #beersaturday posts and show them some support. And why not join in the contest and write your own post about beer?!