Over the last couple of years the trend of going to beer festivals was a big one over here in the Netherlands. And give me good reason why not even. Often this was on early spring days, or even in mid winter outdoors having a decent wood fire giving off of some heat next to you. Some rock music would be playing, because that is just what you need right there with a beer.
The vibe would be casual and also there would be some food stands here and there providing you with something to munch on while taking in the golden drinks. Honestly, these festivals were always sweet and they were also a good way to hook up with some friends again and seeing them after a long period of time again.
But what I also was seeing was the saturation of these festivals and how many they were there, but also the increasing price on an entrance fee and less and less value for your money.
Let's get it straight, you just want to try some couple of beers that you normally would not find anywhere and have those along with your friends. Nothing to fancy right? It doesn't need aesthetics for sure.
So why not host a small little beer festival yourself to fill in the gap of what you actually want a day like that to be like?
Beers and piglets
One of the most known beer festivals here from back in the days was the 'Beer and Piglet' festival. That meant there were all kinds of barbeques also roasting their goods to accompany your beers and those truly were the best. The name does sound better in Dutch actually where it is called 'Bier en Big' which sounds better than piglet haha.
Now for some reason this festival isn't there anymore, so we decided to host our own one with a couple of people. All you need is a field to roam around in, a fridge with some precious goods pr a really chilly outside temperature and some barbeques for some roast.
Get a couple of people together, turn on some music and let the tasting sessions begin!
Now we had 93 different types of beers in total, where of course you can see some of the usual suspects which we all know. But we also had some lesser known ones and there were some really decent surprises in there.
In every beer category there were multiple brands and multiple sorts to try out and that is just how it should be in the end if you ask me.
Change is coming
Now that doesn't mean at all that I would never want to attend a 'real' beer festival anymore, but you can just feel that the sentiment around craft beer is starting to change again.
Where at first the small breweries were everywhere and it was a really cool way to try out some stuff, nowadays the small craft beers in the supermarket are also $4 per bottle which kind of takes a bit of the fun away from the whole trying sessions. The current price of grain isn't helping in this one.
Also these beers have gotten more and extreme in taste and often it wasn't really for the best if you are not the biggest fan of matcha-raspberry ale.
With that last weeks the news came that one of the primary breweries here in Eindhoven filed for bankruptcy which was kind of a surprise to me as the 'van Mol' beers are coming from there, but also the '100 Watt' beers which I very often see in other cities as well.
This was a big player, and they still collapsed...Kind of a bummer if you ask me. But on the other hand, I see I am a part of the problem there as well in my thinking. And if I have that idea, most likely other people will have the same idea.
Maybe hosting your own beer festival isn't the best for the economy?
But back to the fun stuff!!
Because apart from the beer economy going down the hoppy drain, this mini festival was just a lot of fun! Trying out small glasses of half glasses just for the taste, sharing with the neighbor so you can also review the beer you just both had.
We had a mini rating of all the beers to find the number one. I am not sure which one actually one, I do know the ratings got higher and higher throughout the evening. Funny right? ;)
Actually this was a really decent idea for in the middle of winter just to have a good get together. In the end, it it all about sharing the experience of the beers you are having right?
When are we doing a Hive mini beer festival?