IMBC17: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The Independent Manchester Beer Convention (IMBC) is the highlight of UK beer festivals for me. In the same way that some people love Christmas - I count down the days until IMBC and the closer it gets the more excitable I become. Part of it is simply escaping London for a few days but part of it is that I have a soft spot for Manchester. In the early 1990s, when I was in my early teens, I used to visit my sister who was at university there and I have fond memories of trudging up and down Oxford Road in my DMs either heading out for the night or scuttling home in the early hours. In my mind Manchester has always been closely associated with good times involving beer and laughter.  

View from above, room two

In much the same way that a city can be so central to a story so as to effectively become one of the characters in a book, the venue for IMBC is one of the most important features of the festival for me. It is a pleasure and an honour to be able to spend time in such a beautiful location as Victoria Baths. To contrast it with a venue like Olympia (used for GBBF) which is effectively a giant box, is like comparing a lump of wood to a diamond. As well as three large rooms, the baths has outdoor space and a warren of smaller rooms, plus the upper levels which are fantastic for people watching. But my favourite feature has to be the rows of little changing cubicles in rooms 1 and 3 where you can take a secluded seat behind a curtain or door and enjoy some time out, away from the tidal flow of festival goers. If you spot someone you want to talk to you can just throw out an arm and catch them as they pass by. It makes me happy just to sit on my own with a beer and take in my surroundings. Call me easily pleased, but I'm not sure what other entertainment is really required from a beer festival. 

Who Needs a Beer List Anyway?

A couple of years back we all loved sitting there with our pastel-coloured beer lists and our IMBC pencils, circling the beers we wanted to drink. The lists were reasonably accurate but sometimes beers would run out, or never arrive in the first place, and beers might not appear at the specific session they were slated for. I can understand that it's impossible to know in advance which beers which will be finished in a single session so the 'fluidity' of the beer list was never a serious problem to me. 

This year there was no hard copy of the beer list available to punters, instead we had an app. We are all so used to checking our phones for information rather than a piece of paper that it seems reasonable to do away with the beer list, doesn't it? I confess I didn't even look at the app before I got there. In fact I only looked at it twice while I was there and one of those times was in an attempt to inspire myself to physically get up and go into another room. But it seemed like a functional app to me and I didn't hear any complaints about it while I was there.  

  

But I have a confession to make. The beer list isn't really my priority at IMBC. To provide some context - if I go out for a beer and a bar has one of my favourite beers on (e.g. Cannonball, Axe Edge, or a Kernel pale ale) I'll happily drink that same beer all night. I'm not fussed about ticking and I'm rubbish at checking beers into Untappd. There's a multitude of reasons for that (enough for a post in its own right) but the key point is: I'm not hunting for novelty or trying to get a high score. 

DIPAs and Sippers

What I did at IMBC for the most part was drink beers that I was already excited about: the aforementioned Kernel pale and IPA, Burning Sky Cuvee, Buxton's crazy ice cream beers. But I'll admit that I'm also keen on a well-made DIPA. I know what I like and I'm quite fussy about it. I'm not even talking about faults here (although I'll admit I did drink one poorly made DIPA while I was at IMBC which I was unable to finish), I'm talking about design and technique. There's more than one way to brew a great DIPA but not all of them will produce beers that I would choose to drink. 

For example, I love Other Half beers (that's why I volunteered to pour their beers at two UK beer festivals this year) and I know what to expect from them. But I think that at IMBC I had maybe three OH beers over the whole festival, even though they probably had four times that number available over the weekend. That's because I wasn't at IMBC to drink as many different beers as humanly possible, even if they are amazing beers which I would I know I'd enjoy. 

Social Work

So if the beer is not that important then what is? Well, I already explained how important the venue is to me. But the other key ingredient is the social element of IBMC. It seems like it is impossible to go more than a few yards without bumping into a friend or acquaintance, or spotting them from across the room or whilst looking down from above. It's also great to see friends of ours who started out as homebrewers now pouring their own beers at IMBC (e.g. Elusive, Torrside, Affinity). We are pleased and proud for them. 

There are always loads of people we want to catch up with at the festival. In too many cases this gets limited to a quick 'hey, how are you?' - because one or both parties are already in the process of going somewhere else to do something else at the time.  

But there's another reason we don't manage to chat to as many people for as long as we'd like to and that's because I have a problem with extended social interaction. If it goes on for too long without a break I find myself completely drained of energy. I feel physically and mentally worn out. 

I experience the same effect after teaching or tutoring, or doing voluntary work/public speaking, or working behind the bar. I enjoy all of these activities and I am good at them - otherwise I wouldn't do them - but I really do need to unwind and decompress afterwards. As an introvert I need to put a bit of effort into performing and the energy I expend in being 'switched on' requires me recharge my batteries when I'm done. Luckily, this is as simple as sitting on the sofa without having to interact with anyone for a couple of hours. 

View from the within the changing room, room one

In the first couple of sessions at IMBC I have a great deal of enthusiasm for interaction with people. But as time passes that energy wanes and I begin to feel too 'tired' to cope with any extended conversations. Hopefully, I haven't offended anyone I like and actually wanted to talk to with my fatigued demeanour. 

I am aware that sometimes a hangover can manifest itself as a kind of existential dread which brings with it an awful anxiety. I won't deny that I've been there a few times. But I have to say that I didn't have a single IMBC-related hangover this year, which is probably the one thing which made it clear to me that I have an issue with extended socialising that isn't directly caused by the effects of alcohol. 

I also want to be clear that I don't think I suffer from social anxiety disorder. I would describe myself as shy, antisocial and introverted. None of these things stops me from being a friendly social person when I have the energy or desire to be so. But the trouble is that I don't always have that energy available. 

This year's experience has been a bit of an eye-opener for me in terms of self-awareness. I need to learn my own limits. As much as I love, you IndyMan, it might be that attending all six sessions isn't the best thing for my mental health. It's not you, it's me. Honestly.  

 

Craft Beer Rising: why do we go to beer festivals?

We didn’t attend this event last year, but we heard some (not so great) things about it from friends who did. Luckily for Craft Beer Rising the awfulness of London’s Brewing eclipsed every other 2013 London beer festival in terms of negative reviews.

This year we went to the afternoon session of Craft Beer Rising on Saturday 22nd February. The very first thing we did upon arrival was get a late breakfast from the Prairie Fire BBQ stall. It was delicious. Sadly, there is no photographic evidence of this as we were far too busy shovelling smoked meat into our faces (and washing it down with that well known breakfast drink, Beavertown Gamma Ray) to even think about taking a picture. 

Once we were sated we were able to properly study the festival programme and attempt to pick out some ‘must try’ beers. Four hundred beers to choose from... To be honest, nothing really leapt out at us at first glance. We’d asked Chris Hall (who attended the previous day) for suggestions and he'd mentioned Firebrand Brewing so we visited their stall. I’m a sucker for rye beers so I jumped in at the deep end with a 7% Double Rye PA. It delivered everything I'd expect from its name and ABV. I tried to make it last and not get carried away (literally) too early on.

By this point we’d met up with Matt Curtis and Andy Parker and we busy chatting about beer, brewing, brewers and so forth. And I think this is where our beer festival experience began to go a little off course. Why were here again? Oh, yes, beer.

We happened to be standing near the American Craft Beer Company stall so when my glass was empty I wandered across for a sniff of their wares. This is a company which imports beers from the US to the UK. At CBR they had beers available from Stevens Point Brewery and Roscoe's Brewery. Strangely drawn to the pointy-headed standee mascot I asked to try the Point Black Ale. 'But what kind of black ale is it?' I asked. I was told to taste it and decide for myself. So I did. I should point out here that the beer was poured from a bottle stored in an ice bucket. I said the beer tasted of roasted malt and coffee and had a medium body...but that's it. When asked if I got molasses or caramel as well I replied, 'sorry, this beer is too cold for me to get any of that'. The response? 'But it has to be served cold because it's an American Craft Beer'. So all American Craft Beers need to be served at near freezing temperature regardless of beer style, eh? Interesting. For some reason I chose to buy a bottle of Point IPA after this and forced it on everyone.

Desperate for something to wash away the taste of stale imported US beer we visited the Celt Experience stall and sampled Brigid Fire, their magical smoked rye IPA, dry hopped with Nelson and fermented with a Biere de Guarde yeast. Yes. This is the kind of interesting beer I come to beer festivals for. 

I think that after this we caved and hit the Thornbridge bar for a chat to Dom and a glass of Imperial Raspberry Stout. We first tried this at IMBC last year but I had somehow forgotten how terrifyingly drinkable it was. OK, yes, so beer festivals are all about great beer, right? But is it right that we buy tickets to attend a beer fest and then end up drinking beers we've had before? I'm not sure. So, why do we go to beer festivals? I'm still thinking about that one.

So let's try some new beer, right? Right! Next up it's another Chris Hall rec: the Spanish brewery, BeerCat. I try their Barcelona Blonde and it's alright. But this confuses me - because it was highly recommended but I'm just not feeling it. Sadness. Chris has the Further Westward, West Coast IPA. He really likes it. Some balance is restored. But, I'm still confused about how someone I know and trust thinks beer X is amazing yet I think it's just alright. It's happened before, but usually with more 'extreme' kinds of beer.

Let's have some more new beer. I bother the guys on the Late Knights stall about the pronunciation of their beers: PIPA is not pronounced 'pippa' OK? It just isn't. I won't have it. They still served me some. And I liked it. It's an easy drinking Polish IPA, brewed with Polish hops. 

Bit fatigued with trying new beers? It can be tiring. Well, how about something new from a brewery that's an old favourite? That moment we've been waiting for all day will be put off no longer: it's time for the new Beavertown DIPA. When we arrive at the stall (again) Logan is there to introduce us to Jeremy, the new sales manager. We introduce Andy to the Beavertown guys and fortunately for everyone Andy has a bottle of his divine Lord Nelson with him, which goes in the fridge for sampling later. Hallelujah.

Back to that new DIPA - we're informed that it's a prototype on its way to one day becoming a DIPA at about 9%. Right now it's a US style IPA, at 7.3%. It's pale with big citrussy flavours and it has with a fairly bitter finish. To be honest I'll need to try quite a few more before I can reach a firm conclusion about it. More sampling is required. And then more Gamma Ray was had. I got VERY excited at discovering that the entire Beavertown core range is going to be available in cans soon, having previously thought it was only Gamma Ray (which was exciting enough already). SMOG ROCKET IN CANS! You know? Just saying... BLACK BETTY IN CANS! OMG! *flail*

I'm also fairly excited about Beavertown hosting the London & SE homebrew competition at their new brewery in June. And did I mention their entire core range is going to be available in cans? I kind of peaked there to be honest. I had reached a point of giddy excitement about Beavertown which could not climb down from. OMG CANS. And then I drank some Tank 7 from a bottle like a total heathen just because I could. Don't try this at home, kids. I think we are due a 'sacrilegious craft bottle-swigging photo blog' at some point in the very near future.

If I'm giving you the impression that the highlight of CBR revolved around Beavertown then that would be pretty accurate.

However, since we went to CBR I've been pondering the concept of beer festivals per se. Why do we go to them? What do we expect from them? What is an essential component? What is lacking from some/all beer festivals? Why don't we just go the pub instead - can't we talk to our mates and drink beer without buying a beer festival ticket?

To summarise, we did enjoy ourselves and there really wasn't anything wrong with CBR. 

• The venue was good. It wasn't oversubscribed (people weren't packed in like sardines a la London's Brewing). There was room to stroll around or stand around talking. Possibly they could have done with a bit more seating, but I guess there will never be enough to satisfy everyone and I don't mind wandering/standing for a few hours.
• There were plenty of different food/snacks stalls available.
• The music was at a decent background level. Although it might have been nice if it was a touch quieter in some of the rooms as we did have to raise our voices to be heard over it at times
• Brewers were present on the stalls to tell you about their beer, which is always a plus.

So why did we end up feeling vaguely unsatisfied after CBR? Well, I think the big clue is that I actually drain poured two of the beers I bought at CBR. I cannot help making the comparison between CBR and IMBC. Every beer I had at IMBC was a great beer - there was zero drain pouring going on there. In every other category it just slightly edges out CBR. So why were our experiences so markedly different? Why was IMBC the best thing ever and CBR was just OK? I think it has to come down to the range and quality of the beers on offer. The focus of IMBC was beer. There were so many amazing beers to try that tasting those beers was more important than anything else. Yes, we socialised with friends old and new. Yes, we talked to each other. But really, we prioritised the beer above all else. That was the focus of each session and chatting to your mates was an incidental occurrence.

I'm thinking in hindsight that had we just gone to the pub instead of going to CBR we wouldn't really have missed out on anything. And we'd have saved ourselves the cost of the ticket. Yes, it's nice to talk to brewers we know and like, but we'll see them around anyway. Yes, it's nice to hang out and talk to our mates about beer, but we do that all the time anyway! So, I'm left thinking that we might be more selective about our choice of beer festivals in future.