Ipswich Beer Festival: As a Volunteer
Hello again…..these blog posts are like buses. None come along for a few days and then two come at once.
The previous post was all about the beer and food now I am going to talk about what it is like behind the bar as a volunteer.
After trying 11 beers on the Thursday I turned up on Saturday Lunchtime wanting to have a go behind the bar. Vicky introduced me to Pat who was there to help me all afternoon. I was thrown in at the deep end, which I think worked really well. Within 15 seconds I was pouring my first ever half pint.
I grabbed myself a glass and put on my festival t-shirt and got stuck in. I was based in the middle of the bar on the local beers. The main brewers in this section were Adnams, Bartums and Green Jack to name a few. In between serving customers I was pouring myself tasters so I could a) try the beers on offer and more importantly b) so I could recommend certain beers to the customers.
The wonderful thing about this festival and ale drinking as a whole is that you can always have a taster. From seasoned ale drinkers to those who have never tried anything other than lager before you can never know what something is going to taste like.
So after a while of tasting beers and serving customers I could soon recommend some beers from my own personal knowledge, which was really satisfying.
So helping out at the beer festival has many perks. We got a free food voucher and the fact that you can taste and access all the beer you want is fantastic but its not all sipping beer and chatting to fellow real ale enthusiasts. It is hard work and relentless pouring beer. There were times when I didn’t sip my beer for over 10 minutes which shows how busy it can get.
So all in all I would highly recommend helping out at a beer festival and I would like to thank Gary, Victoria and Pat for making me feel so welcome.
Jon
About Jon Stone
