As easy as XYZ

Jun 6 2008 by Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

THE human herding instinct survives. We queue and we cluster, we nestle and cram, even when there’s enough space to roam free.

Take a beer event as an example. The worst June weather on record meant the entrance to last year’s Tynedale Beer Festival had to be shifted. The beers inside the marquee are displayed alphabetically, so customers entered at the XYZ-end – and thronged and flocked and stayed. Youngs and Wylam were the first breweries to run out of ale, while organisers supped their way through the As, Bs and Cs after closing time. Rather happily, we’re told, too.

Tynedale Beer Festival – beginning next week – takes behind-the-scenes glitches in its stride; the committee is well used to it. Its inaugural festival in 2000, with 17 beers on order, was cancelled following the death of the hosting Tynedale Rugby Club steward; foot-and-mouth restrictions put the lid on 2001’s event; 2005’s went ahead to much finger-crossing after the previous January’s floods swamped the clubhouse and swept away huge containers used for kit storage. The Army used their recovery as a search-and-rescue exercise. And, as last June was the wettest in history, it was a minor miracle that it went ahead at all – marquees, mud and 3,000 pairs of feet don’t do rugby pitches many favours. “Everything didn’t quite go to plan last year,” says Andy Deacon, chairman of Tynedale Rugby Club (whose first-team recently won promotion to National Division Two) and ABC beneficiary of congregation culture.

“Building work at the clubhouse was behind schedule because of the weather, there were trenches everywhere, lots of mud and no toilets. It was a horrendous mess.”

The annual festival is a joint venture between the rugby club and Tynedale Lions Club, a branch of the 1.4 million-membership, non-political, non-sectarian, international community service organisation. It’s one of those rare beer events not run by the Campaign For Real Ale (Camra), although the Tyneside and Northumberland branch lent its experience, equipment and personnel in its first few years and still waits in the background, ready to hold hands if Black Sheep Ale attracts too much attention from Allendale Wolf. The Lions bring their clever combination of commercial nous, boundless initiative and armfuls of sleeves-uppery to the three-day event.

“We have a great technical team,” says Andy. “They’re all members of the Lions – some of them in their 70s – and they have all swung into action. It’s a bit Captain Mainwaring and Dads’ Army, but they’re fantastic.

“The beers, 105 of them this year, are split roughly 50-50 between local and national with some interesting ones such as Marble Ginger Beer, Thornbridge Jaipur and Dark Star Espresso. But we think it’s important to have national favourites as well – Fuller’s London Pride, Wells Bombardier and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord – as there are a lot of people who expect to see them amongst the lesser-known, more localised ones. We’ve also got some beers from Jennings in Cockermouth – the Keswick Beer Festival running this weekend has them on big-style – and they’ve given us fabulous support – plus we’ll have White Hot and Steel Town from Consett Ale Works for the first time.”

A beer festival on this scale has a nine-month gestation period. There’s a “wash-up” meeting a couple of weeks after the marquee has been dried and folded – “pressing issues and lessons learned”, as Andy puts it – then the organising committee will convene again in October.

“We’ll meet once a month after that,” he says. “It allows us to think about it, make lists, and get things organised before Christmas. We’ll retain some of the profits this year to invest in more handpumps and coolers, all part of the infrastructure of a festival. We now have 85 pumps and six coolers – it always looks spectacular when you walk in.”

One of the most important aspects of Tynedale Beer Festival is its charity focus. The Great North Air Ambulance and the Josie Grove Leukaemia Fund will benefit hugely this year from profits, donations and sponsorship.

Andy says: “It’s amazing, we offer all the beers to companies for sponsorship and this year every single one was taken up – and faster than ever before. We’re also putting some money into special projects at the club as it’s not just rugby but a multi-sports place with football and volleyball – basically sports for all. We think of it as a dream ticket – sport, youth development, beer and charities.

“We’re five years behind Keswick in festival terms – also run by the Lions – and they’re well linked into local tourism, but we’re still evolving and have set our sights on getting to that level.”

Beers at Tynedale to make a note of:

Wylam Angel Ale (4.3% alcohol by volume), sponsored by The Journal, this pale copper-coloured beauty was brewed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Angel of the North, Antony Gormley’s symbol of regional regeneration and cultural awareness now woven into the social fabric of Gateshead in particular and one of Britain’s most recognised landmarks. The beer has citrus aromas bursting from its Cascade hops, an American variety also teeming with fragrant and floral characteristics.

Marble Ginger (4.5% ABV), sponsored by Tea & Tipple, is more than a novelty beer, it’s a demonstration of clever use of adjuncts and imaginative flavourings which don’t destroy its character but enhance the other ingredients – and, crucially, the drinking experience. The aroma is sharp and fresh; the flavour soothes the soul; the memory lingers long.

Ginger has antiseptic qualities; it can be a tonic for nausea and it’s said to be an aphrodisiac (the two attributes may be linked).

Thornbridge Jaipur IPA (5.9% ABV) is an exquisitely well balanced India Pale Ale with enough citrus, complementary fruit flavours and lingering bitterness to offset its latent sweetness.

Appropriately, it’s sponsored by The Valley Indian Restaurant, perched on Corbridge railway station platform no more than a drop-kick from the rugby club.

Bull Lane Terry’s All Gold (4.2% ABV) – a show-stopper from the tiny brewery operating in the cellar of The Clarendon pub in Sunderland and sponsored by Northfire Fire Security.

The brewery has recently released an Irish stout in honour of Niall Quinn, chairman of Sunderland football club and Local Hero. It’s called Sauce of the Niall.

Anticipation is mounting at the Tynedale congregation, the pressure is building and the atmosphere is intense – but mostly in marquees.

alastair.gilmour@ncjmedia.co.uk

Tynedale beer festival's 2008 beneficiaries

THE Josie Grove Leukaemia Fund was set up to improve the quality of life of children suffering from cancer and for research into the disease.

The brave and inspiring young woman from Corbridge chose not to have treatment for leukaemia after two bone marrow transplants failed, wishing instead to spend her remaining time with her family and to support others in a similar situation.

Josie died on February 26, 2007, not long after she had designed a pendant in the shape of a dragonfly to be sold to raise money for charity. Josie’s Dragonfly (5.0% ABV), sponsored by Clancy’s Financial Planning, is a Bavarian-style lager brewed by Wylam Brewery to the German purity laws (the Reinheitsgebot) where no additives are permitted, other than water, hops, yeast and malted barley. It is hopped with the famous Saaz variety from the Czech Republic which leaves it wallowing in citrus notes.

The Great North Air Ambulance’s helicopters and trauma teams provide a life-saving service to a population of some 3.5 million people in the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The charity receives no Government funding or lottery support, relying instead on donations from individuals and businesses.

Tynedale RFC Youth Development Programme supports a district-wide community coaching scheme for girls and boys, through local schools and at the rugby club.

The Tynedale Beer Festival 2008, Thursday, June 12 – Saturday, June 14, at Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. Admission on the door £7, Thursday; £8 Friday and Saturday. Reduced-rate credit card bookings, (01434) 652220. Full information: www. tynedalebeerfestival.org.uk