National Winter Ales Festival

19 January 2012
Sheridan Suite, Manchester

Our trip to the NWAF had been planned well in advance, train tickets had been purchased back before Christmas for a reasonable price of about £23pp including Rail Card discount.
So it came to pass that 6 motley souls gathered in half light of a January morning to catch the 09:34 train from Hinckley. After an easy change in Birmingham, where we almost caught a train to Newcastle, we were relaxing in our reserved seats for the run to Manchester where we arrived on time at midday - starting to feel thirsty now. We had a short walk up to Piccadilly Gardens to catch a bus for the 10 minute ride along Oldham Road to the Sheridan Suite - getting thirstier now.
Entry to the Festival could not have been easier, a quick electronic scan of the membership card, £1.00 for a programme, £2.50 for a glass and we were in - really thirsty now.
There were over 200 beers to choose from, split over about 5 main bars with most of the beers being dispensed by hand pump. The competition to find Britain's Champion Winter Ale is held during the festival. All the contenders are available to try and are highlighted in the programme. The winner this year was Driftwood Brewery’s (of St Agnes, Cornwall) ‘Alfie’s Revenge’. The 6.5% ABV old ale is described in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide 2012 as a ‘strong and fruity, well-balanced premium ale’.
The venue was comfortable, mostly carpeted with lots of seating available. There was evidence of lots of sponsorship mostly from breweries and there was a good selection of foods available. There was even a cloakroom, ideal at a winter festival.
I heard no complaints from our party regarding the quality and temperature of the beers tried. All beers were available in thirds, halves and pints.
We stayed until about 4:30 after which we retraced our steps to Piccadilly, it was now raining so we went straight back to the station and caught a train for home - we did manage a couple in the Crown at Nuneaton while changing trains.

Click for larger images
Waiting for the rush to start		The motley crew	Getting busier	Seating filling up

British Beer Video Blog - January from Ian Hudson Films on Vimeo.