We’re just two weeks away from Wimbledon Beer Fest!
The world is alive with the sound of Craft Beer, and we’ve put together a 70-strong beer list to celebrate.
Great beers come in many forms, from the light, pillowy ester-rich Weiss beers of Bavaria, to the dank, juicy New England IPAs of the modern UK craft; from crisp, tart mixed-fermentation sours to dark and delicious Imperial Stouts.
We are taking the opportunity to celebrate the whole gorgeous lot of them.
We’ll be pouring a tart beer from the burgh of Dalkeith, a crispy lager from the suburbs of Prague, a range of US-UK collab brews to celebrate America’s huge contribution to craft beer – and the Duchesse of Bourgogne herself is due to make a rare appearance on draught.
That all said, any UK-based beer festival cannot be complete without a celebration of the Great British Cask Beer Tradition. We have therefore gathered a range of 20 cask ales, including a bold, rounded Bitter from the Chilterns, a vanishingly rare cask of Table Beer from Bermondsey, a seldom-seen cask IPA from Melton Mowbray, and a certain Sonoma from up the tracks in Manchester.
For food, we’ve got pork pies from legendary pie man, Mr Barrick, fresh wraps and BBQ from the Brathaus boys of London, pizza pies from Pizza Project, and boutique cheese boards from Local Cheese Cave.
Cider, still and fizzy, from Against the Grain Cidery, Wimbledon Brewery cocktails, glasses of vino and gluten-free beers complete the drinks list, and come nightfall we’ll be pumping tunes from the hatch of our upstairs container unit.
Doors from midday Friday, Saturday, Sunday – join us in raising a glass to celebrate the greatest drink on earth – BEER!–
ENDS –
Notes to editors
Trade tickets for free registration are available for all members of the British Guild of Beer Writers plus a guest. Please email enquiries@wimbledonbrewery.com to request your free tickets confirming your name, email and date.
Consumers can purchase tickets for each of the days of the festival at the Wimbledon Brewery website here: https://wimbledonbrewery.com/products/wimbledon-beer-festival-tickets
For more information or further commentary, please contact: Maximilian Eisenhardt max@wimbledonbrewery.com or call on 07885 428283
About Wimbledon Brewery
Wimbledon has a long and illustrious brewing history. The new brewery is based on the site of Merton Priory which was brewing throughout the Middle Ages.
William Watney ran the Wheatsheaf Brewery in the Crooked Billet area of Wimbledon in the 18th century. His direct descendants went on to establish the famous Watney brewing empire.
The Wimbledon Brewery was started by William Cook in 1832. It stood in Wimbledon High Street where the old fire station is today. Next door was the Brewery Tap beer house, also run by William Cook. At that time there were 115 breweries in the London excise district.
Following a number of changes of ownership, the brewery was taken over by William Quartermaine in 1880. It was Quartermaine who built the five-storey tower brewery, the highest building in Wimbledon at the time. The brewery was described as: “Having a modern plant on the Tower Principle, with brewer’s office, malt and hops lofts, boiler house and tun rooms, counting house etc, together with a well-established tap and shop.”
A fire started at the brewery on January 2nd1889 and although the interior of the building was badly damaged and all the brewing equipment and machinery destroyed, the main structure of the building was left intact.
Today’s Wimbledon Brewery can be characterised in very similar terms to the one described above. Our logo incorporates the image of the tower, the phoenix and barley and hops, representing our heritage and our focus on using only the best ingredients. We are custodians of the heritage and traditions of beer brewing, whilst also inspiring the new generation of beer drinkers and brewers.
Our consulting Master Brewer, Derek Prentice, has enjoyed a long career in brewing and has brewed great beers with a number of famous London breweries including Truman’s, Young’s and Fuller’s. Derek received the SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) lifetime achievement award and was awarded the British Guild of Beer Writers ‘Brewer of the Year’ for 2013. Derek is a Diploma Master Brewer and a Fellow of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. Derek’s favourite Wimbledon beer is the Common Pale Ale and his favourite World beer is Rochefort 8.
Website: https://wimbledonbrewery.com/
For more information or further commentary, please contact: max@wimbledonbrewery.com
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