#ISBF7 : Welcome To The Garden Of Earthly Delights….
“Welcome to the garden of earthly delights.
Welcome to a billion Arabian nights.
This is your life and you do what you want to do,
This is your life and you spend it all. This is your life
and you do what you want to do, just don't hurt nobody
And the big reward's here, in the garden of earthly delights”
“Garden of Earthly Delights” - XTC
Once upon a time, there was a blog. About beer. And - to be perfectly honest - it was a bit pants.
But the Blogger persevered. Focused on the local. Manchester and the North. Where beer was good. And gradually, through liver bruising graft, it got some followers. The Blogger met some brewers, made some friends. Drank - and highlighted - some exceptional beers.
And grew a bit more. And then it all went horribly wrong.
His dear friend asked him to “do a beer festival”. To help the Community Centre that she managed.
8 years later. Here I am. The idiot that agreed to “do a beer festival”.
Same old idiot doing the same old thing.
That blog and this beer festival have given me so much. I've made friends - that I love dearly - from around the UK. Some of my dearest friends were met because of this.
Others tell me the same stories. How THEY met friends at ISBF. This rough and ready thing that we do. Yes, the beers have been good, that's easy. Knowing who makes good beer is simple. But the thing - for me at any rate - that warms my heart, is the feeling. Like an extended family coming together every year. THAT'S what matters.
People matter.
This year, we mourn - and simultaneously celebrate - members of the ISBF Family, people who came and gave of themselves, each year, people like Bernard, Atko, Chris Spinks. Lovers of good beer, yes. But most of all, good people.
I'm in tears writing this.
People matter. Always and forever. It's people, not beer, that's at the heart of this event.
This event isn't flash. It isn't fancy. But it's “our thing“ (translate for me Mars!). And, for 6 Physical and 16 Virtual events, it - and the people who attended - have done great things. By sitting, talking (in person & on screen), making friends. Drinking beer. Easy innit?
I wish I could say that this event was simple this year. But, after 3 years “off the bike”, riding it again was hard. Things didn't always go as we would like. But, next Thursday, for the first time in over 3 years, at 6pm, we open the gates. To - what I call - The Garden of Earthly Delights. Some of the best beer and Cider that you can get. From the UKs finest breweries (and one or two from further afield….
I've blathered enough.
So, what have we got?
Keg
Brewery Beer ABV Style
8 Arch Pendulum 4.8 Idaho7 Pale
Abbeydale Funk Funk Dungeon - Cellar Master’s Reserve 4.8 Lapsang Souchong Gose
Abbeydale Funk x London Beer Factory Funk Dungeon - Coolship Release 5.2 Farmhouse Ale
Aben 5th Anniversary WC 8 WC DIPA
Ampersand Sand & Sea 5.2 ESB
Attic Birmingham Pilsner Pilsner
Bexar County With A Little Help From Friends 4.2 Graff
Brew York Fairytale of Brew York 4.9 Gingerbread Stout
Brewery of St Mars of the Desert Schwarzbock 6.3 Schwarzbock
Burning Soul Belgian IPA 6 Belgian IPA
Campervan Nelson Haze 4.5 Hazy Pale
Carnival? Pom Sour 5 Pomegranate Sour
Chain House I’m a Stranger on my Street 5 Pale Ale
Cloudwater TBC TBC TBC
Dog Falls Konventional Wisdom 4.8 Kolsch Style Lager
Dois Corvos While My Barrel Gently Weeps 6.7 Farmhouse Saison
Dolphin Melody Maker 5.2 Blackberry, Apple &
Rhubarb Sour
Double Barrelled Art or Vandalism 4.8 Pale Ale
Double Barrelled Born to be a box salesman 4.8 American Brown
Elusive Dubious Legal Status 5 Belgian White
Elusive Lebkuchen 5.2 Stout
Epochal Cube Duplicator 4.3 Smoked Table Porter
Fonta Flora Bread Tree 6.8 Brown Ale
Jawbone Rhombus 5.2 IPA
Kernel London Brick 7 Red Rye Ale
Kernel Imp Brown Stout 9.5 Imp Brown Stout
Lakes Soer 10.5 Maple & Pecan Danish Imp
Stout
Little Earth Organic Harvest Saison 2021 6.3 3 Barrel Blended Saison
Lost & Grounded Spectres 6.8 Baltic Porter
Low Key Barrel Project x Black Iris Unravel 10 BA Choc/Rasp Imp Stout
Marble Lebkuchen 9.7 Imperial Stout
McColls Flock 3.2 Table Beer
Neptune Pluvio 4.6 Amber Rye
North Brewing x VarVar Smoked Stout 8.2 Smoked Stout
Northern Alchemy No Reason 2.6 Light Passion Fruit Pale
Otherworld Brewing Avalon 5.5 Pasilla de Oaxaca Porter
(Smoked Applewood)
Pastore x Wiper & True Foresta Nera 8 Dark Wild Ale
Pentrich We Need to Talk About Bacon 6 Smoked Porter
Pig & Porter Showroom Dummies 5.2 Marzen
Pomona I Did A Pigmy 8 DIPA
Rigg & Furrow Paddock Pils 4.4 Czech Inspired Pils
Rivington Haze on The Horizon 5.4 Soft Pale
Rock Leopard TBC TBC TBC
Runaway Calder Valley Honey Stingo 7.5 Wine Barrel Honey Saison
Runaway The Blackley Mosher 6.3 Wine Barrel Saison (Black
Lime)
Runaway Rum BA Tropical Stout 8 Export Oatmeal Stout
( Rum Barrel BA)
Simple Things Fermentations Helles Bock TBC Bock
Siren x Fierce Destination Unknown 9 Wee Heavy
Solvay Society Furry Logic 5.7 Saison w / Kiwi
Squawk Skua 4.5 Session Porter
Stardust Lighthouse 4.8 Pale Ale
Sureshot TBC TBC TBC
Temper Brewing The Noise Thereafter 5.6 NE Pale
Three Blind Mice Citra Sabro 4.5 Pale
Toms Tap & Brewhouse Barley Wine 10.5 Barley Wine
Torrside Stanlius Caesar 10 Bretted Imp Stout
Torrside x Otters Tears Blimey The Elders 9 Elderberry Imperial Stout
Track Dreaming Of...HBC 586 7 DDH IPA
Turning Point Night Lapse 4.8 Coffee Porter
Two Towns Down Back To 505 4 Pale Ale
Two x Two Albion Pale 5 NZ Hazy Pale
Villages Rodeo 4.6 Pale Ale
Wander Beyond Coconut Crater 2022 12 Coconut Imperial Stout
Weird Beard Russian Warship Go 9.8 WC DIPA
Werewolf Creepster 5.1 US Brown
Wilderness Brave Faces 6.5 Bordeaux BA Farmhouse
Yonder Attack of the Lemonoids 4 Mixed Citrus Sour
Cask
Brewery Beer ABV Style
Blackjack TBC 4.5 Session Pale (W/Honey)
Blue Bee TBC 3.9 Cask hopped Pale Ale
Brass Castle Duality 5 DDH Pale (Citra/Amarillo)
Brewsmith Oatmeal Pale 3 Mosaic / Azacca Oat Pale
Chin Chin Not Shy of a Spark 4.6 Mosaic & Citra Pale
Five Towns Fantastic Voyage 8.5 Chocolate Stout
Grizzly Grains Midnight Farmhouse 4.8 UK Hopped Farmhouse Pale
The Kernel Table Beer 2.9 Table Beer
Libatory By The Gas Works Wall 4.5 Porter
Mallinsons Arcade 7 4.6 Cask Hopped) Pale Ale
Marble Patience 4.2 Dry Hop (in cask) pilsner
Neepsend Taranaki 4.7 Pacific Red
Neptune Hear The Sirens 10 BA Imperial Stout
North Riding Sun Machine 6.2 IPA (Centennial, Simcoe)
North Riding Brewpub Black IPA 4.3 Cascadian Dark Ale
Pictish Golden Years 4.3 Golden Ale
Redwillow Heritage Porter (Wood) 5.3 Porter
Revolutions Switch version 28 4.5 Pale Ale
Roosters Echo Chamber 4.5 DDH Pale
Steelfish (Xmas Beer) 8 Old Ale/ Barleywine Hybrid
Thirst Class Venn Diagram 5.4 Sorachi/Sabro Pale
Thornbridge Roisin 4 Irish Red Ale
Torrside Walk Without Rhythm 8.2 Turmeric Imperial Stout
Wishbone Wet Wired 5 Pale (Hallertau/Nelson)
Cider
All from the magnificent Ross Cider
FOXWHELP – 2019 – 5.7%
Foxwhelp. It seems the world just cannot get enough of this sour, tangy, zippy, crushing, punchy, powerful acidic number. The big red button for intense, flavoursome cider. This is a pure 2019 vintage cider – but even after three years, the intensity of the Foxwhelp is still there, and so is all of the strawberry and rhubarb fruit flavours cruising through the drink.
MAJOR S.V. – 2021 – 6.8%
A bold and characterful bittersweet apple, Major is always a cider that packs plenty of flavour. Rich, and fruity, Major tends to have a combination of bold spiced apple in the mid palate with medicinal, phenolic tannins on the finish. A real favourite of Ross Cider drinkers and a statement cider.
SOMERSET REDSTREAK S.V. 2021 – 6.6%
Pét Nat
A favourite bittersweet, Somerset Redstreak is a softer, lighter apple with gentle tannins that make for a very drinkable and enjoyable cider. An apple with medium body, juicy red apple flavours, with some apricot and pineapple high notes giving a fruity character.
Reinette d'Obry SV - 6.0%
A widespread but undervalued apple - it produces a soft sharp flavour with gentle lemony acidity, with notes of yellow fruits - pineapple, banana, a touch of melon. A really juicy and delightful, easy to drink cider.
Bartestree Squash & Gin Pear Blend Perry 5.6% -
A really refreshing and fruity perry.
Bartestree Squash provides some gentle and pleasant green kiwi-like acidity which melds seamlessly into our Gin Pear - a floral perry with lip-smacking, bitter tannins that give structure and elegance to this delightful drink. Our Gin Pear trees have all been killed by fireblight since we made this perry, but 50p from every pint drank will be spent on repopulating our perry orchards and helping to propagate the new varieties of the future!
I think we said there might be a 6th line? And to put Birdbarker on it? That's kinda what my notes say but they are distressingly vague in hindsight. If so:
‘Birdbarker’ – 5.7%
Medium Dry Sparkling Cider, a blend of bittersharps and bittersweets with carbonation – resulting in a cider with a full mouthfeel, and a more tannic backbone than mainstream commercial ciders. Easy to drink, entry level cider, with a fun modern label featuring our loyal collie Summer. Without sheep on the farm to herd, she took to chasing the birds.
We’ll have some beautiful gins (courtesy of the lovely Charlie) maybe the odd Gin/Cider Cocktail!
And softies from Steep Soda too!
Will that do?
Unfortunately, due to post Brexit paperwork issues - and time constraints - the Catalan Event had to be cancelled. For those with tickets to that, those will be refunded prior to the event. We tried. We really did. And huge thanks to Mark and especially Joan for their efforts. We’re all gutted.
Remember, ALL beers are served from the off on Thursday evening! Or #ThirstChanceThursday!
Ordinarily, every beer would be a “First Pour” in the Manchester area. However, times are damned hard in the game at the moment, so that “ISBF Rule”, whilst 90 odd % intact, has been bent slightly. There were simply breweries I wanted IN. No matter what. Breweries with us from Year 1.
Friends.
So come along, drink some fabulous beer, raise a glass, whilst raising much needed funds for a noble cause.
And if you haven’t yet got tickets, here’s the link to the remaining sessions…..
And be kind to one another. See you next week?
Jim x