The Best Things Take Time

The early days of "planning" this bash are some of the most exciting.

These are the days when you have all sorts of wild ideas and have to calm yourself down and think "It's only beer" (© Chris)

I seem to fall into the same trap every year. And front load. With the strongest beers. And yes, I've done it again. I already know the first beer. And it's very special.

And that's the problem with what we achieved last year. To better it will be very difficult. But you can only try.

And we certainly started that. With the new venue and location....

When I posted that we were going to do this again, the response was somewhat intense. And rather surprising.

I know that the beer was good last year, that's my job, getting the best breweries that I can to get you something you haven't had before in this great city of beer that is Manchester.

And that is just one of the challenges for #ISBF5.

Another is to maintain the variety on both cask & keg whilst minimising waste. Whilst the keg virtually all got drunk, there was a lot of wastage on cask.

About 25%.

Whilst this is an event where all the profits go to charity, I want to maximise those profits.

We have a plethora of great brewers of cask conditioned beer in the North. And only a limited number of spaces in the racking. There will be changes in the line up, as in every year, to keep things exciting...

So, if the numbers of attendees stay roughly the same, that is likely to mean that there will have to be slightly less cask beer in volume. And, whilst I (Jim) adore cask conditioned beer, to waste 25% volume is unsustainable.

What ticketing allows me to do is analyse attendance patterns. And - consistently over the 4 previous years - there has been a non-attendance rate of about 20%. The new venue will impact on that, being more easily accessible from all points - and certainly via train.

As much as I loved St Sebastian’s, for a small event like this, location is key. And - however small the effort - St Sebastian’s did require some planning to get to.

A potential additional solution comes with ticketing, in particular, pricing.

This year, tickets are likely to come bundled with beer tokens as a package. The actual price won't change much, but it will mean less cash handling which will be further augmented by the ability to take payment by card. This should also have the side effect of increasing actual attendance compared to ticket sales.

For those who prefer to pay by cash, the nearest cash machine is just a few minutes walk. (Another benefit of the new location)

Invites will be going out to breweries in the next few weeks and I can for certain say that some breweries have already agreed to collaborate together. I'm already getting giddy at the thought!

I've also started to explore a very interesting possibility that - if it comes off - will leave you wondering "How did you do THAT?" (I like to keep things interesting for myself)

Tickets will go on sale on Sunday 2nd September and we will - as in the last two years - have a launch "party" at The Dungeon (aka The Brink) where there will be some exceptional (and especially brewed) beer, with the first chance to buy tickets.

On that subject. What has been truly amazing over the last 4 years has been the loyalty and the efforts some have gone to to attend.

To get people coming ESPECIALLY for this from Aberdeen, Brighton, Bristol, Coventry, Northen Ireland - even Iraq, is humbling.

Since I announced we were doing it again however, the interest (and determination to attend) from people far and wide who've never been before, simply amazed me.

Even with the new venue - with the potential for increased capacity - we're not going to get much "bigger". We might have 15% more availability, but they won't last long.

And I still want this bash to be relaxed, comfy, friendly. Which is why we won't grow much more.

So remember that date. 2nd September. 20:00

Also, courtesy of the lovable & extremely talented Mr Heggs and Drumbeat, we'll have our redesigned website up and running shortly - we gave up on the pretty original (genuinely) because we thought we wouldn't do #ISBF5.

That will enable you to see updates as they come in, communicate with us directly and serve as the platform from which volunteers and potential sponsors can get in touch.

You can NEVER have too many beer sponsors (obviously you can, but, you know....)

And also.....on the subject of sponsors...........

I can announce that we have a new glassware sponsor in those lovely people at The Northern Type!

So. In short.
New venue.
New beers
More Collaborations
Tickets on sale 2nd September at 20:00
Don't. Miss. Out.

It may be "Only beer". But it will be exceptional beer. I promise you.

And - as I've always said - I keep my promises.

The “Future”...

It started off so simply.

A little beer festival. To raise money for a small Community Centre in the heart of Salford. A place with a multiplicity of pulls on the strings of my heart.

I didn't know what I'd gotten myself into, didn't realise that - in the nicest of ways - it would change my life. But it has. Oh how it has.

I've met people from all over these islands, formed friendships I could never have imagined - as have many of the people who have helped us through the last 4 years. They freely acknowledge the fact that these friends met in a little draughty Community Centre. Over a beer. A very good beer.

As hard work as this has been sometimes, this little friendly celebration of beer has given me SO much more in return. Things that I could never talk about in person.

But this isn't about me.

From relatively humble beginnings, this celebration of beer has changed. And - to me - it IS a celebration. In each year, we learned. Incrementally.

In year one and two, this was an event solely focused on Northern Beer.

Northern cask conditioned beer.

It's my Mastermind "Specialised Subject". I still fervently believe that the North of England - generally speaking - does this better than anywhere else.

And I've always tried to get the best beer I could.

Year 3 required a step change. #EvilKegFilth. And we haven't looked back.

Years 1 to 3 (especially year 3 - cathartic though it was) were a blur. I didn't enjoy those myself. The stress overrode everything else.

Year 4, last year, was different. I could finally appreciate what we had built. We had a simply astonishing beer line up from across the country. We had live music which had people reaching for their phones to video.

The package was - for me - complete. Food, music, people, beer. I didn't think we could improve on that at St Sebastian’s.

We CAN'T improve on that at St Sebastian’s.

With the exception of Year 3, when I did it for me (for reasons explained here) this Celebration was always run for Gerry Stone. Simply the loveliest most caring friend anyone could have.

Until last Friday, Gerry ran the Community Centre. Over the last 4 years, we raised almost £30k at this event. The vast majority of which went towards the upkeep of the Center, enabling it to provide a venue and vital services to the local community.

But - for reasons I won't go into - Gerry has left the Centre.

And - as I always said - if she wasn't there, I wouldn't do ISBF.

Obviously I was trying to fool myself.

So. "Where are you going with this?" is the question. Well.....

I couldn't let it go, not without a fight. I just couldn't. I need my annual adrenaline fix.

Gerry is - putting it mildly - fantastically well connected in the City of Salford, and knew my thoughts. She put me in contact with the Mayor's office. Many of you won't know, but the Mayor (Paul Dannatt) came to #ISBF4 and seemed to enjoy himself. He "got" what we were doing.

Following initial contact, where I gave my thoughts as to the basic requirements, (location - central, capacity etc) things moved quickly. I received an email a few days later from one of those venues and - following a brief exchange of messages - we arranged to meet Stan (no, assuredly not THAT Stanley!) at the venue.

I don't mind saying that my jaw dropped.

We chatted. Talked about what we'd done so far. The fact that we - myself & Gerry - would like to keep going. Keep it in Salford.

Stan, the Chairman of the building, seemed keen - again, things were racing ahead - and we agreed on virtually everything. Then started talking dates.......

I'd set myself a deadline - stupidly restrictive - of until the end of April. If we couldn't find somewhere in that time, there'd be no #ISBF5.

It took about an hour.

The new venue is Hemsley House, Salford's Freemason Hall.

I always bristled when people said that St Sebastian’s was a bit awkward to get to.

Well, this venue is approximately 4 minutes on foot from Salford Crescent train station. It's on a major bus route.

In short, it's bloody easy to get to. So, over to Mr Heggs and HIS "specialist subject"...... Stunning design.

The date had to move to get the building. And once we'd seen it, we didn't want to lose it.

In your diaries yet?

There are lots of wrinkles that need ironing. This could still fall around our ears. There'll be lots of changes. But some things won't.

I'll do my damnedest to get you the best, most exceptional beer list. From near and far. If you came last year, you know that won't be easy.

We'll do our utmost to keep that friendly feeling, relaxed, comfortable, easy. After all, this is about enjoyment. Not fireworks.

ALL profits will go to charity.

We're going to try and give it a go. Who's in?