The Tramlines's.

Hello,


     many people were disappointed with the Tramlines festival. One of my Faceache chums described it as a "mega corporate money grabbing c*nt fest", but another said "got a positive reaction from lots of new faces, which is one of the great things about Tramlines, and it gets better every year". The thing is, who cares?! Nobody mentioned, or grumbled about, the beers. The beers! Crucial to any festival. Here's what I supped and where....

Friday started in the Shakespeares. Hardly a revelation, but its near work and had music. Me and Tash enjoyed a fantastic pint and a half each of Kernel Mosaic on keg. Or it may have been Citra. It was ace. We heard a little of Holy Moly and the Crackers before leaving the festivities and visiting the Three Tuns. Here pints of Blue Bee Phantom Geek were tried, before Tash went to the Dove and I went home.

The next day I started late. I didn't get to the Brothers Arms until half past three. Turns out this was 30 minutes before the Everly Pregnant Brothers came on. I queued 35 minutes to get to the bar, and bought two pints, Burning Sky Aurora and the 7.1% Fyne Ales Superior IPA. I found Fluffy and Trudi and Sue and Col, who waited 45 minutes to get served, and stood in a crowd of thousands watching the band.

Half way through I went to the outside bar again - and got served straight away! A pint of Dark Star Revelation at 5.7% and a pint of Hammerton No.1 (£3.00 a pint, or £6.00 for a little bottle at Craft and Dug) and after a catch up with Carlos returned to my group. It was great to catch up, enjoy beer, and I headed next for John's beer tent at the bottom. Wild Fresh and Blackjack lager were on but I had a half of the Siren Liquid Monstrous, which was ace. John suggested I went to the White Lion next, but they were queuing on the main road to get in so I headed for the Sheaf View.

Here I got a pint of something pale and lovely and went to the loo. It was good to get some time to get myself together but I needed food! I stumbled to the Beer Engine and had the most delicious and tender burger, with coleselaw and handmade sweet potato fries, along with a half of Neepsend Red, before heading into town to meet Tash. We went first to the Dove and Rainbow where Tash bought me some Hambleton Nightmare, and then via meeting Dr Johnson we headed for the Dog and Partridge. A half of something in here, alas I was a trifle refreshed.

Penultimate stop was the Bath for two pints of Chiron and to watch a mosh pit and the Velcro Teddy Bears. Cracking finish to the set, but we only saw 2 songs! We finished the night in Harrisons 1854 but after getting our pints of Moonshine they soon stopped the DJ's - I forgot their license means they have to shut at midnight!

The next day we recovered and ate and chatted and finally left after 18.00 to go to the University Arms. We watched and absolutely lobed the whole set of Jungle Lion, whilst drinking pints of Thornbridge Halcyon at £4.50 a pint. It was a fantastic gig, and was great meeting Joanne and Tara. A pint of the excellent Burton Bridge Damson Porter followed.

Down at the Bath we caught teh last 4 songs or so of the Fyreflies, a folk rock band from nearby, before heading for Shakespeares. We got pints of the excellent Brew By Numbers Nelson Sauvin Saison, a deliciously refreshing 3.9% Belgian beer, and caught the last 6 songs of a guy whose surname was McSweeney -  a brilliant, haunting voice and a sharp wit made this a perfect close.

Chris B at Shakespeares stated he worked 45 hours in 3 days. I bet he was exhausted. However, I also think hat Shakespeares, the Brothers, The Bath and others made a fortune over Tramlines. Its once a year, it is rapidly becoming massive. And this year, the beer was outstanding.

Cheers!


Wee Beefy.