Chorlton Beer Festival - Mark 4

Although it was raining (again! Jeez!) early evening, by the time we'd had dinner the clouds had passed over and the rest of the evening looked promising, so we ventured out to the fourth ZestQuest beer fest.

This event has grown bigger and more popular with each passing year, and the early rain certainly had not dampened the spirits of the revellers who thronged the church grounds when we arrived shortly after 8.30. We'd soon filled our half-pint glasses with our first sample tipple - Jaipur India Pale Ale - and caught up with some friends who were already well established on a couple of large rugs in one corner of the grounds. This proved a good pitch later on, when a slight sprinkling of rain was easily held at bay by the canopy of trees above.

Having eaten before we left home, we weren't tempted by the food on offer, even though it looked very good. The hog roast of previous years was absent, but the Danish sausage looked very appetising. Half a pint never lasts very long, so in the space of a few minutes we were back in the "beer tent" (I think it was the vestry, actually) queuing up for two halves of Summer Solstice from the Pictish Brewing Company. "A crisp refreshing blond ale" said the tasting notes and they weren't wrong. Delicious, and helped down by the good company which had by now been swelled by the arrival of another half-dozen friends.

With space on the rug now at a premium, the beers slipped down even faster and before we knew it we were supping on Wild Swan. We had limited ourselves to a £5 voucher each (I'm not going to explain the voucher system). We no longer live within walking distance of the festival, so having to drive meant four halves was my legal maximum and previous years' experience showed that with careful selection of ales we could each enjoy four beers for a fiver. If we'd been attending for the whole session - the Friday night session started at 5pm, and tomorrow the revelries will commence at 1pm and go right through to 11 - we'd have taken the bus, but this was only ever going to be a short, sweet visit.

The Wild Swan was excellent, but we were prevented from enjoying another on account of it having run out. Forced to choose anything at less than £1.25 a half, we opted for the rather mundane Hartington Bitter for our last glug, with a wistful nod in the direction of the more exotically named beers on offer such as Wobbly Bob, Alchemist, Dave's Hoppy Beer, Golden Wrath, Guzzler or Dark Side of the Moose. We'd beaten last orders by five minutes (yes, they rang the church bell to call last orders - how cool is that?) and stood supping our Hartington in the gloom of the churchyard, under the ancient trees and in the company of good friends. A very pleasant two hours or so, and a fine way to start the weekend!