Cheers! Come sample Welsh beers
What could be better than sipping a nice cool pint of beer? Or, in fact, sampling several Welsh beers? That is exactly what is on offer at the Llanbedr Beer Festival, taking place this year on September 25th and 26th in North Wales.
Wales boasts a number of great local breweries, all producing micro brews, many of which reflect a true flavor of Wales with intriguing names like Celtic Dragon, Cwrw Tudno and Mochyn Hapus.
At the Llanbedr Beer Festival, there will be more than 25 beers to savor from local breweries including: Great Orme Brewery, Jolly Brewer. Sandstone Brewery, Conwy Brewery and Bragdy Brewery. The festival will also include evening entertainment from local bands.
www.llanbedrbeerfestival.co.uk
A little later in the year, the Mid Wales Beer Festival will take place over ten days from November 14th in Llanwrtyd Wells - the smallest town in Britain. The festival commences with the Real Ale Wobble, an event with participants cycling over 10 miles on off-road trails, refreshing themselves along the route with half-pints of real ale at the checkpoints! During the Mid Wales Beer Festival, there will be around 60 local beers on offer as well as an entertainment program featuring music.
Llanwrtyd Wells is set in the Cambrian Mountains, and there is even a local brewery in the town: the Heart of Wales Brewery. The brewery is located in the Neuadd Arms Hotel, brewing five ales as well as seasonal specials - www.neuaddarmshotel.co.uk/brewery/ - one of their brews, Innstable, clocks in at 5.5% alcohol content and “requires a little respect, particularly with its deceptive smoothness and easy quaffability.”
www.green-events.co.uk/eventinfo.php?eventdetails=58
The Great Welsh Beer and Cider Festival takes place annually in Cardiff each June. Dates haven’t yet been set for 2010, but the festival which just took place at Cardiff International Arena showcased more than 150 different real ales and 40 ciders – that’s a big ole’ pub!
While the only way to sample many of the fabulous local brews is to be in Wales either at a beer festival or touring a series of pubs, I’m really glad that Tomos Watkin beer can be found at a number of pubs in America - - and that we also had it on tap at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC last week!