This August, London Craft Beer Festival will mark its 5th Birthday with a bigger, bolder celebration of modern beer, taking over the unique, Shoreditch Electric Light Station for the very first time. Founders Dan Sylvester and Greg Wells will bring together the best beer and breweries from around the world, cranking the festival up a notch with a line-up of headline music acts and some of the city’s best chefs. During the weekend, The Cask Yard will honour London’s oldest independent brewery, Fullers, who will collaborate with friends from 6 other talented breweries for a set of one-off cask brews.
Embracing the culture of modern beer, this year will have music at its soul with headline performers stolen from some of the UK’s leading festivals with DJ sets from Hot Chip, Foals, Norman Jay MBE and Metronomy’s Olugbenga for an eclectic soundtrack. On the menu will be some of London’s top restaurants including; Berber & Q, the Middle Eastern and North African grillhouse from Josh Katz; homestyle Indian Kitchen, Gunpowder; and Radio Alice, serving up their take on the humble pizza. Completing the line-up will be meat specialists L’onglet and favourites from the Summer festival circuit, Big Apple Hot Dogs. Each food producer will be paired with one of the UK’s finest breweries, so people can explore how well modern beer works with world-class food.
Dan and Greg have hand-picked a line-up of 45 top-notch breweries from around the world; with pioneers of the modern brewing movement, Mikkeller from Copenhagen; Dugges from Gothenburg who were recently voted one of the world’s best and joining from further afield, Maniba from Brazil. Meanwhile, from across the pond Other Half, will make their inaugural trip from Brooklyn to London with their small batch fruity brews. They will be joined by their Stateside brethren including Modern Times from San Diego, Stillwater Artisanal, a ‘beer architect’ from New York and the US ‘craft beer godfathers’; Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn Brewery and Oskar Blues. Flying the British flag will be the very best homegrown talent, including Northern powerhouse’s Cloudwater , Magick Rock & Buxton Brewery and London-based favourites The Kernel and Brew by Numbers, Beavertown and Pressure Drop.
“Looking back to 5 years ago, we were fed-up with beer in London, there were exciting things going on in the world of brewing, but nowhere shouting about it. Over a pint, Greg and I sat down to change this and so began London Craft Beer Festival” says Dan. “It’s remarkable how the world of beer in London has changed since then and this year, we’ve got one hell of a celebration to acknowledge that. It’s more than just the beer, but everything it encompasses; the producers, the flavours, delicious food and the best soundtrack from festival headline-worthy performers” adds Greg.
After a successful collaboration in 2016, with London’s oldest independent brewery, Fuller’s, The Cask Yard will be back in 2017. Last year we wanted to celebrate and show, against a backdrop of buyouts, what a centuries old independent brewery, one committed to the craft of brewing, could look like. We also wanted to celebrate the craft and depth of quality cask beer – it’s our brewing heritage and we at London Craft Beer Festival want to celebrate that.
For 2017, we’re putting collaboration and idea exchange at the heart of it. Fuller’s brewing team are going to collaborate with the some of the finest independent craft brewers in the land to create a series of one-off beers. Our festival will be the first place to try these on cask. We can’t wait to see what comes out of the fermenters when London’s grandest brewery mix it up with some of the younger breweries that inspire them. Alongside this expect some Fuller’s regular and special brews – from ESB to Vintage Ale.
Offering revelers the chance to take their favourite festival beers home with them, the BeerMerchants.com bottle shop will be on hand throughout the weekend.
London Craft Beer Festival will mark the first time the Shoreditch Electric Light Station has been open for a large scale public festival; with two epic halls, lots of stunning rooms to explore and a giant sunny courtyard (with all weather facilities) backing onto Hoxton Square. For outer-beer experiences, the Barrel and Wheel bar will pair wines from 19 Crimes and the Gentleman’s Collection with British cheese from Neil’s Yard for a sophisticated accompaniment to the weekend’s festivities, complemented by a couple of shuffleboards for the more sporting of mind. Completing the weekend, Greg and Daniel will collaborate with P(our) foundation, launching the very first P(our) Beer; a day of curated talks by some of the world’s most influential brewers, thinkers and drinks professionals.
London Craft Beer Festival will be held on 4th, 5th and 6th August 2017 tickets are available here.