We Are Beer is getting set to host 30,000 beer drinkers and industry people this year with craft beer festivals in London, Manchester, and Bristol.
The festivals have become the biggest and boldest showcases of the very best of the British beer industry, with a ‘who’s who’ of exhibiting breweries. Their pioneering, sampling-led format puts discovery at the heart of the experience.
Having built a reputation over the last decade for curated brewery lists, this year will build on that, showcasing brilliant breweries from all areas. Across the festivals there will be beer pouring from leading craft independents such as Verdant, Siren, Thornbridge, and Gipsy Hill, legendary breweries such as Budvar and Duvel Moortgat, and international titans like Mikkeller and Stone.
Other highlights include a big feature on the new London brewing quarter of Walthamstow, with Signature Brew, Exale, and Pretty Decent brewing companies, the world’s first ‘pasta beer’ brewery, Beyond Belief, and all-new tastings and tutorials in collaboration with The Craft Beer Channel.
This year the team will be relaunching The Cask Yard, giving over a significant portion of the events to cask-conditioned beer and profiling the best producers in the country. Festival-goers will be able to enjoy beers from Timothy Taylor’s and the recently revived Kelham Island.
The festivals will continue to shine a light on the best new breweries through its national new brewers competition, Raise The Bar.
Over the years, the festivals’ arrival in each city has spawned a number of fringe events in the lead up to the festival.
This year this is being elevated and promoted with the launch of We Are Beer Week — a fringe festival running for one week in each city. A special schedule of tastings, tours, and tap takeovers will aim to bolster and boost each city’s beer trade and provide fans with even more opportunity to discover and enjoy the best beer.
“Despite the challenges of the cost of living crisis and post-pandemic turbulence, craft beer, and good beer in general, is in a strong place and bouncing back,” said We Are Beer founder Greg Wells.
“We’re still seeing so many new drinkers being turned on to good beer and becoming passionate advocates of all kinds of styles, and a really brilliant, dynamic set of breweries delivering styles and brands to meet those tastes. That dynamism and passion for good beer is what we’ll continue to focus on at our events.”
London Craft Beer Festival will take place at Tobacco Dock across four sessions on 11th and 12th August. It will bring together more than 100 world class breweries, showcasing over 800 beers. Food will be brought by some of the city’s finest.
Manchester Craft Beer Festival, launched in 2021 at the city’s impressive Depot Mayfield, will be held on 21st and 22nd July. It will feature more than 65 exhibitors and over 500 beers.
Bristol Craft Beer Festival is back for its seventh year at the Bristol Amphitheatre on Harbourside, 9th and 10th June, featuring a selection of both national breweries and those from across the West. This year will feature an exciting cider selection from The Newt, Sheppy’s, and Sandford Orchards.
