Bright colours? No. Soft, fuzzy piles of pettable things? No. Women? Very few. You know how, as you approach a knitting show, you can almost feel the waves of estrogen emanating from it? Well, in this case, you can definitely smell the beer and testosterone fumes.
The Limey and I went to the 19th Annual Battersea Beer Festival yesterday. They took over the giant Battersea Arts Centre, with the hall filled with steel scaffolding holding the beer kegs. There was no attempt at any sort of decoration; the names and prices of the beers were written on pieces of A4 and stuck on the kegs; bare tables and folding chairs were set up wherever there was room.
Actually, it was quite nice. They had lots and lots of beers from British brewers, especially small ones, as well as a few foreign beers. You could buy in pints, half-pints and even third-pints. Unlike in pubs, where I'd never hear the end of it if I bought a half, here, everyone stuck to halves and thirds so they could taste more beers. It was truly filled with beer nerds. People carried around little notebooks and made notes on the beers they tried. The place was packed as the night went on.
I'd just like to note here that although I'm holding two glasses, I was only having a taste of The Limey's beer. I wasn't drinking multiple glasses of beer at once. No. Banish the thought.
It's still on for a couple of days- if you're in London, get yourself over to Clapham!
2 comments:
We went to the 06 New England Real Ale Exhibition and it was just like this--except you couldn't order the beer in pints. You bought a ticket at the door, where they furnished you with a tasting glass, and you went around and got that filled from whichever vendor you liked. (For tickets, or cash, I don't remember now.) There was a fair representation of women, but I imagine I was the only knitter. Certainly the only one foolish to bring a knitting project, not that I had anything like elbow room to work on it.
(This is one of those hold-my-camera-over-my-head-and-shoot photos from that; I have no idea who anyone in the shot is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirinqueen/142061585/in/set-72057594128027800/)
LOL on the beer/knitting show contrast. But it's not a paradox in my world. On Friday nights, we hang out with friends for "Wii Knit." The kids play Wii, the moms knit, and the dad drink... microbrews.
Post a Comment