Organisers hailed the brew-lliant turnout and atmosphere at the first ever Fair City Craft Beer Festival last weekend - and have vowed to make it an annual event.
Taking place last Saturday at The Ice Factory in Perth from 1-9pm, visitors tapped into a wide variety of beers and ales, both crafted locally and further afield.
Around 370 of the 500 tickets were sold for the beer festival, organised by owner of Cullach Brewing William Bond, owner of the Craft Beer Bottle Shop Perth Danny O’Connor, Two Towns Down Brewing’s Sandy McKelvie and lecturer Greig Mason, who has his own blog Greig’s Beer Burps.
Eleven Scottish breweries, winery Cairn O’ Mohr and Danny’s own fine tipples were drafted in to showcase an array of outstanding beverages.
“We jumped at the chance to put on a beer festival and had all be talking about it independently,” said co-organiser Greig.
“We sold 370 tickets which was a great number in the end as 500 would have been too busy.
“So it made it a very comfortable day and by 5pm everybody was in. It helped that the sun was out.
“It exceeded our expectations with people complementing us on how relaxed an atmosphere there was.
“There were people in their 70s, people in their teens and everything in between – it was a great mix.
“We are chuffed to bits and blown away by the response.”
Visitors were handed a complimentary reusable cup to use for sampling the different drinks on offer.
Tokens at £1.50 each allowed punters to trade at stands for a one-third or half pint of beer, with Greig believing the smaller servings allowed visitors more wiggle room to try out different drinks.
Local enterprises included Two Towns Down Brewing, Cullach Brewing, Craft Beer Bottle Shop - all of Perth - Cairn O’Mohr Fruit Wines from Errol, and The Abernyte Brewery.
Visitors also got to sample refreshments from Holy Goat Brewing of Dundee, Tempest Brewing of Galashiels, BrewToon Brewery of Peterhead, Law Brewing company of Dundee, Other World Brewing from Dalkeith, Loch Lomond Brewery of Dumbarton and Vault City Brewing of Edinburgh.
“The brewers are all lovely guys,” Greig added. “I have known many of them for years through my blog.
“The fact they are all Scottish and some are local makes it a really nice mix.
“I think it is really important for your first festival to showcase what local people can do.”
A number of food stalls, such as the Bulldog Frog, Ox and Anchor, and Starfish Cakes and Bakes were also on hand to make sure guests didn’t leave with empty bellies.
Local music artists Sam Flood, Lyndsay Knox and DJ Roy McLaren all performed at the event.
The success of the festival could see it return by popular demand.
“Many people were asking for it to come back every year,” he revealed.
“It is an alternative to the Perthshire Rugby Club Beer Festival, which is usually at the start of May.
“Ours would be at the end of August so there is definitely room for both of them.
“People are really keen for it so we will try to make it an annual event.”
