Learn more about beer with Western Park Beer Festival

Welcome to Western Park Beer Festival

Beer School

The History

Here at the Western Park Beer Festival, we have a passion for all things beer which is one of the reasons we decided to put on a community festival in the first place, sharing our love and at the same time raising funds for local charities.

Beer has a long and interesting history and goes hand in hand with the development of humans away from hunter-gathers to farmers, after all what are you supposed to do with all those grains as there is only so much bread you can eat!

Therefore, we have compiled some key facts about Beer from past and present:

The Start

Some clever people have chemically tested ancient pottery jars to reveal that beer was produced as far back as about 7,000 years ago in what is today Iran.

Civilisation

The invention of bread and beer is argued to be the reason for us developing technology and building civilisation; beer gave us safe water, and bread keep us full.

Which Came First?

There is a long running debate as to whether beer or bread came first as both are a process of fermenting grains, however, does it really matter as both are tasty.

Networth

Today, the brewing industry is a global business, with more than 133 billion litres sold per year—producing total global revenues of £147.7 billion.

Beer Rankings

Which country drinks the most beer per person: Czech Republic with 181.70 litres, Germany (92.50) comes in third and the UK only ranks at position 23!

Style of Beer

Unsurprisingly, lager is still the most consumed beer style in Britain today with over 74% of the share, follow by IPA, Pale Ale, Bitter and Stout.

The Process

So now you know a bit about the history of beer, but how is it produced? How do you go from grains, water and yeast to a cold glass of beer you can enjoy at home or in the local pub?

The brewing process hasn’t changed much in the past 7000 years, we might have gotten better, smarter and bigger at producing it, but the basics are fundamentally the same:

So now you know the history and how it’s made, not it’s the time to find your style/s of beer which you love to enjoy either by yourself or with friends and family and below you will find our easy to use tasting guide.

At the Western Park Beer Festival we like to find new and different beers for everyone to try; therefore, if you’re unsure please ask a member of the experienced beer drinking team to talk through your options and maybe have a sample till you find your perfect pint.

Style & Colour

Tasting Notes

Blonde

Generally a style of beer with a mild malt flavour with low to medium hop bitterness and perfect for a summers evening.

Saison

French, Belgium style of beer known for their fruity aroma and flavour with earthy yeast tones and sourness, spiced finish.

Wheat Beer

Famous in Germany, this style of beer has a cloudy appearance from the wheat used and can have prominent flavours of banana and spicy cloves.

Golden

These beers tend to be crisp, with a mild malt flavour with medium hop bitterness, perfect for a warm evening.

Pale

Not a full blow IPA, but this style of beer is know for it’s spicy, earthy and aromatic flavours with medium hop bitterness.

IPA

IPAs are know for higher ABV with pronounced hop profile and bitterness many of us love to taste.

Amber

Beers know for a more malty profile, a bit like a digestive biscuit and balanced with a more subtle hop bitterness.

Red / Rye

Big on the malt and light hopping provides a sweet character, often a dry finish and spicy note.

Copper

Balanced malt and hops produce a light body, low ABV classic bitter style of beer

Ruby

Ruby beers are rich and complex, generally higher ABV and packing bold fruity and malty flavours.

Brown

Brewed using dark malts, these beers are known for their caramel and toffee flavours with low bitterness.

Porter

Lighter than a Stout, but still packing plenty of chocolate and coffee notes and flavours with mild roasted finish.

Stout

Dry in character with roasted flavour ranging from coffee to chocolate and full bodied, perfect for a winters evening.