Bridgnorth Beer Festival not left flat by heatwave

Last weekend, the annual three-day Bridgnorth Beer Festival finished at the Severn Valley Railway station.

The festival is organised by the market town's branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and usually sees around 1,000 beer drinkers flock to Bridgnorth to taste one of the many local and British beers being showcased, which usually sell out before the end of the festival.

However, this year's festival, which began on Thursday, September 7, took place during the heatwave that hit Shropshire earlier this month when temperatures were in the late 20s.

CAMRA organiser, Alan Thwaites, said the scorching temperatures not only kept people away but threatened to turn the beer warm.

However, he hailed the festival a success, despite a few gallons of warm beer having to be discarded at the end of the event.

Alan said: "The Bridgnorth Beer Festival was a success. Attendance during the daytime was good with many folks travelling some distance to visit the festival.

"However, the extreme heat was a big problem - it put off a number of local folk who I know decided not to walk over after work as the temperature were still in the high 20s.

"The heat also affected our cooling arrangements - our plans assumed similar temperatures to previous years with around 25C max during the day and dropping to the mid-teens by 11pm.

"The coolers just could not cope with being on full power for so long and towards the end, the beer temperature was rising alarmingly.

"We did manage to sell most of the beer, with only 20 gallons being thrown away - about four pints per cask."

He added: "Let’s hope for better weather next year!"