Week of events celebrates rising beer scene in the “Beer Green Place”
Beer enthusiasts are looking forward to the second Glasgow Beer Week from 7th-14th September. Scottish breweries and publicans are combining to offer a multi-event, multi-venue celebration aimed at raising the profile and improving the image of beer.
For the first time all three Glasgow breweries are taking part, with Tennent’s offering a rare chance to tour Wellpark Brewery and meet the master brewers. Elsewhere, WEST brewery on Glasgow Green has created the official Beer Week brew, a light, pale beer in the tradition of the German Rhineland. South Side brewpub Clockwork Beer Co is working with local botanists on an experimental herbal beer with plants gathered on a wildlife walk.
Highlights will include a repeat of last year’s popular Homebrewing Live, in which local homebrewers demonstrate the process of beer-making, and Sisters Are Brewing It For Themselves, a girls-only beer tasting. Further glamour will be provided by the “Beer Beauty”, TV presenter and beer expert Marverine Cole, who will be leading off a special beer dinner.
For those of an academic bent, the Scottish Brewing Archive Association is holding a one-day conference to start off the festival, featuring speakers from the brewing and whisky industries.
“If you know lager, you’re a Skolar,” the adverts used to say. Beer historian Ron Pattinson does know lager, and he’ll be talking about the strange story of British lager on Monday evening.
Of course, pubs and bars will be making a special effort to attract customers, with several events at which new and rare beers will be on offer. And a special event at the end of the week will welcome Glasgow’s newest speciality beer bar to the city.
Twitter users will be adding the ‘#gbw12’ hashtag to their tweets to create a real-time news feed that will be posted on the Beer Week website. The site also features a beer map showing what beer-lovers are drinking around town, based on the checkins made by users of the beery social media app Untappd (‘Foursquare for beer’ – untappd.com).
Events are still being added to the schedule, so for the full updated programme of events and participating venues, please visit www.glasgowbeerweek.com or follow @glasgowbeerweek on Twitter.
Thanks to @glasgowbeerweek for photographs and information
