Beer Festival

Looking at the blue sky and sunshine it's hard to believe that this morning we were experiencing torrential rain and dark clouds.

I'm so glad it cleared - today was the 5th annual Beer Festival in our village. The event raises money for the charity called 'Orchid' which fights male cancer.

It was an enjoyable outing with a couple of friends. We tried a couple of the local beers, ate some curry, chatted, watched people and listened to some live music. Even Dolly enjoyed the outing and there were plenty of other dogs there too. I think more people were there than they expected. The beer and food ran out by early evening, but I heard that one of the breweries came to the rescue and delivered some additional casks!

I'm amazed that there are so many local independent breweries in our area. The first brew I tried was 'Doodle Stout'. The brewer's dog is actually one of Dolly's 'friends' - a Labradoodle named 'Stout', who we sometimes meet in the park. This brew is named after him (or is he named after the brew?)

I was somewhat disappointed that the music couldn't really be heard outside. Who wanted to be inside on such a glorious day? The queues for the beer and food were also long and slow. But it looked like everyone was having a lot of fun without any disorderly behaviour. I hope that they made lots of money for the charity.