The Old Leigh Peterboat Real Ale Festival

September 20, 2016 by Caroline Dowse

Something hoppy this way comes...

From September 29th through to the 3rd October, the Peterboat pub in Old Leigh will be hosting it's first annual Real Ale Festival.

It's about time that Old Leigh, with it's great British heritage, had a devoted destination to that most hallowed of beverages, the real ale.

This will be the largest Ale festival that the East Anglia Pub Company has ever held; with up to 40 cask ales available, showcasing various small breweries and CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain award winners. A selection of he ales available have been provided by local Wakering brewer George's Brewery.

The brewers themselves will be showcasing their champion beers and promoting new and exciting tipples. Sam Martyn from George's Brewery will be hosting a 'meet the brewer' event on Thursday 29th at 7pm, where customers will be able to learn about the brewing process and take part in a Q+A session. Further 'meet the brewer' events will be taking place on Saturday 1st October, brewers and times tbc.

It's not all about ale though, with a wide selection of hand crafted British Cider Championship ciders and perries and craft beers.

Local bands will be performing all along the festival. See the dates below.

Sept 29th - Hot Milk

Sept 30th - Echo South

Oct 1st 2-3pm - Darren Jones

Oct 1st 3.30-4.40pm - Davey Hal & The Big Bow Wow

Oct 1st 5-6pm - David Gellet?Oct 1st - Eve The Phil Ball Band

Oct 2nd - The Maxibrites 2-6pm

Mark Skinner, General Manager of the Peterboat, had this to say:

"Here at the Peterboat we are passionate about our beer and have invested a lot of time training staff on how to store, condition and serve the best quality real ales available.

Our real ales have become so popular we can now offer up to fourteen different guest ales per week with a minimum of five different ales available at any time. Our ales come from all over the country and we are always happy to promote new and exciting beers alongside the more popular brands."

So if you'd like to quaff something beyond the usual fare, pop on down to the Peterboat to wet your whistle.

Just remember to have a big breakfast.