Bristol Beer Week is a celebration of everything beery in the West Country: week-long programme of beer festivals, meet the brewer events, pairing dinners and anything anyone can think of to do with beer and the West Country.
Bristol Beer Week is the brain child of Stephen Powell and Lee Williams, two Bristol-based beer writers who’ve made it their mission to put the city’s thriving beer scene firmly onto the national and international beer map.
Bristol Beer Week is a collective event overseen by Stephen and Lee, who promote the week with a central website and liberal use of social media. This year 3,000 free programmes have been distributed across the city with the aim of bringing Bristol Beer Week to the masses.
For 2014 the organisers have concocted an affiliate scheme in which all beer week participating venues have made a small contribution to the cost of running everything. In return, they get priority promotion and advertising before, during and after the week. There is also a new version of the popular Bristol Beer Week t-shirt, and all wearers will be able to obtain discounts at most affiliate venues throughout the week. T-shirts can still be purchased via the main website at www.bristolbeerweek.co.uk.
Bristol’s beery venues and breweries have organised a series of events across the city to create a week (and a bit!) long calendar for city dwellers and beer tourists alike. Some of the events include:
- Beef and Beer at the Ashley Down and Wiper & True Brewery
- BrewDog and Source beer dinner
- Factoberfest at the Tobacco Factory
- Brewers University Challenge at Small Bar
- Oktoberfest at the Bag of Nails and Three Tuns
- A special Bristol Beer Week burger at Three Brothers
- Launch of the 2014 Good Beer Guide at The Beer Emporium
There have also been a number of beers brewed specially for the week from 15 different West Country breweries including Beerd, Rocket Science, Zero Degrees, Dawkins, Kubla, Butcombe and Gloucester Brewery. The beers will be available in venues across the city and at independent off-licences Corks, Grape and Grind, Brew Bristol and Brewers Droop.
To find out more about Bristol Beer Week, visit their website, follow them on Twitter or find them on Facebook.