Lampeter Beer & Cider Festival

If you haven’t visited Lampeter in the winter months recently then you may not be aware that an annual beer and cider festival is up and running and has been a recurring event for five years. Having joined the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) after graduation, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to meet up with some fellow alumni over a few drinks.

The festival is organised by the Lampeter Round Table to raise money for local charities, and in its first year the organisers had to run to the co-op for extra supplies! This year’s event was in mid-February and had over twenty different beers served in the Arts Hall from breweries across Wales, and there was a great selection of Welsh cider too. All the drinks came with tasting notes in a commemorative festival programme.

Some of the beers that we tried included a hoppy golden beer called Rock Steady from the Mantle brewery in Cardigan and a copper-coloured ale named Hot Tin Roof from 9 Lives Brewing in Ystradgynlais. There was also an odd concoction of green tea and apricot infused into a pale ale named Goucho to mark the Welsh-Patagonia landing in 1865. Our firm festival favourite had to be a marshmallow porter from the Tiny Rebel brewery in Newport named Stay Puft – the aroma was gorgeous!

Alongside the beer and cider were performances from local bands who played a mixture of well-known pop songs as well as their own material. It certainly got people singing along and it was great to see a good mixture of both students and visitors soaking up the atmosphere. Hot snacks and sandwiches were available in the arts hall foyer but we opted to finish our day with an excellent Chinese meal at Ling Di Long.

For more details of the festival and future events, keep an eye on the festival website: www.lampeterbeerfestival.co.uk This year the hourly TrawsCymru T1 service between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen was free on the day of the festival. If you’re a fan of cwrw I highly recommended a visit. Iechyd da!