Solving a Problem
Hello again!
I didn’t think I’d be back so soon, but there’s been a little something that I forgot to address in the launch post that needed dealing with.
To give it a name, let’s call it FOMO. Something that I don’t suffer, personally.
I *may* have mentioned previously that this event is now in its 6th year. And for the first 4 of those years the beer volume walked a tight line. I made statements in the lead up to each of those events to the effect that I’d try to ensure that ALL beers would be available until the Saturday opening at least.
With a single exception (in year 4), we did that. My more experienced friends and I are fairly good judges of what may be popular. And we rationed accordingly. Successfully. Until last year.
Last year (#ISBF5) was our first at Hemsley House. There were increased numbers of guests. I uprated the volume of beer accordingly. But not by enough.
Last year, Northern Rail were in dispute. It is beyond any doubt that that hurt the night time economy. Especially at weekends. People simply stayed either in their home areas, or stayed at home full stop. For #ISBF5 though, that Northern Rail strike was a “godsend”. We’d have run out of beer by 7pm if the trains had been active.
At 2pm, I started to get text messages from my dear friend Chris (#EvilKegFilth Master). Kegs were kicking. Those messages increased in number as the afternoon went on. By 6pm, I was in panic mode.
Then, the effects of that dispute became obvious. We got by. More than half of the kegs had kicked. And those left had dribbles in. It wasn’t good judgement. It was – as with many things at this event – dumb luck! 😁
This year, I’m going to try to address that. To try to ensure that “most” beers are still available on the Saturday evening session. By increasing the volumes of some of the beers.
With some beers, that’s simply not possible. Some breweries package for home consumption. To get those on draught at all was…… interesting. And a challenge. But I like a challenge. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do this event.
With one of the beers, I’ve secured the only 30L keg in the country. (And there’s only 400L of THAT beer in existence. It’s a beauty). With another, it is simply a very rare outing on draught. And another may be a unique outing on draught full stop. With a few, I’ll simply double up. And take the consequences.
Some of the beers will be unique on draught. And one keg (or cask – in a few cases). That’s unavoidable. That’s kind of in the nature of what we do here. If FOMO is something you suffer from, grab a Thursday or Friday ticket to be “certain”. I offer no guarantees any more.
To recognise this, I’ve reduced the ticket price slightly on the Saturday evening. Let me be clear, MOST (the vast majority) of beers WILL be available on the Saturday evening. But not all.
My initials may be JC, but, unfortunately, walking on water is a little beyond me I’m afraid. 😂
Remember. ALL of the beers will be “first pour” in the Manchester area. Many will be “first pour” in the UK. Some, will be unique to the UK on draught.
Tickets here. (Limited availability Friday evening and Saturday lunch)
Be kind to one another.
