Some annual favourites feature in our springtime round-up of the month’s most notable beer-drinking opportunities in London, alongside a couple of apparent newcomers. Enjoy the optimistic promise of slightly improved weather with loads of lovely beer (or cider) at one of these events.
20-21 April: Hook Beer Fest
It’s a modestly-sized institution: the annual Hook Beer Fest returns to its Surbiton scout hut for three four-hour sessions on Friday 20 April and Saturday 21 April (although once again the Friday session has sold out in advance, so don’t bother turning up if you don’t already have a ticket).
The provisional beer list looks good, with more than 50 real ales from a pleasantly wide variety of UK brewers (as well as 20 traditional ciders and perries). Tickets are still available (online or from a handful of local pubs) for the Saturday sessions; entry to each of the afternoon or evening sessions costs £6 in advance (or £13.50 with five beer tokens) and includes a tasting glass and festival programme.
20-21 April: Weybridge Beer Festival
The Weybridge Vandals rugby club will be hosting their fourth annual Weybridge Beer Festival, featuring the best part of 20 beers and a decent selection of cider, wine and gin, as well as live music from several local performers. The festival is organised into two sessions, from 6pm until closing time on Friday, and from 1pm until closing time on Saturday — advance tickets for each session cost £10 (or a ticket for both days costs £15) and include a festival glass and your first drink.
20-22 April: The Sultan Beer Festival
Hop Back Brewery’s only London pub, The Sultan in Colliers Wood, will be staging its usual springtime beer and cider festival over the weekend of 20-22 April. Supplementing the pub’s excellent range of Hop Back beers will be 18 beers and 8 ciders from around the UK.
Barbecued food will be served on all three days, and live jazz music will feature on the Sunday. As is customary with pub-based beer festivals, entry is free.
Also…
- From 11am until 8pm on Saturday 28 April, Goldsmiths Student Union in New Cross will host a CAMRA-organised Spring Cider & Perry Festival. Yes yes, we know that cider and perry do not qualify as beer, but the promise of more than 30 ciders and perries for an entry fee of just £3 (or £1 for CAMRA or NUS members) could certainly pique the curiosity of some beer drinkers.
If you’re a lover of beer or pubs, check out our ever-expanding database of the best pubs in London.
