Beer festival season gets underway!

A large marquee hoisted in the pub grounds for the three-day event kept crowds dry through sporadic downpours, as the eight new real ales and three new ciders was poured down throats.
Fans of fancy drinking can now look to the British Beer Festival which is to be held at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday as the racecourse hosts its highlight of the Flat season, the £175,000 Group 1 JLT Lockinge Stakes, the fourth leg of the British Champions Series and the Blue Square London Gold Cup.
More than 50 real ales and ciders will be available, with live musical entertainment.
West Berkshire Brewery will be the official beer provider bringing with them a wide selection of local beers, ales and ciders, supported by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
The festival will be the first tasting opportunity of the brewery’s new Swift Pale Ale, accompanied by established favourites from other breweries including Humpty Dumpty, Frog Island, and White Horse.
The festival will also bring beers to the region from new up and coming breweries in London including Beavertown, Redemption and new start up Tillingbourne.
A Jubilee Gallery will be on display in the Premier Enclosure, featuring a collection of images of the Queen at the races over the years. The travelling exhibition has been produced by Racing for Change and celebrates the Queen’s 60-year involvement in the ‘Sport of Kings’.
The displays feature more than 50 images from the Queen’s life-long interest in the sport, including rare photographs from the 1940s and ’50s.
First-time racegoers or old hands looking to get a few extra tips can find out everything they need to know through the Inside Track programme which includes a ‘Behind The Scenes’ tour leaving from the Weighing Room before racing.
Leading Flat jockey Richard Hughes, winner of the past two Lockinge Stakes, will be launching his new autobiography ‘A Weight Off My Mind’ at the event and racegoers can gain an insight into Hughes’ life with a question and answer session in the Moet & Chandon Champagne Hall in the Premier Enclosure before racing and purchase signed books throughout the afternoon.
There will be activities ‘off the track’ from the British Champions Series, which encompasses British Flat racing’s key festivals. Another celebrity appearance will be made by Monsignor, a retired racehorse who will be meeting racegoers throughout the day.