EXTRA – The Moon and the Stars at Bromsgrove Beer And Cider Festival

The Moon and the Stars at Bromsgrove Beer And Cider Festival

Mark Collinson

The 2019 Bromsgrove Beer and Cider Festival was held at the Finstall Rugby Club from 27th to 29th June and celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing.

The festival was very successful and a great time was had by all, including some special visitors such as Government Minister Sajid Javid (the local Bromsgrove MP) and the Bromsgrove Court Leet who blessed the beer.

Several people also made the effort to dress up, with full marks going to Festival Steward Jules Evans who is pictured taking one huge step for Bromsgrove.

Many ales had names to do with the moon and the stars such as Abbeydale Moonshine, Wickwar Falling Star, JW Lees Moonraker and Tipples Moonrocket, and some were brewed specially for the occasion such as Kinver Eagle Pale Ale, Swan Small Step, and Woodcote Manor Doug Side of the Moon.

Presentation for Doug

This last beer deserves a special mention as it was brewed for Doug Fitton, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Doug had been a bar manager at Bromsgrove for many years and shown above front of Doug’s Bar are Lee Kiteley and Tony Colclough presenting Lynn and Ali Fitton with pictures of the pump clip artwork signed by festival staff.

A number of other activities were arranged to support the moon and the stars theme, including attendance by the Bromsgrove Astronomical Society whose innovative stand and telescopes drew a lot of interest from stargazing enthusiasts and amateurs alike. If anyone would like to know more about the moon landing or any other topic, they can be contacted at www.broms-astro.org.uk and would be delighted to hear from you.

Mark and Kathy Collinson AKA Karmalyte

On Thursday evening, which was open to the general public for the first time, Karmalyte (an acoustic duo comprising local CAMRA members Mark and Kathy Collinson) entertained everyone with 15 classic rock tracks that were all about the moon, the sun and the stars. Their varied guitar and keyboard set included Champagne Supernova by Oasis, Man On The Moon by REM, Moondance by Van Morrison, Rocket Man by Elton John, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler, and Life On Mars by David Bowie.

Giving the thumbs up is Festival Organiser David Wheeler with the other festival volunteers.

And for the hard working festival volunteers there is always a thank you trip, which this year was to Loughborough. This also matched the theme, starting at the Moon and Bell and finishing at the Moonface Brewery and Tap, with several other good pubs in between. The Moonface serves 4 ales direct from the stillage (which on the day included Apollo Thirsteen by Brew Foundation), and will shortly be including ones from their on-site brewery which owner/brewer Pater Davidson kindly showed us around during the visit.