Peoples Republic of South Devon

Occombe’s Ale Raiser

June 15th, 2008

posted by Mr Beady

With the Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust facing a financial hill to climb, they are going to be a lot happier after this weekend’s brilliantly attended beer festival at Occombe Farm than they were a week ago.

The beer festival is the biggest fundraising event for the Trust and contributed £11,000 to their finances last year. Expectations must have been high and nerves must have been jangling in anticipation of what the 2008 event would achieve, but with an estimate at the mid-afternoon stage of day two of 2,000 visitors, organisers were justifiably pleased.
With over 60 ales, 10 ciders and perries, the choice on offer to the enthusiast was excellent and diverse but, as you might expect, with Occombe’s aim to champion local producers, there was a real Westcountry slant. Keltek’s ‘Beheaded’ ale at 7.6% was the loopiest of the loopy juices on offer and had, perhaps predictably, sold out by mid-afternoon on Saturday.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask the barman for a ‘Golden Shower’ (Dartmouth Brewery) so went for a ‘Black Boar’ instead from Countrylife which had a delightfully dark and treacly appeal. The perries had sold out quicker than the unleaded at Sainsbury’s so a pint of Stoke Gabriel’s Yarde cider got me into the festival feel. Gargoyle’s Summer Ale was a delight and Brimblecombe’s Vintage Dry cider had that straight-from-the-farm quality that, for me, epitomises proper cider.

On the subject of ‘festival feel’, it seems obligatory for British Festivals to have extreme weather of some description and Occombe was no different, hail and stair-rods interrupted what had been a warm, if overcast, afternoon and sent the crowds scurrying for cover.

It also prompted some worried looks from Pink Floyd tribute band, In the Flesh’s sound engineers who were busily trying to keep water and electricity apart with a sheet of plastic and a bulldog clip or two. Unfortunately, this attendee wasn’t at the festival for the whole day so the sound-checks were all I got to experience of the music on offer.

A missed opportunity as some acoustic music, played by local emerging musicians, would have made for a more rounded feel for the day and supported local talent in the same way that Occombe sets out to support local producers. As it was, the ongoing sound checks and piped music from an empty stage created a waiting-for-something-to-happen feeling in the afternoon.

An omission was a lack of soft drinks. Yes, I know it’s a beer festival, but I’d roped my wife into driving and judging by the fullness of the car parks other people had negotiated similar deals yet the soft drinks were only available from the slightly flustered staff in the main farm shop. On the whole though these were minor deficiencies when so much was done well.

According to festival spokesperson, Rachel Tapper: “We have had really positive feedback from everyone involved and learnt from last year in terms of signage and reducing the queues.”

Having found a golden goose are they tempted to milk it (a goose’s lack of udders notwithstanding, but being farm people they’ll know all about that)?

“The advice we have had from CAMRA is to resist the temptation to try and repeat the festival too often.” said Rachel.

Which poses a real dilemma: you have an event which is really well attended and not only that, but attended by a good mix of people from croc wearers, to stag and hen groups, to stereotypical CAMRA types, to young people, to not-so-young people, to families, all having a good time, all supporting local producers and it raises a pile of cash for an organisation doing valuable and interesting work that really needs the money.

How can Occombe carry that gold-dust mix on throughout the year, maintaining such high levels of interest and community engagement? I don’t have the answer to that question, I’m afraid, but if the brains at the trust can harness and adapt the formula a lot of their financial worries will be solved.

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