Substack diary no.126: Friday, 17th. April 2026

Well, The Maltings came as something of a shock. For those who have never visited before it was probably a good medium-sized beer festival, but to those of us who have been attending for over 25 years it was a serious let-down. If I was to describe it in one word it would be ‘mean’.

That does not mean to say it was not enjoyable. The selection of beers was adequate rather than the enormous of previous years. The standard of brewing was as good as ever, and there was plenty of seating.

Shock number one came immediately upon arrival at the starting time of 5pm: £8 to get in for the evening, which included a festival half-pint glass and a brochure listing all the cask and keg beers and ciders. Then came the price of the beer tokens: £2.50 each or 8 for £20. That’s £5 a pint and staggeringly high for a beer festival. Remember, this one is unusual in that it is organised by the brewers themselves, whose primary aim is to promote and market their product. I must confess that paying £28 upon entry coloured my feelings about the festival from the start. The mean theme continued in other ways that I won’t go into here.

Shock number two fell within seconds of shock number one as I glanced over at the the meagre quantity of beer – roughly 200 varieties. Kegs and ciders appeared to be seriously down too. Was this a reflection of the decline of ‘real’ beer? Some people might point an accusing finger at ‘the economy’ but all the evidence I can see suggests that is a minor player. Huge quantities of alcohol are purchased and consumed, but more of it comes out of cans, bottles and kegs. I may be wrong – I haven’t looked into it in detail – but it would appear that cask beer – the real thing – might be in decline.

Factory farming, factory ultra-processed food and factory-scale beer seem to be all the rage, fattening the wallets of already wealthy global billionaires in the process. Process. Get it? I am pleased to say that, despite the financial sacrifices I am required to make, I do my best to avoid food or drink that has emerged from a giant factory. I do not always succeed.