‘It’s good to be back:’ Peterborough Beer Festival officially underway to the delight of breweries

The forty-third annual Peterborough Beer Festival returned to The Embankment for the first time today, since 2019.

After a three-year absence because of the pandemic the beer festival is finally back – offering over 300 beers, all served from a bar measuring over 100 metres long.

There will be Adnams, Woodfordes, Nene Valley and Ossett Ales brewery bars, a world beer bar and key keg bar – serving cold beer at around four degrees.

Between them all, it’s estimated about 10,000 pints will be up for grabs.

"It’s good to be back,” Dick Simpson, co-owner of local brewery Nene Valley Brewery, in Oundle Warf, said.

"It’s the only one we really make a big effort for as it’s our local beer festival and we want to support our local CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) branch, which is why we have donated our beer.

“People have been waiting for three years to return to the beer festival, so will be keen to come back. There’s a lot of beer and overall it should be a great experience for everyone involved.”

Nene Valley Brewery is celebrating its tenth anniversary of being based at its Oundle Warf brewery in September this year.

It will have ten of its beers available to try at the festival this week – making up 3,500 pints of beer.

Woodfordes Brewery representatives Lawrence Pitt and Jo Timson Woodfordes said the real cask ales on draft at the festival can’t be replicated at home.

"People are so desperate to get out,” Lawrence, a business development manager at Woodfordes, said.

"Being able to be in a field in a marquee on a nice sunny day is the kind of thing everybody was missing during lockdown and the pandemic.

"I say to our customers, the one thing you can’t replicate is a proper pint of draft cask ale, which you can only get in a pub. I think that’s why festivals like this are doing really well because members of the public didn’t have access for almost two years.”

Woodfordes has seven of its beers available at the festival – almost 3,000 pints in total.

“You could be here everyday and not work your way through half of the beers,” Lawrence said. “There’s something for everyone.”

Adnams Brewery is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The brewery has 2,500 pints of seven of its beers at its festival brewery bar – including its newest beer: Sea Fog.

“It’s been produced by Sam, one of our brewers, who won a competition to produce a beer to celebrate our 150th anniversary,” Adnams’ Jan Vacqueray said.

"This will be my tenth Peterborough Beer Festival with Adnams. It’s good to be back.

"The beer keepers and volunteers are brilliant here. It’s an impressive venue – they’ve done a good job once again.”