Towcester Town Mayor, Cllr Peter Conquest, and Mayoress, Mrs Jonna Conquest, stopped off at Towcester Mill Brewery on Friday 21 September to tap the first cask to launch the Beer Festival.
Ably assisted by head brewer, John Evans, the Mayor was delighted in his successful first attempt, not spilling even a drop! Brewer, Phil Ayres, then took the Mayor and Mayoress around the brewery for a behind-the-scenes whistle stop tour.
“There’s a first time for everything,” said Cllr Peter Conquest. “We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and it was a great opportunity to share our time with people we know within the local community.”
The timing of the weekend was spot on in terms of the Mill’s brewing calendar, the beginning of Cask Ale Week and the launch of Oktoberfest in Munich, even though the weather wasn’t as good as it could have been. However, despite the wind and rain and intermittent sunshine the weekend was a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by all!
Fresh green hops brought back from the hop fields on 6 September were used to brew the Mill’s seasonal favourite, Fresh Hop – a perfectly balanced session pale golden ale which only comes out at the time of year. “British hops are harvested at this time of year,” explained head brewer, John, “which means this beer is the only beer we can brew with the freshest of hops. Offering this beer along with our Saxon Shield ale as well as four German brewed beers made for a different kind of line-up than usual!”
There was food available from the Mill’s regular street food vendors offering German themed dishes, as well as German themed music and plenty of drinking songs to get the crowd going. Prost!