The Best UK Beer Festivals

It’s summer which means it’s beer festival season. Who doesn’t want endless taps of beer in one setting and a party atmosphere? But which are the best?

1) Independent Manchester Beer Convention (Indy Man Beer Con or IMBC)is often seen as the holy grail, the number 1 and the most prestigious beer festival in the UK, especially when it comes to the hazy side of things in the craft beer world.

Starting in 2012 the fest has grown into a genuine world class showcase for the best breweries from the UK and beyond and you have to be fast if you want a slice of the action as tickets sell out in record time often going within a few hours of going on sale.

IMBC came about through being inspired by the UK’s craft beer movement but was the founder frustration that beer festivals in their current form weren’t really representative of this exciting and dynamic part of the industry and led them to setting up the fest to be at the forefront of creative beer. Personally I think they’ve nailed it because as well as utterly amazing beer the whole vibe gives off a huge open-minded, inclusive and modern feel and the buzz throughout all the sessions is electric.

The setting itself is fitting of such a glorious get-together. Set within the stunning surrounds of the Grade II listed, architectural gem Victoria Baths, sunken down in a swimming pool, it just feels so strangely right for such a quirky and brilliant fest. Everywhere you look there’s an assortment of stained glass, glazed tiles and Edwardian nods to the past. IMBC brings together a very hop- forward and joose-focused beer extravaganza. In the UK it’s the hype-fest for hype beer nerds.

Best for: Hoppy beers & setting

Honourable Mention: Hop City Beer Festival

The Little Summer Beer Bash is a brewer-run, intimate beer festival co-hosted by Verdant, DEYA, and Left Handed Giant.

The inaugural meeting was in 2017 and the three breweries have rotated the hosting of it since.

The line up of breweries is really the one that makes this really shine. The foundations are set by three of the UK’s best breweries and thus the folk invited from the industry to pop along are also the best of the best as they invite the peers whom they most respect. It’s a winning formula.

2022 saw 34 breweries all pouring some of the freshest most exciting beer around. Burning Sky, Gipsy Hill, Track Brewing, Pressure Drop, BoxCar, Beak, St Mars Desert, Wylam, Burnt Mill, Polly’s… I could go on but it reads like a who’s who of the UK’s top top producers. Throw into the mix the international presence of Other Half, Finback, Põhjala and the like you can see why it’s one not to miss out on. The whole set-up feels very cosy and welcoming and, again because of the high level of the three hosts involved, no detail is skipped and the attention to delivering the best possible beer experience is admirable.

At the time of writing the venue has not been fixed for 2023 but whoever hosts be prepared for a cracking day and amazing beers.

Best for: Beer variety, brewery experience, food

3) Beak These Hills festival launched in 2022 and was a resounding success thanks to a multitude of factors. Being set outdoors on one of the rolling hills near the brewery in Lewes the “Party Field” is the perfect setting for drinking beer – as long as the weather holds! A 25 minute walk down a farmers lane you’d be forgiven for thinking you had taken a wrong turn if it wasn’t for scores of other wristband-wearing beer nuts making the pilgrimage with you. Once in the field a horseshoe of tents hide under their stopped awnings some of the best import sours, European hop monsters and international impy masters. Grab a beer and perch up on a hay bail and watch the clouds roll over the Sussex hills. Bliss.

The most wonderful thing about the festival is how brilliantly organic and natural it all felt despite probably being a nightmare and a mission of mammoth proportions to organise. On the face of it, a field, a bit of live music and food and beer from some of the worlds best; sounds easy right? Despite the efforts that must have gone it from the very small team at Beak the festival felt relaxed, organised and above all heaps of fun.

A bigger and more structured event is planned for this summer but hopefully that just means building on what they already have and more of the good stuff to retain it’s natural charm.

Best for: Festival vibes, international imports