Hemel Old Town Beer Festival 2026

On the third weekend of July, the Hemel Old Town Beer Festival rolled into town in again, now in its fourth year. Since its inception back in 2023, it has been held at the grounds of St. Mary’s Church, markedly the oldest building in Hemel Hempstead, dating from the 12^th century. This festival is co-organised between Mid Chilterns CAMRA branch and St Mary’s Church, since it’s a non-for-profit event the proceeds are split between the two organisations with any surplus going towards the upkeep of the church building and local pubs. This year’s festival selection was organised by beer orderer Alex Baker (former cellar manager of a Pub of the Year award within their branch). Among the selection were a number of beers from one of Hertfordshire’s largest brewers, Tring, including core-brand fixtures like Mansion Mild (3.7%), seasonal specials in the form of the gloriously drinkable Summer ale Fanny Ebbs (3.9%) and the festival exclusive Colley’s Glory (6.2%), a blend of their ruby-coloured ESB, Colley’s Dog (5.2%), with the barley wine Death or Glory (7.2%). The main festival bar was located in the church building itself, there were over 30 cask ales on offer, mainly from local breweries located in the Herts/ Bucks region like Tring, Vale, Rebellion and Mad Squirrel respectively, but with a decent representation from breweries across the UK as well. 

 

The main bar was split into two, with the larger John Lomax bar offering bitters, pales, golden ales, IPA’s and strong ales, while the smaller Dave Lewin Bar was dedicated to dark ales, offering a small yet decent selection of porters, stouts and milds. This kind of arrangement is unusual for a beer festival, but it ensured that all drinkers were catered for. Many of the beers on offer were sponsored by local businesses and individuals, among the highlights of the beer selection were classics like Bass (4.4%), Pale Rider (5.2%), Wobbly Bob (6%) and Boddington’s Bitter (4.4%), a Mancunian icon which was relaunched on cask last Autumn by J.W. Lees, a traditional amber-gold bitter it was a flavoursome display of gentle bitterness blended with grassy hops and bready malt. There were also a number of local regional favourites like Wychert (3.9%) and Roasted Nuts (4.6%) and the very local Jupiter Heights (4.2%) from the nearby Hop Tap micropub, even Champion Beer of Britain 2026, Independence (4.6%) from Bristol Beer Factory made an appearance. Over on the darker end of the EBC scale, there were a mixture of popular icons like Landlord Dark (4.3%) and the eminently light-bodied yet malt-forward Gravedigger’s Mild (3.8%) with its distinct chocolate and coffee notes, also on offer was a special collaboration beer in the form of Old Toby (5%) developed in conjunction between Vale Brewery and their subsidary ABC, a smoked porter which lived up to its name, giving a smoky counterpoint to the bittersweet chocolate and coffee flavours engineered by the use of heritage malt variety Chevalier. There were even some pastry stouts on the roster including Cherry Tonkoto (5.5%) to the ridiculously sweet Double Trouble Birthday Cake Stout (5%) which surely holds the title for the best titled beer at the festival.

       

To cater for a wide range of drinkers, in the adjacent church hall building, the organisers additionally set up a cider and perry bar, also holding the fort was a small keg bar primarily dominated by Tring Brewery, and a prosecco bar for the wine drinkers. On the cider/ perry front there were around 15 examples on display, there were well-known classics like Devon Red (4.5%) to cider and perry blends in the form of Gardenia (4.8%) made with Conference pears and elderflowers, there was even the likes of Kingston Black (6.5%) a rare dark cider that takes its name from the apple variety it uses, which gives off a distinct copper-red hue. While the traditional cider/perry growing regions of Devonshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire were well represented there were some examples from further afield like Whisky Cask Cider (6.9%) from Thistly Cross based near the east Lothian coast of Scotland, where the cider is matured in casks from Glen Moray distillery, giving a distinct Scottish take on cider. Moreover, there was also a healthy number of fruit ciders available like Dance Commander Sour Cherry (3.9%), Cloudy Strawberry Cider (4.8%) and Berry Lime Blitz (3.4%), if there was such a thing as craft cider, then assuredly this would be a reasonable interpretation.

Despite the relatively small number of beers, ciders and perries on offer, the festival was eminently popular with hundreds of punters flooding the venue, while most of the visitors were sprawled over the surrounding grounds soaking in the summer sun, a good deal took shelter inside the main-building and church hall. Such is the popularity of this festival, I was informed by one of the volunteers that in the past they used to run low on stock by the end of the 2nd day; though festival organiser and Mid Chilterns CAMRA branch chairman Jared Ward-Brickett (also PR Director at Tring Brewery) has endeavoured to remedy this situation by personally sourcing more beer and cider from his brewery’s cold store if required, they have also upped their beer purchasing year on year based on forecasting with the option to restock on the interest of maximum surplus and minimal wastage. Moreover, when it came to the number of non-drink stalls, I found them rather modest in my opinion, while there were several on-site caterers perhaps a more diverse range of stalls including a snack booth, book stand, tombola, and a Brewerania table within the vicinity wouldn’t have gone amiss, though admittedly this is often difficult for festival organisers to arrange when they are constricted to a small area. Yet as beer festivals go, the drinks selection was wide and varied, catering for all tastes, not bad for a festival limited not only by space but by the number of drinks it could supply punters, which is a measure of the organisers ingenuity. Although at its heart it is a small-scale festival catering for the local community, it offers a unique microcosm of larger festivals, giving both seasoned real-ale drinkers and newcomers the opportune insight into the wonderful world that beer, cider and perry has to offer. 

Autumn Almanac

As the leaves change colour and the nights draw in, the changes in our preferences of beer comes in with the change of season. Gone are the light bodied, refreshing pale ales of the those long hot Summer days gone by and instead our preference shifts to darker, fuller bodied and stronger ales. Autumn traditionally is a time to bring in the harvest, and to prepare for the long Winter ahead, this is also reflected in our choice of beverages, in particular beer. Mark Dredge once summed this up “Autumn beers are all about evoking the richness of the harvest, spices, orchards and smoke to a backdrop of hearty reds and browns.” Up and down the country brewers have experimented with autumnal ales with varying degrees of success, whilst the majority play it safe with bitters and red ales, occasionally there have been examples that have strayed from the norm and in turn challenged the very notion of what we deem an Autumn beer.

 

Around this time of year, when we come across an autumnal themed beer in a pub, we usually associate it with amber coloured bitters or red ales that are reasonably sessionable, yet profoundly malty in flavour with strong hints of berry fruits and a noticeable bitterness on a back end. A classic example of this is Autumn Red (4.4% - Twickenham Fine Ales), a spicy red ale with fruity undertones, notes of caramel, roasted malt and a floral aroma from the use of Willamette hops. The elements that go into this beer from the colour to the flavour is typical of what we associate with Autumn beers, even its namesake (Autumn Red) is commonly used by other brewers, with the likes of Portobello and Caledonian utilizing such a name in the past. The use of malts such as a caramel and rye malt play a large part in this, from the likes of Cooper Beech (4.4% - Chiltern) with sweetish and malty flavour profile with hints of burnt orange to Old Goose (4.5% - Evan Evans) that uses rye malt and late boil WGV and Goldings hops to help give its distinct fruit and chocolaty flavours. The likes of Canberra (4% - Windsor & Eton) takes this even further, it is produced with a complex grain bill of five different malts along with New World hops (including Sauvin and Galaxy) and along with a dash of maple syrup, to add to its elaborate cast of flavours. Likewise Autumn Bank (4% - Small World Beers) similarly has a complex charge sheet, a copper red Autumal brew developed with a trio of hops, including Chinook, Cascade and Columbus, that help gives the beer its hoppy edge along with hints of pine and fruitiness, whilst the malts impart notes of caramel and biscuit. Whilst the likes of Charter (4% - Bishop Nick) a ruby ale notable for its bold flavours of blackcurrant, chocolate and warming spices, that stem from the trip of British hops used in the mix including Bramling Cross, Cascade and Olicana. Even more recently released examples like Autumn Ways (4.2% - Hook Norton) and Selby in Autumn (4% - Jolly Sailor)  have cottoned onto this classic formula, producing ruby ales with a multifarious blend of hops that help impart distinctive flavours including orange zest and spices, imparted with a distinct roasted bitterness that help echo the spirit of the season, as people traditionally look for  stronger and more robust flavours as the weather turns colder, while they compensate for lack of sun.

 

In this mad rush to produce seasonal autumn-themed ales, it has come to no surprise that the bigger brewing giants of the scene have muscled in to get a slice of that commercial pie. Sold on an annual basis since 2008, Bonkers Conkers (4.1% - Greene King) has become an established favourite in the brewery’s varied repertoire; a deep amber-brown coloured beer highly reminiscent of a Conker, it is developed using an elaborate array of ingredients that include five different hops (Admiral, Pilgrim, Goldings, First Gold, Fuggles and  Bramling Cross, along a trio of malts including Pale Malt, Crystal Malt and Amber Malt. Despite its sessionable later, the array of ingredients have created a flavourful beer that the British Guild of Beer Writers once proclaimed “Bonkers Conkers is a complex beer, ideal for the start of the autumn months, with fruit aromas set against biscuity malt that adds body and warmth to the beer. There is also fragrant notes of blackcurrant, lemon and orange, in this brilliantly crafted cask ale.” The brewery says it an ideal food pairing with hearty stews and pumpkin pie, for a while it was even sold bottle to cater for this market. Meanwhile, the likes of Late Red (4.5% - Shepherd Neame) have become an established seasonal favourite at the brewery’s fleet of public houses across the south-east. Sold between September – October, it is a definitive example of what we deem an autumnal themed beer, pale and gently kilned crystal malt help give its distinctive crimson-red hue, whilst time-honoured British hops (including Cascade and Goldings) are thrown into the brew, which are then triple hopped to help give its distinctive edge. This elaborate development process has gained plaudits from the industry, Beer Today notably described it as “complex and full-flavoured, this seasonal ale forges a balance between rich, dark malt flavours, and a citrussy hop finish.” Like their contemporaries at Greene King, this elusive seasonal number is exclusively sold at their tied pubs, although it has appeared at the odd beer festival and even infrequently appeared in bottle form, for a chance to savour it the year round. The same can be said for Red Fox (4.3% - Fullers) which has been ticking by as back as 1999, tawny red in colour with a tuft of a tan-coloured head much like the distinctive markings of its foxy namesake. The beer has been invariably described as sweet and profoundly malty, with a fruit aroma that wafts through its creamy-rich mouthfeel. This is made possible through it elaborate array of ingredients, that include four different malts including Crystal 400, Pale Ale, Chocolate, Pinhead oats and Golden naked oats, along with a dash of Challenger hops thrown in for good measure.

 

Occasionally though, brewers have strayed away from the classic formula that is deemed a typical Autumn beer. For example the likes of Dark Nights Porter (5% - Jolly Sailor) is a notable outsider, it uses a mixture of chocolate and brown malts for flavour, with hints of coffee, and a dash of Fuggles hops, and rather unusually for an autumnal beer it is even sold in bottle. Speckled Wood (4.5% - Great Newsome) is another example of an un-characteristic dark Autumnal beer, combining bitter notes of dark chocolate with soothing aromas of honey, whilst north of the border, Cairndow based brewery Fyne Ales have recently released Wulver (4.5%) an oatmeal stout inspired from the legendary creature of Scottish folk-law, a kindly wolf-headed creature known for its strength and generosity, which is reflected in its distinctive flavour-profile which combine a mellow creamy mouthfeel imbued with a distinctive roasted malt background comprised from five different malts. Although we tend to associate autumnal beers as sessionable, there is the odd example that bucks that trend like Bonfire Boy (5.8% - Harvey’s); produced traditionally for the Bonfire Night celebrations, its genesis was inspired by the incident in 1996 when the local fire service helped rescue the brewery from a major fire.  In tribute to there endeavours, later that year they released Firecracker which was subsequently renamed under its present guise. The beer is the perfect embodiment of Bonfire Night, with its deep dark-amber colours, a fully malty palate and its distinctive smokey aftertaste that comes through the small quantity of black malt used in the mix. Daniel Etherington described it as “It’s a smooth, full-bodied beer, confident in its 5.8% strength. It’s one of those beers that feels really substantial when you roll it around in your mouth, almost like eating an autumnal stew followed by a hot fruit pudding.” The beer has won a slew of awards over the years including Beer of the Festival – Worthing Beer Festival 2015, and Gold – Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival 2018 and most notably South East Sussex CAMRA: Beer of the Year 2019, and although it only seasonally sold in cask during November, it is available in bottle all year round. Meanwhile over on the end of IBU chart, there have been instances of pale and golden ales produced and marketed in this style, like Mythicale (4.3% - Rudgate) pale gold in colour, it combines tropical summer fruits with subtle autumnal spices,  whilst across the Pennines the likes of J.W. Lees and Cloudwater have recently teamed up to produce Berry Falls (5%), a dark-gold ale made with a combination of Brewer’s Gold and Jester Hops, with a blend of berries that help impart a balanced bitterness to the concoction along with delicate floral notes and a refreshing twist. Moreover, established examples like Equinox (4.3% - Everards) which has been sold seasonally since the early Noughties, is a classic golden ale with a subtle hop character and distinctive hints of mature fruits coming through on the backend, it gets its name since it is traditionally released around the Autumn Equinox when day and night is at equal lengths. Meanwhile, recently the likes of Toffee Apple Ale (5% - Hog’s Back) have sent drinkers into a whirl of confusion by bending the boundaries between beer and cider, through producing an ale that is brewed with fresh apples from the orchards at Thatcher’s Cidery; deep amber in colour, it has been described by a brewery as a well-rounded bitter with rich caramel overtones, which seemingly echo the experience of eating a toffee apple by a roaring bonfire.

 

Autumnal themed beers come in all manner of guises, colours and styles. Although they are traditionally seen as sessionable amber-red coloured ales with a rich malty and hop-forward palate, there are a number of darker coloured, pale and stronger examples out there to sample. Yet they all share one common theme, taking advantage of well-rounded flavours of warming spices and fruits that help echo the spirit of the season. Indeed, Autumnal themed beers are a direct descendent of the legacy of the stronger, darker and more fuller bodied beers that breweries traditionally produced such as Burton Ales, that would appeal to punters as the weather got cold colder. Yet despite all these, Autumn Beers are a woefully small bunch, only a cluster of breweries around the country produced these beers, and even then they are usually limited to be sold locally or being sold through brewery tied pubs, owned by the likes of Fullers, Shepherd Neame and Greene King for instance. Furthermore, since these beers are seasonal, they are normally available for only a short period, which makes finding them as difficult as locating a rare sighting of the lesser spotted Woodpecker. Yet, fortunately some breweries have taken advantage of their popularity with drinkers and have gone to the lengths of releasing bottled versions on limited release, given drinkers the opportunity to sample these beers long after the leaves have fallen. Overall, whatever your tipple is this Autumn, should you manage to sample one of these beers out there, hopefully you’ll be able to experience Autumn in a glass.