Denbigh beer festival hops on in 2019

Denbighshire’s top beer festival will this month attract over 600 thirsty customers to sample more than 35 craft beers, lagers and ales.

Denbigh’s historic Town Hall will again play host to the 16th Denbigh Beer Festival on Saturday, September 28, with organisers promising the 2019 event will be the best yet.

The festival, run by Denbigh Round Table, is building on the success of previous years and as well as those beers from across Wales, it will also feature locally-produced ciders and prosecco for those who prefer grape – and apple - to grain.

The event is expected to raise over £8,000 for local good causes and this year’s chosen charities are ‘Cystic Fibrosis’ , ‘Cancer Research’ alongside ‘The Friends of Ysgol Brondyffryn’ North Wales regional centre of excellence for teaching children on the autistic spectrum. The latter charity is in the process of developing an outdoor learning environment at one of the campus Ty’r Ysgol. Joanne Morris Chairperson of Friends Of Ysgol Brondyffryn says:

"The development will cater for all needs and will includes sensory and forest schools type equipment as well as horticultural aspects, It’s all very exciting and a donation from Denbigh Roundtable would be very much appreciated’’

Chairman of Denbigh Round Table David Jones said:

“The beer festival is by far our biggest fundraiser, it’s such a great event that brings the community together and the money raised from the day literally saves lives. This year we have donated money for many cancer charities alongside support for families who have had unfortunate life changing events.”

The festival is now an established event on many ale lovers’ calendars and as the event has grown in popularity so has the demands of organising it.

Beer Festival chairman Rhodri Jones said: “The event is now so popular we have had to increase the amount of cider and beer to keep up with demand.This year we will also provide state of the art toilet facilities, eco-friendly beer glasses, a large outdoor marquee, local food and a bespoke outdoor stage for the live music that starts at 6pm.“This year’s music line-up includes Welsh language band Jacob Elwy, Denbigh’s own Keenan Jones and headlining the event are Yubaba, a seven-piece band providing unstoppable mix of funk, soul and reggae."

Rhodri then added: “This year has been tough, the Beer festival has changed dramatically over the years and we have had to keep up with people's changing tastes.We have listened to feedback from previous years and we will have a wide range of drinks including the world famous Wrexham Lager and a range of non-alcoholic beverages tailored to suit the demands of today’s tipplers"

Local brewer Tom McNeill, of Henllan’s award-winning Heavy Industry brewery, is in his second year of selecting the beers for the festival has carefully selected a range from all over Wales, from Bragdy Dinbych, brewed just 12 feet away from the festival doors to Bragdy Nant Brewey from Llanrwst a CAMRA Champion beer of Wales silver medal winner that will host the return of last years sell-out ale ‘Mwnci Nel’ a 5.5% abv a special dark winter ale mildly sweet and burnt chocolaty flavours balanced with hops.

According to the organisers the extra effort going into this year has increased the cost of the event by over 20% but securing a record-breaking 70 sponsors this year has kept the taps running.

Rhodri said:

“The event needs a lot of funding and we are so lucky to have generous sponsors that are generally from the local area.We simply couldn’t run the event without their support and we are so thankful to them and we hope that the publicity the event attracts will help them in return.Our main sponsor for this year is Artisan Windows of Denbigh and we are delighted for their continuing loyalty in what will be their 16th year as main sponsors"

No-one knows the event better than Artisan Director and regular beer festival attendee Ian Gibson who said:

“I am proud as always to be main sponsor of the Denbigh Beer Fest and support the good work of Denbigh Round Table, the event really does put Denbigh on the map, it brings people together and boosts trade for the local area as well."

Denbigh Round Table is a charitable trust for men aged between 18 and 45 and it is actively seeking new members to join the club. Anyone interested in finding out more is urged to come along to the beer festival to see what’s it’s all about. The objectives of Round Table are to socialise, fund-raise and have fun.

Entry Tickets can be purchased at the doors on the day of the festival and are priced at £5 each. Doors open at midday and close at 10.30pm. For more information visit www.denbighbeerfestival.org.

Main picture from left to right Judith Tipney-Hicks member of Friends of Ysgol Brondyffryn, Ian Gibson of Artisan Windows , David Jones of Denbigh Roundtable and Sharon Jenkins assistant head at Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn Primary .