Helensburgh and Lomond Real Ale (& cider!) Festival

the goodies

On the 18th May, I went to the Helensburgh and Lomond Real Ale Festival. Which is strange, given that I don't drink ale, beer or even lager. But I went last year when I was pregnant and couldn't drink anything, so clearly I'm not letting its name put me off. And I wasn't the only mama-in-waiting there last year either.  Her and I locked eyes at one point and just shrugged at each other as if to say designated driver. So this year I was very happy to be in with the crowd, and even though I don't drink the dirty stuff I was still catered for as there was a selection of ciders on offer.

I started off with a perry called Double Vision, which was delicious and more like drinking fruit juice than cider. While I got that into my system I decided on my plan of attack - I would chose my ciders by the LOL-factor of their names.  So my next drink was the Legbender, a sweet cider. At first I thought I'd made a bad choice as it seriously smelled like a sewer. But it tasted incredible - rich and smooth but not too heavy. Noms.

The other ciders on my list were Janet's Jungle Juice, Swallowfields and the Wobbly Munk.  Unfortunately my plan of attack hit a stumbling block, in that everyone else clearly had the same plan. None of the other ciders I had earmarked were left when I went to get my third drink. And it wasn't particularly late in the day, so that was disappointing. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the ales were running out (we were into the second day of the festival), so the ale drinkers were guzzling up the cider whilst my back was turned.

I went for a medium cider called Bollhayes after that, but it was too tart for me so I switched with The Milkman to get his Legbender instead. I think I buffered between the Legbender and one called Wilkins for the rest of the evening, but my memory does understandably get a bit muggy from that point onwards! I probably should have made more of the BBQ that was on offer to help soak it all up, because the chicken schnitzel I had was delicious.

hangover preventative/cure

Things wound down when the light faded and the pumps began to dry up, so we boarded the Beer Bus (a free shuttle bus between the town centre and festival). The banter was flowing, the tunes were pounding and everyone was in great spirits. I think public transport should be more like the Beer Bus, maybe perhaps then I wouldn't drive everywhere! In fact, nights out in general should be like the festival - everyone just enjoying themselves, drinking but also managing to be civilised and treat others with respect at the same time. The festival had such a good vibe, conversations just started with whoever you happened to be standing near (in our case, the most memorable one involved the sweetest little black Staffie puppy I have ever met). There was no brawling, no using doorways as toilets, no one stumbling about putting others on edge. It was just a good time had by all, and as the proceeds go to charities in the local area we were also doing our bit for others at the same time.

I really enjoyed myself, it's an impressive wee event that is very well organised and I can't wait until next year!  Just bring more cider next time, right guys?