Personal Site & Travel Blog
After a cloudy morning, the sun warmed up the festival terrain in Rumst, just in time for this year’s edition of Razernij to start!
There was a nice selection of breweries again, just enough to try new beers all afternoon, to then return to favourites when the concerts really kick off.
So I originally didn’t plan to post something about this day trip to a beer festival. However, this festival—HOPZ!—turned out to be quite different from many others…
For starters, it was a bit further away—all the way in Hamont, the very end of a train line—necessitating a train change, which can be quite risky… (I might post about my Van Moll Fest adventure after all, to illustrate this point)
But secondly, it wasn’t the kind of beer festival where you meet the same persons you meet at every beer festival. I actually didn’t see a single familiar face! Some of the attending breweries were familiar though, but from at least half of the breweries present, I hadn’t tried a single beer yet.
Most of the breweries present were Belgian, although there were some Dutch breweries and one German brewery as well.
Quite a pleasant surprise was their glass cleaning policy: just go back to the bar where you received your glass initially, and you’ll get a freshly cleaned and rinsed glass each time you hand in your dirty glass!
They published their beer list well in advance, so I knew there would be plenty of new beers to try. Most of the beers on my list were above 7% ABV though, so it was quite a challenging list to get through…
With the help of some snacks, I did survive it though, and eventually successfully got on the train I intended to take. I even managed to not miss the train change in Antwerp Berchem! Having a peanut sauce soaked dinner probably helped…
My next day trip: Bruges!
After a last breakfast at FyneFest—a bacon and egg breakfast roll from Hector & Harriet—it was time to walk back that mile to the bus stop—albeit an invisible one—for my Citylink 926 back to Glasgow.
After quickly getting a coffee to go from Laboratorio Espresso, I headed to Glasgow Queen Street station for my ScotRail train to Aberdeen.
I arrived in The Granite City a bit too early to check in at my Travelodge, so I first visited The Craftsman Company, for another coffee, and a beer. There are not enough places like this that do both specialty coffee—this one even roasts in-house—and craft beer!
In the evening I planned to go the the hash of Aberdeen H3, but it was about 35km out of the city, and not that easy to get to by public transport. I was supposed to catch a ride with another hasher, but he himself had a problem getting to Aberdeen in time. So off I went by myself, two and a half hours in advance… First I had to catch a train to Inverurie, and change onto a first bus there. I had about half an hour for this, so I seized the opportunity to visit BrewDog Inverurie—right across the square from the bus stop—and pick up the pin they didn’t have when I did my Flying Scotsman trip.
After that first bus, I had to get on the same line in the opposite direction, since apparently it serves different stops. From that last stop, it was still a three kilometre walk to the start of the trail…
The hash was totally worth it though: a beautiful trail, a ‘sweetie check’, the most amazing beer stop location, and lots of nice hashers!
The way back to Aberdeen was a lot easier and quicker: I got a ride back with one of the hashers.
Back of the hotel I first had a shower, to wash off four days of camping and a hash through at times quite some dense growth.
After that I somehow managed to drag myself outside for a last beer at BrewDog Castlegate. They soon called last call however, so it would stay at just the one.
The last day of FyneFest, Sunday, is the most relaxing one of all!
For breakfast I went to Winston Churchill Venison again, for a breakfast roll with a square sausage—undoubtedly made with venison—black pudding, bacon, and a fried egg. Not sure how sustainable venison is—hard to find neutral sources about it—but it sure was tasty!
Sunday is also a bit of a ‘leftovers day’ when it comes to the beers. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since I discovered some really good beers I had missed so far!
For lunch I had to have some of the masala roasted chicken loaded fries from Babu Bombay Street Kitchen, since they would probably pack up before dinner time. After some more beers in good company—you never drink alone at FyneFest—I had Ròst’s chicken burger for dinner.
By that time the bar in the already emptied out big tent had closed, and it was time to move on to the Mixtape tent. No more tasting notes, just enjoying a few familiar beers while enjoying some live music.
With the festival rounding up, and me retiring to my yurt for the last time, I have to give a shout-out to the team of staff and volunteers: they’ve been nothing but excellent!
This Saturday started with a bacon and cheese omelet from Real MacKay Stovie Co., to fuel up for today’s run. No hash today, but it was a run with beer at the end nevertheless!
The Good Time Running club organised a charity run to raise money for Arrochar Mountain Rescue. A couple of dozen people ran almost 5km from the Fyne Ales brewery, up the sunny glen to the Walkers Bar, where we were welcomed with a can of beer. Some even ran back down again, but I took it easy and just walked.
By the time I was back at the campsite, there weren’t any queues at the showers anymore, so the perfect time to freshen up a bit after all that exertion.
Not really hungry enough yet for a full lunch, I just had an ice cream from Highland Fold, before trying the first couple of beers at the main bar.
Just a few, because it was soon time for the first of the Meet-The-Brewers panel discussions moderated by Pellicle’s Matthew Curtis I would attend: “For Beer; For the Planet”
There was a ceilidh as well this afternoon, but before Rock & Reel was done with their first dance, I had to head back to the dark and hot tent for the second discussion: “Is independence in brewing more important than ever?”
For dinner I went to Winston Churchill Venison, for some venison chilli, to be topped up later with a venison sausage roll…
For the entertainment while continuing to taste beer: Tom McGuire & The Brassholes, and by now a FyneFest classic, Massaoke!
