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Shayne Langlois

07812459360

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A beer tasting event will take place at the Lass O’ Gowrie on Tuesday 3rd October. Aimed at young people and new members who are interested in learning more about real ale. Expect to sample six different beers to introduce the delicious range of hops and malt that create real ale. Booking essential via branch contact.

Dave Hallows reports on this year’s event…
This year’s Beerienteering event, a real ale drinking game on the lines of orienteering, run by the region’s CAMRA Under-30 social group, ha a very close finish. There were just nine minutes between the first three teams.

Teams had to follow the clues and find six pubs in the correct order, travelling on foot or by public transport from the Knott Bar on Deansgate in Manchester. The last pub was eight miles away in Stockport. There were time bonuses and penalties, and the score was calculated in minutes from start to finish.

Last year’s champions, Team Purple, made a quick start and were on fine form. The organisers were surprised that they and all the other teams managed to solve what was thought to be a difficult clue, earning a 30-minute bonus. Getting it wrong would have brought a 30-minute penalty. After a staggered start, all the teams piled into the City Arms at different intervals. The Lost Souls team fared well, as did Making Poverty History. A team of eight, The Misfits, was a mix of last year’s Bald But Beautiful and Barmy Army. The organisers vainly tried to split them into two groups, but they wouldn’t have it. Maybe the presence of a female member in a silver-sparkly dress and shocking pink wig had some bearing on it?

At the Victoria (Hydes) in Withington village, the teams had the chance of a time bonus with the score from throwing three darts. This year was billed as "Beerienteering 2: Quest for the Tankard", so there had to be a tankard, or two tankards, to be precise. One was a decoy. The correct tankard was ignored by three teams, including last year’s winners, who thought both tankards were red herrings. That unwise decision made for the close result.

At this stage Team Purple were in the lead, with Lost Souls and Three Legs on their tails. The next pub was the Royal oak (Marston’s) in Didsbury, where a simple clue was solved for a 30-minute bonus. Then came Ye Olde Vic on the Edgeley side of Stockport station, which had opened early specially for the event. Team Purple were making such good time that the organisers were worried that the team would arrive before they were ready for them.

The penultimate pub was Sam Smiths Queen’s Head (Turners Vaults) on Little Underbank. Here the teams could pick up more bonuses when interviewed by CAMRA Under-30 Co-ordinators Kim Walton and Tim Jackson (creator of Beerienteering) and Stockport Beer Festival Head Steward, Paul ‘Freddy’ Formby.

The event ended at the Arden Arms on Millgate, the runner-up in CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year competition. All the teams finished within an hour-and-a-half, and when the scores were added up the Three Legs team, Matt Par and Amy Joughlin, were declared the winners. Second, by a mere seven minutes, were Lost Souls, and Team Purple came third. Nice touch was the informal presentation by the game's creator, Tim Jackson, of a bag of pork scratchings to the last team. Of course it was The Misfits.

Beerienteering winners, Three Legs team, Matt Par and Amy Joughlin with their trophy!

A female member in a silver-sparkly dress and shocking pink wig