Fowlers October Beer Festival 2024

The festival officially ran from Wed 9 Oct to Sun 20 Oct, with a preview of 2 of the 30 beers on offer on Tuesday 8 Oct. This initiative was embraced by all dedicated IOW CAMRA members on the Island, and votes were taken online. The 2 chosen were Bloodhound by Greene King and Townshend Dinner Ale (International Brewer).

Steve Newby, the manager at Fowlers, had all 30 kegs delivered on the 2nd of October, ready for action. His able aide, James, was at the forefront from Tuesday 8th Oct to Saturday 12th Oct to cover for Steve’s holiday. On his return, Steve worked in unison with James and his staff to produce another excellent festival for all CAMRA members on the Island. At this point, Steve would like to thank Mike Hoar for his support, along with all CAMRA/Crafty Club members who helped to produce an atmosphere second to none during the festival. Most of the 30 beers went quickly within a few days.

In fact, such was the patronage that 4,020 pints were sold during the festival, making Fowlers officially the 17th out of a total of 850+ Wetherspoons pubs on pints sold. To further enhance this impressive statistic, in the first week from Tuesday 8th Oct to Sunday 13th Oct, Fowlers was 8th on total pints sold, helped by the 12th/13th Oct weekend, which would have been the IOW Beer and Bus weekend. Such was the demand that Steve got another 8 kegs to help double up some of the more popular beers on offer. By the 17th Oct, every one of the 30 had been on offer alongside some of the Oct-Dec guest ales like Otter Amber and Purity Mad Goose. Not forgetting the 3 pumps allocated to Ruddles, Doombar, and Abbot.

All 12 pumps were in full use with at least 5/6 of the 30 every day on rotation. Some were more popular than others, like Oakham Sunset, Burning Sky Aurora, and the Caribbean Rum Cask, which all went in 24 hours, whilst others lasted longer, like Central City Red Racer, Conwy Born to be Mild, and Siren Mesmerist. Even so, you had to be on the ball to get all 30, like the aptly named T Drop, which looked like tea, and the Maxim Banoffee Pie Golden Ale. I managed all 30 in pints thanks to the well-organized and professional staff at Fowlers, who showed great enthusiasm for the whole event. I wasn’t the only one who managed them all, so thank you, Steve, for such a good job done from all IOW CAMRA/Crafty Club members.

When Wetherspoons does their next festival in Spring 2025 (Wed 5th to Sun 16th March), you know where to go—Fowlers is the name, and Steve’s the game.