Beer festival sobers up!

Apr 1 2009 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

ORGANISERS of the famous Paisley Beer Festival are introducing some sobering changes at this year’s event – as all of the bevvy being sold on the first day will be ALCOHOL- FREE.

Every brewery taking part in the giant celebration has been working behind the scenes to create new recipes for real ales which are delicious but come without the hangover that often follows.

Bosses at the festival – which is the biggest and oldest in Scotland – reckon the new non-alcoholic opening day will be a hit with Buddies who are fed up with suffering a sore head after sampling the delights on offer.

Ross Moore, who is head brewer for Kelburn Brewery, told the Paisley Daily Express: “When the festival committee first came to us with their idea, we thought it sounded like a good challenge.

“It has been really interesting to brew a non-alcoholic beer. We did a bit of research and experimentation and now believe that it’s possible for beer to be non-alcoholic and still taste great.

“Non-alcoholic beer is brewed the same way as normal beer but, during the finishing stages of the brewing process, the alcohol is removed by vacuum evaporation.”

Ross and his team will be selling their new alcohol-free brew – called Frollo IPA – at the festival, which gets under way at Paisley Town Hall later this month.

“Our Frollo IPA looks and tastes great,” said Ross. “We thought long and hard about the name and found Frollo on the internet. It is an old Scots word which means ‘clear-headed.’

“Most non-alcoholic beers are lagers but there are also some non-alcoholic ales and bitters and we are happy to be among the first to brew them.”

Yesterday, the Express took to the streets of Paisley to ask Buddies what they think of the move to make the beer festival’s opening day a booze-free zone.

A bemused John Winter, left, said: “I go to the festival every year and it’s great. I don’t really understand why they’re doing this though, I hope it doesn’t put people off going along.

“It might be quieter if they don’t serve alcoholic beer.”

However, Anne Gordon, from Glenburn, Paisley, believes the move can be a hit.

“It’s a bit of a strange idea but some people who haven’t gone before might give it a try this year to test out the non-alcoholic beers,” she said.

“My husband Ian went to the beer festival last year and it definitely wasn’t non-alcoholic beer he was drinking on that occasion.”

A spokesman for Paisley Beer Festival said the alcohol-free day will be an extra attraction at the event.

He added: “We never have any trouble at the festival from people drinking too much alcohol. We just thought this would be a way to please those people who want to avoid a hangover the next day.

“If anything, the most trouble we have is not being able to fit everyone into the town hall. The festival is usually so busy that it can be a case of ‘one in and one out’ on Friday evenings.

“We’re the first festival to ever do this as far as we know, so this could really help to put Paisley on the map.

“Hopefully, serving all non-alcoholic beer will bring even more people along to try out something new.

“And waking up without a hangover means people can come straight back the next day.”

As a special treat, the Paisley Daily Express has teamed up with Kelburn Brewery to offer a free pint of Frollo IPA at the festival to the first 10 readers who phone in.

Just call our newsroom on 0141 847 8639 as soon as possible in a bid to claim your pint.