IT’S THE ale equivalent of the Champions League Final where demand from supporters far outstrips the ticket allocation.

Yes it’s the annual Liverpool Beer Festival which returns to the Lutyens Crypt under Paddy’s Wigwam for three days from Wednesday February 13.

The complete allocation sold out in four hours when they went on sale on December 15, proof that this is one of the most popular festivals of its kind in the UK.

The reason? The location comes into it.

The crypt not only provides the correct temperature for the ales to be stored and served but has the ambience and the space to make drinkers feel completely at home.

But it’s also meticulously organised by voluntary help from the Liverpool and Districts branch of the Campaign For Real Ale. These guys and gals really do know how to organise a pee-up in a brewery without having to resort to employing an overpaid beaurocratic infrastructure.

An event that has become such a great advert for this city is lent even greater significance in this Capital of Culture year. Some of you may scoff, but this column has always argued that our pubs and the people who frequent them are among our most important cultural assets. (You boy, stop laughing at the back there!).

Outsiders who have got tickets don’t just stick to cruising the crypt – they check out the surrounding pubs too and no doubt they will be staging their own satellite mini festivals to cater for the overspill as has been done in previous years.

This is a factor not lost on CAMRA’s Liverpool branch chairman, Geoff Edwards.

“This is Liverpool’s opportunity to show the world the great pub heritage and culture which is such a great selling point for the city. Locally, we now have 10 real ale breweries in the Merseyside area when 15 years ago, following the closure of Higsons, there were none. The city centre also has a great selection of real ales with over 40 pubs having it on sale.�

He said that resurgent interest in traditional pubs and real ale had been fuelled by growing interest from the young and women.

As anyone lucky enough to have attended the Liverpool festival in the past couple of years will have observed. The stereotype of the real ale drinker as ruddy-faced space hopper with a beard and holey pullover has been dismissed (although you still get a furtive few in beige anoraks studiously ticking off each sampled ale in their festival programme).

Recognising this, 50 female CAMRA members are to be randomly invited to each bring along a lady chum for a free tasting session on the opening Wednesday night. Along for the ride will be Harriet Easton a 19-year-old student from Shrewsbury who has developed a real ale specifically aimed at women drinkers. She used light golden hops and added orange to give it a fresher flavour, even creating a special feminine glass in an oriental style to serve it in.

In addition, on the Saturday one of the sessions will be staffed by The CAMRA Young Members Group.

Says Geoff: “Many young people are increasingly moving away from bland, mainstream lagers and seeking something with more flavour and quality.�

There’ll certainly be plenty to choose from again at this year’s festival. Nearly 250 real ales will be racked up and ready to go, including a new range of fruit beers from the George Wright’s brewery of Rainford and the St Anthony’s ale from Cambrinus in Prescot.

So happy drinking – and if you haven’t a got ticket look to the ebay.

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