London Vegan Beer Fest is back

Spread across three amazing spaces, London Vegan Beer Fest 2017 is set to be one of the biggest and best showcases of vegan beer and street food that east London has ever witnessed.

If you already know you wanna buy tickets without reading anything else, click here.

So what is going on in Hackney on Saturday July 15, 2017?

(All of the Vegan Beer Fest UK artwork and design is done exclusively by the incredibly talented Ricardo Sánchez. See his portfolio online here and get in touch if you wanna hit him up for some work)

Space 1: the inside Beer Hall will feature an exclusive beer bar run by superstar brewery Brass Castle (Facebook | Twitter). Travelling all the way from Yorkshire to make our event extra special, this 100% vegan brewery will be showcasing their award winning brews as well as other favourites from around the UK.

Space 2: the outside Beer Market will be an exciting mix of beer and street food stalls, with participating breweries from all over London and further afield. Keep an eye out for exclusive street food trucks and trailers in this section, too.

Space 3: the exclusive Beer & Wine Café is the place to head if you are looking for special sit down meal. The café will also be the spot for our 100% vegan exclusive wine bar, as well as somewhere else to grab a beer or two on site.

This is the biggest London Vegan Beer Fest has ever gone and we are thrilled to be taking over the space best known for being the home of the wildly successful Hackney Downs Vegan Market which regularly draws attendees numbering in the thousands. We’re delighted to partner with Hackney Showroom, Hackney Downs Studios and Autumn Yard for this huge event.

What To Eat?

There will be lots of delicious vegan street food on the day. Full details coming soon but we have some knockout names and you will have a LOT of choice. Burgers, fish & chips, donuts and so much more.

What To Drink?

The beer list is being planned right now and it’s going to be MASSIVE! Details coming soon! There will also be an exclusive wine bar, as well as cider and soft drinks for sale.

What else do you need to know?

Tickets for this event are priced as follows:

Early bird tickets (limited number available): £5 (plus booking fee)
Pre-sale second release tickets: £7 (plus booking fee)
On the day door sales (subject to availability): £9

Food and drink is not included in the ticket price and all tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE. Only ticket holders will be permitted to buy and consume food or drink (including non-alcohol drinks). No outside food or drink permitted.

Your ticket price includes a collectable plastic pint cup that you use all day and then take home with you!

London Vegan Beer Fest is dog-friendly (in outdoor spaces) and family-friendly. Invite friends via the Facebook event page.

London Vegan Beer Fest is not a place to deliberately make people feel bad about stuff. You cannot be at this event if you intend to use sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist and ageist language or behaviour. The organisers reserve the right to deny or revoke entry to the event and will take great delight in doing so if you act like an anti-social person.

Immense gratitude to Follow Your Heart for sponsoring this event.

Beer and vegan food event

A Facebook reader named Chris gave me some exciting beer-related news.

Magic Rock Brewing in Huddersfield is going full vegan and they have a month-long celebration to usher in this new era.

The entire month of June will be all about being vegan. Check out the celebration line up below.

Vegan Street Food Festival 2017
2nd Jun — 25th Jun

Each weekend in June, Magic Rock Brewing will have a different vegan street food trader (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) PLUS an all day vegan festival on Saturday 3rd June to celebrate the fact that their beers will now be fully vegan.

Dates include:

2nd, 3rd, 4th June – vendor TBA

Saturday 3rd June with four / five street traders (12pm-9pm)

9th, 10th, 11th June – vendor TBA

16th, 17th, 18th June – vendor TBA

23rd, 24th, 25th June – vendor TBA

Put one, two or all of these dates in your diary and get along to help this Yorkshire brewery celebrate going vegan.

Click here to visit Magic Rock online and follow the brewery on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Guinness not vegan yet

Super quick post to remind you that Guinness is not yet vegan. So don’t buy it or drink it yet.

The world-famous brewing company released news last year (or was it 2015?) that informed the planet of plans to alter their filtration system that would remove their dependence on isinglass.

If you write to Guinness to ask them what is the latest with their plans to turn the brew vegan, you get the following information:

We are continuing to work through the installation and commissioning of a new filtration system at St. James’s Gate that will remove isinglass from the Guinness brewing process. We are making good progress on the installation and the project remains fully on track.
Like a great pint of Guinness, good things come to those who wait and we will provide a further update as soon as we are able to do so.

This has been sent out to numerous people via email over the past two to three months.

I get at least a handful of emails from readers each month asking if I know when Guinness will finally be vegan, so I wanted to give this non-update update.

Sorry I have no good news yet. Please keep me in the loop if you find out something fresh.

While you wait, you can follow Vegan Beer Fest UK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram ahead of announcements about tickets coming soon.

Vegan cider from Kent

I love bringing you news of vegan booze and I especially love bringing you news of vegan cider.

Why do us vegans adore cider so much?

Kent Cider products are split into three ranges and include the core range of single varietal still ciders, their Henderson’s range of naturally flavoured ciders and the forthcoming sparkling cider called Yowler.

You can hassle your local independent retail outlets, restaurants and micro-pubs to stock Kent Ciders. The majority of the cider they produce and sell is delivered by the company directly, so the best way for people who live outside of Kent to try their cider is through the webshop or contacting them directly in the office. They are extremely friendly people!

Visit Kent Cider online and follow them on Facebook and Twitter for special edition cider updates and news of events/appearances.

Yay for vegan cider!

Vegan wine in a box

The UK is getting there with veganism.

We have a pretty good selection of vegan-identified groceries in mainstream supermarkets, we have vegan festivals all over the country and we have vegan stores in dozens of towns.

And now we have vegan wine in a bag in a box.

Oh yes.

Daniele of The VegWays has taken on the major job of importing vegan organic wine from Italy into the UK. I have fond memories of drinking wine from boxes in Australia, so it is fab to see I now have the option again as a vegan in 2017.

Take a look at these.

The wines are available in red, white, and rosé with a 3 litre, 5 litre, and 10 litre option.

Daniele is currently looking for restaurants, cafés and retail outlets to serve these wines. They would also be perfect for pop up vegan restaurants or street food traders permitted to sell alcohol. Of course it would be wonderful for non-vegan restaurants and businesses to take these on too, so we all know we have a drink when joining friends for a night out.

If you are interested in buying your own supply for your house or perhaps a large celebration, you can contact Daniele via the contact page of their website for personal sales as well as wholesale.

Tell your favourite eatery about these wines. Order your own. Enjoy wine from a bag in a box!

Follow The VegWays on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Vegan menu at All Bar One

If you can keep up to date with all the non-vegan places around the UK falling over themselves to serve vegan food, you are doing a better job than me.

Every single day seems to bring news and I feel like lots of it is hurtling straight past me. It’s too much!

However, one piece of news that didn’t evade my chubby gaze is the brand new vegan menu being featured for Veganuary by All Bar One.

You know All Bar One, right?

The famous bar chain has more than 50 locations around the UK and is often a favourite meeting spot for friends. I think All Bar One was the first place to serve me booze when I first moved to the UK back in 1998.

But the food!

Check out the menu:

Doesn’t that sound like a well-thought out vegan menu?

Of course I’m not satisfied with simply showing you the menu, so I asked All Bar One to send me some photos of these news dishes.

Can you handle this?

How about that food?!

Everything looks splendid and I could really see myself eating a few servings of those potatoes.

Check out the very special deal All Bar One has for Veganuary. You can devour three vegan dishes for £13.

Visit All Bar One online to find out their locations close to you.

M&S has vegan Xmas drinks

I don’t personally celebrate Christmas, but I do drink trashy cocktails.

With that in mind, check out this camp range of ready to guzzle drinks being sold by Marks and Spencer.

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Top photo shows the Gold Crème Brulee Liqueur, described on the bottle as containing edible gold glitter.

Next up you can see No Big Dill made from gin, dill, elderflower and lemon juice. Pour over ice, apparently!

Finally you can take a look at the Christmas Cobbler Cocktail. Made from sherry, rum and apple brandy, this is surprisingly the one with the lowest alcohol content of the three.

I’m not sure if these are all seasonal, but if you like the look of them you should probably get along to your nearest M&S pretty quickly. I’ve heard rumours of a banana liqueur in this range but my local store didn’t have it.

Enjoy!

New vegan burger bar in London

If you are familiar with the vegan food scene in London, you will have already heard of Mooshies.

Mooshies has been serving up a selection of vegan burgers for a while, mostly popping up for temporary events and at shows such as the Viva! Roadhsow in Brighton.

Well, hold onto your felt fedoras because Mooshies now have a permanent burger bar location on Brick Lane!

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How great is this news?!

The hours for Mooshies are:

  • Mondays – Closed with rotating ticketed events and film screenings
  • Tuesdays – 12pm – 10pm
  • Wednesday 12pm – 10pm
  • Thursday 12pm – 11pm
  • Friday 12pm – 12am
  • Saturdays 12pm – 12am
  • Sunday 11am – 10pm

You need to remember that the kitchen closes 30 minutes before the advertised closing time.

The café also sells vegan beer from the Moncada Brewery Notting Hill range and Dalston’s hand mashed soft drinks. I’m not sure why, but there is also a fully stocked bar on premises that is not fully vegan. Mooshies owners tell me they are working on this.

Click here to see where the new Mooshies burger café is located and be sure to follow them on Instagram.

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Next level vegan cake

There is only one place in the UK where you can buy the following cakes this weekend and that is Manchester Vegan Beer Fest.

Check this out.

brownie-1 cheesecake

I’ll give you a moment to regain composure….

OK.

These stunning cake creations are handcrafted by the talented Vanessa Almeida of Essential Vegan and will be served on both Saturday and Sunday as part of Manchester Vegan Beer Fest.

Vanessa is the exclusive sweet food trader at the event so she is making sure she is bringing her A game.

There will be the luscious brownie with chocolate sauce and strawberry coulis, as well the the gluten free passionfruit cheesecake. Not pictured is the stunning eclair which will also be making an appearance.

Not only will Vanessa be serving up these world class vegan cakes, she will also give happy drinkers pairing suggestions. Yes, buy a beer and a cake that work together to make you even more satisfied!

Manchester Vegan Beer Fest also welcomes V-Revolution and Mother•May•I as they serve savoury food. You can see the full beer list here.

Tickets for the event are just £4 (plus tiny booking fee) in advance or £7 on the door if we have space. Book now. You can RSVP to the Facebook event and invite friends.

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south of france cruise

Beer list for Manchester Vegan Beer Fest

Sink your teeth into this amazing list.

(Tickets for this event available here. Saturday is more than half sold out, so be quick if you want to be there on the first day. Once it sells out, there won’t be tickets on the door.)

Now for the beers!

MANCHESTER

  • BAD SEED – HEFEWEIZEN – wheat beer – 5.1% ABV – citrus, spice, vanilla, clove – KEG
  • BEER NOUVEAU – SISTER TO NUN – pale ale – 4.9% ABV – very floral hoppy pale ale – KEG
  • BEER NOUVEAU – T EIPA – international IPA – 6.6% ABV – sweet, hoppy finish – KEG
  • BLACKJACK – BRAMLING CROSS – amber – 4.0% ABV – mid-tan, light berry notes – CASK
  • CHORLTON – VIENNA DARK – red Germanic – 7.4% ABV – full bodied dark ale – KEG
  • CHORLTON – WAIMEA SOUR – single hop sour – 5.6% ABV – medium bodied sour pale ale – BOTTLE
  • CLOUDWATER – SORACHI ACE GRISETTE – Saison – 3.5% ABV – light, dry, peppery – CASK
  • CLOUDWATER – BRETTED CREAM ALE – sour cream ale – 4.8% ABV – soft, haystack, lemony – KEG
  • MARBLE – TE ARAI NEW ZEALAND PILS – pilsner – fresh crisp limes – KEG
  • MARBLE – PINT – pale ale – light malt, dry, citrus – CASK
  • RUNAWAY – SUMMER SAISON – Saison – 4.2% ABV – peppery, mild citrus, refreshing – KEG
  • SEVEN BROTHERS – WATERMELON WHEAT – wheat beer – 4.5% ABV – wheaty with a hint of watermelon – KEG

LONDON

  • BREW BUDDIES – MOSAIC PALE ALE – pale ale – 4.5% ABV – single hop mosaic, tropical fruits, woody, pine – CASK
  • BRIXTON – LOW VOLTAGE – session IPA – 4.3% ABV – magnum, columbus, simcoe, mosaic hoppiness – KEG
  • CLARKSHAWS – GORGONS ALIVE – amber ale – 4.0% ABV – malty hoppy loveliness – CASK
  • CLARKSHAWS – STEAM BEER – hybrid – 3.9% ABV – lovely half lager half ale – CASK
  • 5 POINTS – RAILWAY PORTER – porter – 4.0% ABV – chocolate, coffee, caramel, nice hop – CASK
  • MONCADA – RED RUBY – red ale – 5.0% ABV – red beer with rye malt – CASK
  • ORBIT – NEU            – German alt – 4.7% ABV – creamy, nutty, dry – KEG
  • ORBIT – NICO – German Klon – 4.8% ABV – light crisp fragrant- KEG
  • REDCHURCH – PARADISE – pale apa – 3.7% ABV – mosaic, chinook, columbus hoppiness – KEG
  • REDEMPTION – ROCK THE KAZBEK – blond beer – 4.0% ABV – pale ale Czech hops lemony zesty – CASK
  • WEIRD BEARD – MARIANA TRENCH – pale ale – 5.3% ABV – mango, kiwi, grapefruit flavours & aromas – BOTTLE
  • WEIRD BEARD – ATTACK OF THE RYECLOPS – rye beer – 5.5% ABV – dried grass, orange zest, peppery rye – CASK

YORKSHIRE

  • NORTHERN MONK- TRUE NORTH – pale ale – 3.7% ABV – British pale ale with USA twist, orange & pine notes – KEG
  • NORTHERN MONK – COMMUNION – pale ale – 5.1% ABV – fruit gum, tropical fruits, malty sweetness – CANS
  • BRASS CASTLE – COMET – blond ale – 4.3% ABV – golden beer tropical fruit flavours – KEG

SOMERSET

  • WIPER AND TRUE – KALAIDESCOPE – pale ale – 4.0% ABV – blueberry mango, orange citrus – BOTTLE
  • WIPER AND TRUE – KIWI LILT – pale ale – 5.8% ABV – tropical fruit & pine flavours – BOTTLE
  • MOOR – UNION’HOP – pale ale – 4.1% ABV – Honeydew Melon, citrus, apricot & peach hops, malt sweetness – KEG

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

  • STROUD – GOLDEN FRINGE – pale ale – 3.8% ABV – fruity, nice bitter finish – CASK
  • WILD BEER – WILD GOOSE CHASE – sour pale – 4.5% ABV – tart, fruity gooseberries – KEG

ESSEX

  • COLCHESTER – CENOSILLCAPHOBIA – pale ale – 3.8% ABV – excellent hoppy pale ale – CASK
  • BILLERICAY RHYTHM STICK – amber ale – 4.8% ABV – malty earth bitterness – CASK
  • GREEN JACK – RED HERRINGS – smoked red ale – 5.0% ABV – smoked malts, fruity smoky beer – CASK
  • GEORGES – COCKLEBOAT – amber ale – 4.0% ABV – chestnut red, grassy hops – CASK
  • PITFIELD – 1850 LONDON PORTER – porter – 5.0% ABV – chocolate currant flavours – KEG/BOTTLE
  • DOMINION – WOODBINE RACER – American pale ale – 4.2% ABV – honey sweet, tropical fruit hops – KEG/BOTTLE
  • DOMINION – FAT GAY VEGAN BEER – salt & lime – 4.5% ABV – salty pale ale with a lime twist – CASK
  • PITFIELD – SEA SHEPHERD OCEAN WARRIOR – pale ale – 4.5% ABV- malty sweet, light citrus finish – CASK/BOTTLE
  • RED FOX – BLACK FOX PORTER – porter – 4.8% ABV – rich flavoured black beer with smooth chocolate notes – CASK

SUFFOLK

  • GRAIN – BLONDE ASH – wheat beer – 4.0% ABV – cloudy wheat beer, bubblegum, orange, coriander flavours – CASK

EAST MIDLANDS

  • TWISTED BARREL – BEAST OF A MIDLANDS MILD – mild – 3.5% ABV – chocolate vanilla coffee – KEG

BERKSHIRE

  • WILD WEATHER – BOHEMIAN LIKE YOU – oatmeal pale ale – 2.9% ABV – Honeydew melon, cantaloupes & freshly peeled grapes – KEG

Drink up, friends!

mvbflandscape