The Shed Festival 2024 was held at the Victoria Inn, North Station Road, Colchester on May 18th.

The usual line up of 11 cask ales and 4 keg beers made the line-up. This year’s festival, was, for many, said to be the best festival to date. Feedback was collated on traditional paper as well as our own snazzy online festival menu.

This year’s beer line up included some new brewers, which is always a positive.

The bar was continuously busy from opening time at 12pm right through to the points that everything was sold out at 6pm. This was the earliest time in recent memory that everything sold out in.

The atmosphere was set early on with a joyous crowd of revellers enjoying the early afternoon sun, that blessed us. The sun shone on the Vic’s beer garden, which added fuel to festival goer’s thirst for the vast array of beers on offer.

This year we went all the way from a highly popular 7% Mild to a cracking 3% Grodziskie, and a superb Lemon Lassi Gose.

Beer of the festival was unsurprisingly Greg Ward’s super Black IPA that went down very well. The table below highlights the beers on offer.

With the popularity of this year’s festival, eyes turned to plans for next year and increasing the mount of beers n offer. The day is made by the hospitality of Rich and his team at the Victoria Inn and the team of brewers and organiser from ACB. Without a great effort and combined teamwork, the even couldn’t go ahead. It’s a great chance to showcase the talent of the regions’ brewers. It’s also a superb chance to lean a bit of cellarmanship and experience what running a bar would be like. A lot of hard work.

The day managed to raise nearly £800 for our chosen charity, Aching Arms, who help parents to deal with the loss of a baby.

Brewer	Serving Method	Beer Style	Name	ABV	Notes
Tony Tilbury	CASK	West Coast IPA	Shed West IPA	6.2%	A classic American West Coast IPA, but served on cask. Brewed with a simple base of Pale Ale and a hint of crystal, combining old-school American Chinook and Simcoe hops with a touch of Strata in the whirlpool and dry hop. Expect an assertive bitterness and refreshing pine aroma, a blend of the classic with a hint of modern.
Pat Collins	CASK	Bonde Ale	Amarillo Wave DDH	4.3%	A Blonde Ale designed to showcase the hop Amarillo, this beer has been Double Dry Hop (DDH) 7 and 3 days prior to going into the cask and hopefully gives balanced bitterness and Citrus Orange and Floral aromas and flavours
Richard Swindells	CASK	American Brown Ale	Bugtown Brown	5.4%	Bugtown Brown offers a balance of malt and hop flavour, with sweet, nutty malt and floral/pine hop flavours. A mix of hop and dark malt bitterness provides balance to the beer. Sip it and enjoy.
Dom Anthony	CASK	English Special Bitter	Life’s a Beech	6.0%	Strongish Amber beer with English hops and a hint of caramel in the malt flavour
Kev Warnes	CASK	Junpier Blonde	Hazed & Confused	4.3%	A big dry hop may give this beer a mystifying haze with hints of juniper, orange & coriander.
Colin Miller	CASK	Oatmeal Stout	Wee Beastie	4.8%	Previously brewed for the 1st Vic Festival back in 2012. Includes 10% oats and 6 types of roasted malts with the addition of my own allotment grown Challenger, Fuggles and Goldings hops.
Justin Dean	CASK	Spring Golden Ale	Spring Quaffer	4.5%	British golden ale with target and Styrian Goldings. Easy drinking based on Exe Valley Spring Ale
Andy Whitaker	CASK	Dark Mild	Ruby Mild	7.0%	A dark ruby mild just like they used to brew in the good old days. Mild beers were stronger back then. A good balance of fruit and hops leading to a pleasant lingering finish of malt and hops. One to be savoured.
Nik Leng	CASK	Oatmeal Pale	Yellow Snow	5.9%	A rumbustious strong pale ale loaded with hops, oats, barley, and wheat. Expect fruity tones and a lasting bitter finish. Fermented low and slow to hide the alcohol within, ooh! did I say that out loud ? Watch out it is a bit cheeky.
Alan Osbiston	CASK	Irish Stout	We Fought Monsters Together	4.6%	Rich & velvety with all the barleys: rolled, malted & roasted. It’s good for you in any dimension.
Gerard Galvin	CASK	Bitter	Blind Faith	4.8%	English bitter made with locally grown hops.
John Rolison	KEG	Lemon Lassi Gose	Axolotl	5.0%	This lemon lassi gose is brewed with fresh lemons for a zesty flavour and a refreshing tropical taste.
Steve Plampton	KEG	Dark Saison	Sombre Season	6.8%	Saison is an ale style of beer that originated in southern Belgium. Also called “farmhouse ale,” it’s a rustic beer that, unlike other styles, is open to the brewer’s interpretation. Saison’s often use wild, top-fermenting yeast and a variety of local ingredients, including various grains.
Kevin Surridge-Dines	KEG	Grodziskie	Polish Champagne	2.5%	Oak smoked Polish wheat beer. Crisp, bitter and very spritzy. With a brewing history going back at least as far as the 1500’s, this style was world renowned shortly before WW2, after which it’s popularity declined almost to the point of extinction. In 2011 the Polish Homebrewers Association began a revival project, where this beer’s recipe came from.
Greg Ward	KEG	Black IPA	Black Magic	5.8%	Get ready to be spellbound by Black Magic, the beer that’s darker than a midnight incantation and tastier than a potion brewed by a tipsy wizard! With six malts and 5 hops, including a hefty dry hop of Sabro and Cashmere, it’s like a tropical holiday in a glass, complete with a hint of coconut and a decent amount of bitterness to keep you guessing. So, grab your wand—or just a glass—and prepare to be magically deliciously delighted.