Autumn 2018 – news and announcements

After a hot and busy summer, we are heading into an even busier few months leading up to Christmas, with lots of exciting things coming up.

First up, is our Oktoberfest, which will run from Saturday 22 September to Sunday 7 October, mirroring the dates of the festival in Munich. We will have two official Oktoberfest beers on tap, as well as two other classic German beers, along with loads of German bottles in the fridges, which will all be available at take out prices to drink in. As we did last year, we will also have a German food special available throughout the two weeks, featuring sausage, smoked cheese, sauerkraut and rye bread baked especially for us by Jacka Bakery.

Shortly after the end of Oktoberfest, we will be closing the shop for a while, as we are heading back to the US for a couple of weeks to celebrate Sam’s 40^th birthday. Our last day open will be Saturday 13 October and we’ll be open again during the first weekend in November . We plan to visit about twice as many breweries as we did on our last holiday in the Spring, so keep an eye on our social media for updates on where we go, what we drink, and the exact date we will reopen (which may depend on how jetlagged we are).

As we will be away, there will be no Sour Sunday or Cider Sunday in October, but things will be back to normal once we re-open in November. We will also try to squeeze in a Sunday afternoon tasting event at some point that month – keep an eye on social media for updates.

And now finally to the biggest news of all…

We are hosting our own beer festival! The first Vessel Beer Festival will take place on Friday 30 November and Saturday 1 December at Plymouth Guildhall. There will be three sessions over the two days (Friday evening, Saturday daytime, Saturday evening), featuring loads of our favourite breweries. All the beer will be poured by the breweries themselves, meaning you can chat to the people who made your beer as you drink it.

Further announcements will be made shortly about breweries and tickets – follow @vesselbeerfest on twitter, vesselbeerfest on Instagram and vesselbeerfest on facebook for all the latest news. We will also be looking for volunteers, an essential component in making the festival a success. Volunteers will get free entry to a session at the festival, meaning you can see the event from both sides, as well an invitation to our exclusive volunteers party in January.

We are super excited about the festival, which will be the biggest thing we’ve done since opening the shop nearly two years ago – we hope you can come, and that we do you proud.