Tutored Tasting sessions
are separately-ticketed events within the Festival.
There is one session on each of Friday and Saturday, as described below.

Tutored Tasting session tickets do not include entry to the main festival.

Friday 19th January 13:00-14:00
Understanding Porters and Stouts
Porters and stouts have been brewed in the British Isles continuously for over 300 years. In that time they have enjoyed global fame as the first rock star group of beer styles, and faced near extinction, before a remarkable revival has put them back at the forefront of independent brewing in the UK and across the globe.

Devon-based beer writer Tim Webb will tell the story of this much misunderstood and uniquely broad cluster of beer styles, illustrated with examples that will showcase some of the best from around the South West and beyond.

Saturday 20th January 13:00-14:00
Des Grandes Bières de France
(Some Great Ales from France)
By 1985, commercial brewing in France had reduced to half a dozen corporations making mostly industrial lagers, and a handful of small family breweries in the North and East. Today, France has almost 2,500 breweries, more than the UK, Germany, or any other country in Europe, and while many are tiny, most are growing, along with the quality of their beers.

Tim Webb, co-author of The World Atlas of Beer, will introduce the impossible story of modern French beer, while showcasing six of the best of these, and trying to explain how beer is starting to become the favourite drink of the French.