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Volunteering at the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) 2025

I’ve volunteered at Norwich Beer Festival for over a decade (and on a separate note, I’m delighted that that’s going ahead this year albeit in a slightly different form because of the delays to the Halls repairs) so I decided this year to come and volunteer at the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) for a week. I arrived early on the Sunday morning and was given the H&S briefing given that the NEC hall was a construction site at that point. Hi-vis jacket and steel toe shoes later, I was ready for action, hoping that they didn’t want me to do anything construction related.

I was tasked with helping set up the Breweriana stall, a word (Breweriana, not stall, that I had to think about how to spell and pronounce). I discovered that this meant old books, old glasses and brewery memorabilia so I merrily decided to ask to stay all week, meaning that they were stuck with me for the whole event. I was pleased that the managers and staffing agreed to this, but it was definitely an excellent decision.

It looked chaotic at this point, but the two stand managers knew what they wanted to achieve.

Starting to put the old glasses on the shelving units. I’m pleased to say I didn’t break any glasses all week.

Woooo, glasses from Norwich Beer Festival, and it was possibly me that sold them in the first place.

The stand coming together.

We had a lot of bottles of unopened beer which sold well and here’s an early bottle of Adnams Broadside.

Volunteer food options were a little limited due to NEC restrictions, but, fortunately, a quick walk to the monorail to get to Birmingham Airport meant I could get to Greggs and M&S. I was located near to the hotel, as CAMRA had paid for some rooms at the Hilton located at the NEC and that meant I didn’t have to trek back into the city centre every day.

Funky Fluid! Europe’s best brewer.

Twas ever thus.

There was live music during the event and I think it’s fair to say that this did not surprise and delight me. Not because of the quality of the bands and singers themselves, but just because the noise was a bit loud and the building acoustics are terrible as it wasn’t really designed to be a concert hall. I’m not sure that even the Wurzels would have sounded good in here.

Thanks to Roy and Jen for bringing me four Greggs chicken bakes from the company’s outlet store.

The hot dog at the staff party at the end of the event. The actual hot dog isn’t visible, but was rather lovely. Note the healthy salad.

There were seconds available later on, so I accidentally had another one and the staff forced a sausage roll on me as well.

The staff party taking place after the festival closed to the public. I’ve tried to avoid taking photos of people here, but as a sense of scale, this was the size of the volunteer area during the entire festival. We had a lot of space everywhere.

Inside the American beers storage area where I had numerous beers that did surprise and delight me. The Volunteer Arms had free beer and cider all week and it was rather lovely to try so many different beers during the week. For anyone wondering about whether they should volunteer, I’d very much recommend it.

The take-down of the stand took us around three hours and that was the end of that. This was the first time in a long while that GBBF didn’t take place in London and it was obviously risky moving it elsewhere, I hope it’s worked out well enough in Birmingham to have another event like this next year. It was great to meet new friends and I was fortunate to be included in a great team at my stall. It was lovely to see Mark, Simon, Susie, Bob and many others who I knew from the Star, not to forget the marvellous Julian, Roy and Jen from Norwich.

August 10, 2025
Madrid – Campo del Moro (Moorish Gardens)

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

There is only one entrance to these extensive gardens, and there is an impressive view of the Royal Palace that visitors see when they come through the gates.

The area that the gardens stand on today was once space between the palace and the river, which was formerly a steep slope. It was partly levelled in the 1840s, although the construction took some decades to complete.

The fountain doesn’t currently have water in it, and it seems from reviews that it hasn’t for some time. The formal name of the fountain is Fuente de las Conchas (fountain of the shells) and it dates from the late eighteenth century, although it wasn’t moved to its current location until 1845.

The fountain from another angle.

There were some beautiful parts of the gardens, although I didn’t see any particularly impressive floral sections. The gardens were badly damaged during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, but efforts were made to ensure that they were repaired.

This is an eighteenth century wagon which was used in the construction of the Royal Palace. It was part of the collection of the carriage museum, which is at the park, but which has been closed for some years.

There were long rows of trees, which provided the shade that I needed given the heat in Madrid.

One of the more formal parts of the gardens.

One of the wide avenues in the park.

There are a number of these Tyrolean style buildings located throughout the park, all dating from the late nineteenth century. They didn’t currently seem to be open or accessible to the public.

These gardens are extensive, although the entrance can be tricky for some people to find. They do seem to need more attention though, with the museum closed, the fountain having no water and the toilets needed a little attention. However, there is no entrance charge and it is a surprisingly peaceful location, with not that many visitors in the gardens during my visit.

August 10, 2025
TAP Portugal (Lisbon to Seville)

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

It’s quite a while since I’ve been on a prop plane, with this being the TAP Portugal service from Lisbon to Seville. It was a late-night flight and was to be the last flight to arrive in Seville for the day, but it was still a relatively full flight.

Given my name, I felt that this was quite apt.

This is the aircraft they used, the photo is from the airline’s in-flight magazine.

2*2 seating, all perfectly comfortable, and all kept clean and tidy.

I knew from my previous flight that TAP provide food and drink on pretty much all of their flights, although I did wonder whether that included these short hop flights. It transpired that it did, and there was a roll and drink offered to everyone, in another efficient and friendly service. I’m not quite sure what was in the roll, it seemed to be tuna, but it tasted fine.

The flight took just under one hour, and the efficiency of the entire operation did surprise me. I’ve enjoyed my two flights with TAP Portugal today, the crew had a warm and engaging attitude, and they fortunately spoke excellent English. And one more good thing, and unlike my first flight, there was absolutely no clapping when the aircraft landed. This pleased me.

August 10, 2025
Madrid – Mercado de San Miguel

[I originally posted this in July 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

This centrally located market building was originally opened in 1916, on the site of a former open market. It risked falling into decline in the late twentieth century and it was modernised and re-opened in 2009 as a market selling fine food and drink.

The market is visited by over ten million people a year, and a good portion of those appeared to be there during my visit. The market is really aimed for those wanting to dine there and then, rather than a more traditional provisions market.

Cocktails available for €8 or €9. There was an excellent array of different tapas items throughout the market, although like the drinks, the prices were generally set at a premium level. There were many stalls where the tapas looked particularly appetising, and a real effort had been made with the presentation.

Well, how lovely – the crisps that is, not the pork rinds.

There was a bustling atmosphere in the market, although there was a lack of available seating for those who wanted to sit down.

A fine selection of meats.

And a fine selection of wine, although all of the bottles seemed to be over €20. All the market needs now is a pottery seller from Great Barton and the selection will be complete.

Another frontage of the market, which is open for very long hours of at least 10.00 until 00.00 every day of the week.

August 9, 2025
Birmingham NEC – Hilton Metropole Bar (Two Julians)

Two nights ago, as part of our brief national tour, Julian and I visited the Moxy hotel bar and it was frankly a positive and well thought through operation (the hotel, not Julian and I). They’d made an effort to work through the service, the environment and the drinks selection. Last night, we tried the Hilton Metropole bar to add some variety to proceedings. This is the slightly dirty environment that greeted us and it’s fair to say when I looked at the online food and drinks menu, I was not surprised and delighted. Well, I was surprised actually, but not for positive reasons.

The drinks selection was very poor and I don’t think I’ve pitched my expectations too high here. Even Travelodge, Ibis Budget, the YHA and Premier Inn offer some form of craft beer options, even if just in cans. The Hilton is a 795 room hotel, so they can easily offer a micropub, a whisky bar and indeed anything else they wanted. In this hotel, they’ve gone for some generic keg beers, with the nearest vague effort being Camden Pale. There were no real ales, craft beers, ales in bottles and no nod towards anything local. It feels like it’s a venue which seeks to make no contribution towards the local community in terms of its food and drink supplies, and that runs across all of their menus in the hotel.

The pricing is also hideous, a half pint is not much off the price of a full pint, which is just unnecessary greed and promotes excessive drinking. Pints are around £7 to £10 each. The service was clumsy, Julian’s pint was short measured and when they topped it up, they topped it up with the wrong beer. It’s that entire level of attention here that was evident throughout the service.

In fairness to the team members, who seemed to be doing their very best, the venue was cleaned up during our long visit. The manager and team members were apologising to customers as their order system had gone wrong and they couldn’t track orders to tables, which all felt a little sub-optimal.

This was the nearest drinkable beer or cider available, and it’s OK, but any hotel of any size should be doing more than this. Let’s read the exciting text on the Hilton’s website:

“We have specially selected craft beers, cocktails, and wines.”

That’s very likely written with AI, the Oxford Comma is an indicator but not a guarantee of that, but the rest of the text has an AI fake feel to it. But they do not have specially selected craft beers, let’s just leave it at that, unless a manager really believes that Becks is something they’ve specially selected for its quality.

As mentioned, the team members were evidently doing their best so I have no negative comment about that, although I suspect there are some training issues that could be easily resolved. However, the general product was horrendous, if they’re going for premium pricing then they need to keep the venue cleaner, there has to be a choice here about their aspirations. Thinking about the hotels I’ve visited over recent months, the beer selection here is one of the weakest and, on a wider level, for a venue of this size to entirely disengage with local suppliers is terrible. If I might humour my two loyal blog readers, this situation is really sub-optimal, I’m reminded of the number of Accor hotels that deliberately stock local beers, ciders, spirits and soft drinks, because they are proud of the community that they serve.

August 7, 2025
Birmingham NEC – Moxy Hotel Bar (Two Julians)

Julian and I are on tour at the moment, I’m volunteering at GBBF all week which is being held at the Birmingham NEC and Julian is practicing his drinking (I accept he doesn’t need much mroe practice). After the festival closed for the day, there aren’t really that many options at the NEC (well, no options) so we decided to pop to the Moxy Hotel bar despite me staying at the Hilton and Julian at the Premier Inn.

How sweet. We weren’t sure whether the hotel bar would be open, but it transpired that it was open until 02:00 and I think they’d only just finished serving food at 22:00.

Moxy Hotels are the Marriott chain aimed at millennials, so I consider that to be me, so I obviously liked it. I’m a bit confined to the Accor brand so I’ve never stayed at this chain, but I like the general concept and laid-back approach that’s offered here.

There were a fair few beer festival customers about, I’ve just chosen photos without people in them.

Motivational messaging.

I like this a lot and it’s designed to be a common area for guests, or indeed anyone, where they can work, drink, eat or relax. These things can easily slip into formulaic, but it seemed to be on the right side of quirky to me.

It’s design driven and I did wonder whether my excitement might fall when I reached the bar and saw the beer list.

It transpired that there were two beers from the Attic Brew Co and they’re an exhibitor at GBBF, so I assume they’ve had the foresight to go and place some of their cans in the hotel. This met my expectations as I didn’t want the excitement of a late-night Carling.

For the hard of hearing.

The Intuition from the Attic Brew Co and I rather liked this, tastes of stone fruit, juicy and quite punchy.

The Rollin Waves from the Attic Brew Co, I didn’t like this quite as much as it was rather dry, but there was still plenty of flavour.

The Gold Brummie from the local Birmingham Brewing Co, which was hoppy, light and fluffy (the beer, not Julian).

I think this was really quite an agreeable place. Their beer list is as long as their wine list, they’ve making an effort to try and not limit themselves to generic beers and the place did feel on-trend and comfortable. And it’s a handy place for anyone to visit after GBBF closes in the evening, or indeed, after any NEC event.

August 6, 2025
Gdansk – Browar PG4

[I originally posted this in June 2018 but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

I’m always pleased to see new brewery restaurants opening up, and this is located at Podwale Grodzkie 4 in the basement of a city hotel. It’s quite easy to miss the restaurant as it’s to the rear of the building, rather than accessed through the main frontage of the hotel.

The brewery equipment gives a positive first impression, with everything looking modern and clean.

The beer selection, at first sight, looked interesting, but unfortunately the majority of it wasn’t available. The staff member made an appropriate alternative recommendation, but I was a little disappointed at the lack of dark beer.

Unsurprisingly, the restaurant wasn’t packed at 14:00 on a Monday afternoon in rainy Gdansk.

The restaurant interior, like the whole theme, is modern and on-trend, so there’s a contemporary feel. The menus at the table are in Polish on one side and in English on the other, with the prices being surprisingly reasonable given the location.

The service was efficient, attentive and very polite throughout, so it did feel like a welcoming restaurant. The beer tasted of a high quality and seemed fresh, with the temperature also being appropriate.

I ordered the fish and chips, because I do that a lot. The meal was beautifully presented, but I don’t know what the red dollops of sauce were, so there was a slight element of style over substance.

The fish was battered in a panko type breadcrumb, which made it crispy and added texture. Unfortunately, the whole fish was over-cooked slightly, so although perfectly edible, there was a bit too much texture for my liking. The cod itself flaked away and seemed of a good quality, and it had a pleasant taste. The tartare sauce seemed home-made and the chips tasted excellent, firm on the exterior and fluffy on the interior.

Overall, I thought that this was a rather pleasant location and it had a calm and welcoming atmosphere. The staff members were pleasant and the food wasn’t unreasonably priced, with the 0.5 litre of beer and food coming in around £10, although that’s towards the higher end for Poland. Ideally, there would have been a wider beer selection though, especially when they’ve got so many of the beer menus around the restaurant area.

August 4, 2025
Gdansk – Kotka Cafe

[I originally posted this in June 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

The cat cafe rules, sanitise your hands and then go and eat food and drink. And amuse yourself with cats if you so desire.

The food and drink, which is prepared in a separate room, was nicely presented and the prices are relatively low. There’s no charge to enter the cat cafe, and no timed entry system, with customers just expected to purchase food and drink during their visit. I felt that a latte and apple pie was a suitable morning dining experience, and it cost the equivalent of around £4. A decent depth of taste, everything at the appropriate temperature and tasting of a good quality, so all is well.

Some cats were sitting in baskets on the floor.

Some cats were sitting in baskets on the window sill.

Some cats, or kitten in this case, were lying down making a deliberate effort to look cute.

Some cats wanted to survey the action that was going on from their vantage point up high.

My favourite cat, a black and white one.

Resting cat.

The other heart-warming element of this cafe is that some of the cats are up for adoption, so you can take away an apple pie and a cat. Actually, the adoption process is slightly more complex than that, but it’s a nice idea that you can see the cat you like and interact with it. Some of the cats here are owned by the cafe and aren’t up for adoption, they’re here permanently.

The cats were also well trained, or as much as you can train a cat, not to eat food from the tables. Customers were also trained not to feed the cats, who were given cat food by the owners so didn’t need any more, which seemed much more sensible. During my time at the cafe, it all seemed to be very professional and both the cats and customers were suitably well behaved.

August 4, 2025
Gdansk – Salad Story

[I originally posted this in 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

I’ve seen a lot of Salad Story outlets around Poland, and as the saying goes, no good story starts with a salad. However, sometimes a new experience has to be tried, even a salad experience.

The menu boards, with salads, wraps and juices being advertised. They didn’t exactly whet my appetite, but at least the signage was clear. They could perhaps do with a little chicken strips section, but perhaps that takes away from the vibe they’re trying to create. And, they are literally next door in the food court to McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC.

Actually, the main reason I’m not dining at the holy trinity of McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC is that they have large queues. Salad Story doesn’t. I can’t begin to imagine why…..

Salad stuff.

I went for a healthy Fanta, with lots of sugar, and a hot avocado wrap. It transpired fortunately the wrap had chicken in it, as otherwise it would have tasted rather dull. I must admit, their tomatoes were excellent, I do dislike those mushy things that are sometimes served in, usually, British restaurants.

The wrap was grilled and I do like avocado and its smeary texture, and it was much more substantial than I had anticipated when I ordered it. The prices here are towards the higher end of the scale, primarily because I’m in the food court of the Gdansk Forum Mall. The UK equivalent for the Fanta and avocado wrap was £5, which is the same as a large McDonald’s extra value meal.

Overall, it was much better than I anticipated. Would I go again? That’s a much more challenging issue for me to deal with given that they normally locate these outlets next door to McDonald’s et al. However, I wouldn’t refuse to eat here again.

So, although not yet converted, not disappointed….

August 4, 2025
Gdansk – Gryf Hotel

[I originally posted this in June 2018 but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

I booked this hotel at the last-minute, having decided that it was possible to get Gdansk for Friday night. My expectations were rather low, given the relatively cheap price and the fact that they still had several rooms available at a weekend at short notice.

The hotel is situated in what appears to be an assembly of buildings either being demolished, or needing to be demolished. However, the hotel has clearly spent some money on its frontage and the addition of a lift, with a modern signage.

My entry to the hotel was slightly hampered though by a large group of guests trying to get a photo of themselves taken outside of the hotel. I did try and wait, but they were faffing, so I’m probably now in the official photo of some German musicians or something. I blame them, they should have been more efficient with their photography. Although I did appreciate their dithering about, as it meant I got to check-in first and didn’t have to wait for around twenty people to get their rooms allocated before mine.

The location is around a 20-minute walk from the city centre, and opposite the Solidarity Museum, with my room having a rather nice view of the building. My room also had a nice view of the demolition site to the rear of the hotel, but I felt generous and didn’t take a photo of that.

Other than for the slightly old radio set-up in the bedside cabinet, the room was surprisingly modern and well-appointed. It was clean and had teas and coffees, which isn’t always to be expected in Polish hotels. There were no noise disturbances either internally or externally, and the staff all seemed friendly and helpful.

Given the price I paid, which was just under £30, I was rather impressed with the whole set-up.

August 4, 2025