Lots to celebrate at the 37th Durham Beer Festival that will be open from 12 noon to 10.30pm on Thursday 31st August, Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd September 2017 at the Durham Students Union building, Dunelm House, New Elvet, Durham City!

This year's festival will be opened around 6.00pm by Mark Anderson, Managing Director of Maxim Brewery, a major sponsor of the beer festival for many years, who is celebrating the tenth anniversary of start of brewing in Maxim's brewery in Houghton-le-Spring.

Also being celebrated this year is the 30th anniversary of Big Lamp Brewery creating their highly drinkable and popular Prince Bishop Ale for the re-starting of the Durham Beer Festivals after a short break in their continuity. To mark the occasion, Michael Webster, landlord of The Victoria in Durham, instead of donating his usual (and much appreciated) Big Lamp Bitter, is donating a cask of Prince Bishop to the festival (with a suitably designed celebratory pump clip) and Big Lamp Brewery will be making another nine gallons of Prince Bishop to be raffled amongst everyone attending the festival!

A third anniversary being celebrated this year is the 15th for Hill Island Brewery in Fowler's Yard, Durham. Michael, the brewer, will be (again) hoping to win the festival's Battle of the Beers - a competition amongst local brewers to produce a beer made to given standards set by the organisers, that has to be launched at the festival - it can't have been on sale anywhere beforehand, i.e. all new beers. This year, the beers can be any style, but have to be made with only English hops and have a strength between 3.7% and 4.5%abv. The other breweries who are submitting brand new beers to this year's competition are Durham Brewery, George Samuels, Yard of Ale, Tyne Bank, Consett Ale Works, Three Brothers and Blackhill. The judging of Battle of the Beers will be undertaken on Thursday afternoon and the results announced when Mark Anderson officially opens the festival around 6.00pm.

Yet another cause for celebration at the festival is the arrival of a brand new Stables Brewery beer, unlike anything else that the great John Taylor has produced. This one is Beamish Rauchig Red - a 4.5%abv made with German beech-smoked malt giving the beer, we're told, a full rich sweet malt smoked flavour with a delicate bitter back taste.

Can't wait to try it? Well come and join us at this year's festival with many things to celebrate!