The party that took place on the Bank Holiday was sadly only a single-day affair, but with their own bar, support from The Dead Craft Beer Company, Frodsham/Helsby’s Beer Heroes and local food stalwarts San’s Café and Naked Lunch, there was plenty for visiting craft beer enthusiasts to enjoy along with the live music and other side acts.
The pleasing beers on offer included Mad Hatter classics Lick Face, Tzatziki Sour and Penny Lane Pale along with newer ones, such as Golden Deliciousness (a pale ale, brewed with apple puree). Both Beer Heroes and Dead Crafty provided some big hitters, with the likes of Fourpure, Tope Rope, Alphabet, Chapter and many more represented on the taps of the two guest bars.
I managed to have a quick catch up with Sue Starling from Mad Hatter to get a feel for how the Yard Party might impact on things going forward for the brewery:
“We haven’t firmed up any plans just yet to do more Yard Parties, but it’s not off the table. We are applying for a premises license in the near future and we might be looking to be open on a regular basis from Spring 2018 onwards.”
I asked about the location and whether she thought it would work in favour of regenerating the northern docks area for leisure use, or whether it might be something of a struggle with only the Invisible Wind Factory and themselves spearheading such use, plus some rather underdeveloped transport links (only Sandhill station is nearby and not many bus services):
“Oh, for sure, there’s work to do, but the North Docks area has a lot to offer, it’s a striking area with loads of great buildings and history and I feel pretty confident that people will visit”.
So for now, we’ll enjoy this tea party for the fun it was and wait and see how things pan out for Mad Hatter in their new home and keep our fingers crossed for more colour to come onto the scene.
Pedro.
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Thanks to WirraleRob for additional photography used in this article.