Last weekend Tom and I (Sam) had the pleasure of heading up to the North East and attending the inaugural Mash Up Festival, bringing keg craft beer and music together in to one experience. When I heard about the event, naturally was very interested to see what it was about, and after speaking to the awesome folk at Anarchy Brewery - the event instigators and hosts, we were fully on board! 

So beyond simply a promotional post, I thought I'd do a bit of a quick review of the event, mentioning some of the awesome beers we drank, and incredible bands we enjoyed. 

On the Friday, Tom and I travelled up the A1 with Beavertown Breweries, Californian Flavour Merchant - Byron Knight, in their van with a shit ton of kegs 

After 8 hours on the road, a pint on arrival was most welcome. We tapped our beers and shared a few pints with the chaps from Alechemy and Elixir before a quick session in the Anarchy Tap Room

The next day was upon us, and we took turns working behind the bar serving both our own beers, as well as the other class breweries on offer. The day flew by as we sampled many a beer, and watched loads of great bands. 

Beer Highlights for me, were Moor Beer - Claudia : their super hoppy Hefeweizen, amazing aroma, and fully sessionable, Beavertown - Bloody 'Ell IPA - a blood orange IPA that is amazing on keg, subtle fruit vibes for sure. 

Toms choice beers were Lovibonds - 69 IPA, we hung out with the legend that is Jeff Rosenmeier all day, and his beers certainly match his personality. If you see him, ask him about his cycling shirt. And the Anarchy - Citra Burst, I watched Tom drink a lot of this. We both also were lucky enough to try some 3 year barrell aged Sour Grapes - great beer. 

I watched plenty of acts across the day, but for me, three stood out a mile - Rossi Noise, bringing together some hardcore and hip hop together in a creative, and accessible way, although troubled by some power cuts, still managed to win over a fair few new fans. They have their own beer too - Grin & Bare It! Hopefully a second batch is coming soon so we can try it! The Algorithm, who we've seen supporting the Enter Shikari boys a few times were killer. But hats off go to the Sonic Boom Six, smashed out a great festival set, and really got what Mash Up was really about. 

Special mention to The Flame Pit dudes - passionate about meat, and seriously tasty! And DJ Carter for good hangs, and reppin' SB in the NE! 

Anyway, will wrap this up now, as I'm needed for brewing (well, I'm doing the cleaning!) but full respect to Anarchy Brewery: Simon, Dawn, Ross and the team! Onwards on upwards - looking forward to growing it in 2014! 

Here is a picture of Sonic Boom Six's Nick Horne petting a pony at the festival. Enjoy.