Opinion Editor, Grant Kuppenheimer, reviews Brewfest 2024, a party full of alcoholic and non-alcoholic amenities and lawn games
Over the weekend, the John’s Bar Team hosted the annual Brewfest event on Library Lawn, always a popular event with taps flowing and music playing. Unlike the JMS BBQ — which hosted a similar event — Brewfest emphasises inebriation rather than musical appreciation, and given some of the karaoke performance’s on display, for good reason. Attendees could choose from five different beer taps and homemade cocktails, with the Bar Team keeping everything stocked by routinely rolling kegs across the lawn and ferrying bottles from the cellar. Yet, in true John’s fashion, all the students seemed to choose only one tap to collectively drink from: the Mango Ale, which quickly ran out. One student commented that it was “slightly disappointing that mango ran out already as it was great value”, but thankfully, he “moved on to a Brewdog, and it’s £2.85, so you can’t really go wrong”.
In addition to the taps, Johnians were encouraged to chat with friends on familiar hay bales and listen to live music. The Bar Team decided to host a rousing tug-of-war, a highlight of the event, between first Freshers and upper years and then guys vs girls. The girls quickly managed to win, forcing all the guys on the lawn to chop their pints in defeat. Many students found this to be the highlight of the event, with another student commenting how it was “quite fun to watch” and agreeing that the upper-year guys “really got outplayed”. As the night went on and more drinks were consumed, students used the pizza stand set up on the Bailey, offering homemade pizza for about £8. The presence of food only encouraged students to drink even more, with one student deciding that the peach ale became a popular runner up to the mysterious mango ale.
Yet, one drawback to the event, echoed by most students I interviewed, was the cost-benefit of the event. Despite the tug-of-war, good music, and great venue, students felt “£11.50 is a bit steep for no free drinks”. Regardless, the event went exceptionally well, and Brewfest was a resounding success for which the Bar Team should be enduringly proud.
Editor’s note: more quotes from attendees were intended for this article but were tough to get due to the high proportion of students becoming considerably tipsy on mango ale
Images provided by Grace Lewis
John's Chronicle 