‘Locktober Fest’ online beer festival gets underway

An online beer festival called Locktober Fest, in which beer-lovers can sample a selection of Solihull-brewed beer from the comfort of their own homes, has just begun.

The online event is the idea of Knowle and Dorridge Round Table, which has partnered with Silhill Brewery for the month-long event.

Around 150 of the limited number Locktober Fest packs of craft beer, containing 12 500ml bottled ales including Hop Star IPA and Blonde Star pale ale, have already been sold.

The Round Table’s annual beer festival at Knowle’s British Legion had to be cancelled in March this year due to the growing Covid pandemic, costing thousands of pounds and even more in lost revenue that would have been given to charity.

Part of the proceeds from the £26.95 Locktober Fest packs will go directly to The Round Table to be given out to local causes, and to help raise awareness of mental health charity The Cameron Grant Memorial Trust.

The month-long event will include an online tasting event hosted by the brewer, which is based in Catherine-de-Barnes, just outside Solihull.

“We had to write off the idea about another attempt at a beer festival this year so with home deliveries growing we decided to do a virtual beer festival,” said Mike Liddington, the organiser of Locktober Fest and this year’s chairman of Knowle and Dorridge Round Table.

“Silhill Brewery are one of our supporters so after a few conversations with the owner Mark Gregory, we hatched a plan.”

“We are so proud to be involved with this – the way The Round Table has stepped up to the mark to help the local community, and that includes local businesses, and its local brewer, is incredible,” said Silhill Brewery’s director Mark Gregory.

“Community is so important at the moment, and this is a great example of everyone working together in the best sense,” he added.