On Friday 10 March 2023 CAMRA members converged on the Driftwood Spars for the "Barrel of Laughs" beer festival. This year we were treated to the luxury of a minibus service to take us down Quay Road from the bus stops at Peterville to the Drifty and more importantly take us back up the hill later. Our buses converged from the north and south to wait for the minibus which appeared on time and was driven by none other than Lou Treseder herself - the owner of the Driftwood.

We soon settled down to socialise with our friends and get down to the serious business of choosing our beers and enjoying them.

We had up to 13 cask beers served straight from the cask in the festival, not forgetting the beers on handpump in the bar. There were nine keg beers including two brewed in collaboration with comedians, hence the laughs to go with the barrels. For the cider drinkers there were four fruit-flavoured ciders.

One poignant beer was Pete's Mild to remind us of our good friend, CAMRA volunteer and Driftwood brewer, Pete Martin, who died in 2020. Pete would have been 60 this March. Pete could be quite a comedian on occasions. Many of Pete's beers are still brewed regularly by the current brewer Mike Mason.

Usually only sold in bottles, we had the temptation of St Austell Bad Habit on cask. This is an 8.2% Belgian-style Abbey Tripel and had to be the beer to finish up with.

Then it was time to avail ourselves of Lou's minibus up to Peterville again to wait for our buses. Thanks Lou and the Drifty team for a good day out.

Keep an eye on the Diary page for the next beer festival at the Driftwood.

Cheers,

Steve Barber