About Chappel Beer Festivals
Possibly one of the most enjoyable festivals in the south east. Fundraising in aid of the East Anglian Railway Museum
Reviews
Just a note to say that Tickets for Friday of the Winter Festival will go in sale on the 1st of January. As we usually do, to control crowding if you intend to arrive AFTER 17:30 on Friday YOU WILL need a ticket to get in. Tickets are £17, and that’s made up of £5 admission, £2 glass deposit and a £10 starter pack of beer tokens. The Glass deposit, and any unused beer tokens are refundable. If you are a CAMRA or EARM member and as usual if you have a season ticket for the ...Marks Tey to Sudbury line then you qualify for the reduced rate. . If you buy a CAMRA/EARM/Season Ticket ticket, You MUST bring your valid membership card / Season ticket, if you forget it we have no way to look your details up and you will be asked to pay the difference on the door. Each person who claims the discounted rate has to have a valid card to claim the discount.
Again you only need a ticket for Friday Night If you intend to arrive AFTER 17:30, if you arrive BEFORE 17:30 you DO NOT need a ticket. Saturday will be pay on the door.
Tickeet link ( Goes Live 1st Jan) - https://www.seetickets.com/…/east-angli an-railway-m…/1295384
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Last Summer we had a group of runners start and finsish at Chappel on a 5 mile cross country run. For anyone who ran and wished to try again they are organising "The Chilly Chappel Chase". If you interested the sign up link is here, its a 5 mile self guided trail run, and bear in mind its Winter so will be colder than the one before.. - http://companyofrunners.co.uk/portfol…/ chilly-chappel-chase/
Any Questions, please ask them to Company of Runners - https://www.facebook.com/companyofrunners / - not the Beer Festival page..
As you may notice by the events, we have CAMRA approval so the 10th Winter Festival is officially "on". If you came in 2018 and "enjoyed" the snow, we've deliberately not invited the "Beast from the East" this time. While I have to admit the snow lead to some very pretty scenes of trains, the Goods Shed and the yard its more trouble than it’s worth 😊
The Winter Festival is open Friday 1st of March 2019 and Saturday 2nd March 2019, 11:00 to 23:00 each day, we plan on having around 70 different beers, plus ciders and perries. If you’ve only ever been to the summer festival, this is the smaller brother to the summer festival its only in the goods shed, and only two days.
While we ususally consider the Winter Festival to be the smaller brother of the famous Chappel Summer Beer Festival, this is the 10th Birthday of this event. As usual its held in the historic Goods Shed at the East Anglian Railway Museum.
The 10th Chappel Winter Beer Festival starts at 11am on Friday the 1st of March 2019 . Open for two days from 11:00 to 23:00 each day. Up to 70 Real Ales plus a selection of Ciders & Perry will be available. Live Music both Evenings - Ba...nds TBC. Hot food (inc Vegetarian) available.
Saturday is a PAY ON THE DOOR session you do not need to buy a ticket in advance.
Full Details are on http://www.chappelbeerfestival.org.uk/win ter/
Chappel Beer Festivals are organised by Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as a fund raising exercise for the East Anglian Railway Museum (EARM) Registered Charity No 1001579
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While we ususally consider the Winter Festival to be the smaller brother of the famous Chappel Summer Beer Festival, this is the 10th Birthday of this event. As usual its held in the historic Goods Shed at the East Anglian Railway Museum.
The 10th Chappel Winter Beer Festival starts at 11am on Friday the 1st of March 2019 . Open for two days from 11:00 to 23:00 each day. Up to 70 Real Ales plus a selection of Ciders & Perry will be available. Live Music both Evenings - Ba...nds TBC. Hot food (inc Vegetarian) available.
Friday is a PAY ON THE DOOR session you do not need to buy a ticket in advance unless you wish to arrive AFTER 17:30 in which cawse you need a ticket. Ticket Link - https://www.seetickets.com/…/east-angli an-railway-m…/1295384
Full Details are on http://www.chappelbeerfestival.org.uk/win ter/
Chappel Beer Festivals are organised by Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as a fund raising exercise for the East Anglian Railway Museum (EARM) Registered Charity No 1001579
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Well I think I’m now recovered, Chappel is a hard weeks work, not only are we open for the week for more hours than most people, me included, work (56 hours) but the hours we are closed isn’t usually resting, there is a lot of work to get the bars ready before, and tidy up and restock after you all leave. Generally it works but sometimes tempers frey, but we come together to put the event on.
Anyway if you have feed back please let us know. We know Greater Anglian train ...can be busy, and there’s little we can do due to the line. We did try to colour code cask cards, and we did try and keep the dust down in the tents, we also tried to make sure you all had an idea of the catering options before you got here by posting menus, and I did make sure to ask for vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options.
We do need to work in allergens in beers, most brewers list allergens on the pump clips high we don’t use, or on the barrel which is a pain for us to tell you our visitors. I’m not sure how we get better but that’s a area we want to try and improve in the future.
We also are trying to think how we can have more trains on display, even if they are not completely accessible.
Two more things. If you collect pump clips all the ones we received are on ebay with all proceeds going to the festival. See https://www.ebay.co.uk/…/150-Beer-Pump- Clips-…/253871313418…
If your interested in this years staff shirts they are some large and extra large left at £14 including postage. They are no longer at the museum so if your interested please send us a message.
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And its all over for another year, time to get the the museum back to normal. A BIG Thank You you to everyone who attended helping raise funds for the Museum, and a BIGGER thank you to all our volunteer staff who make the event possible.
As usual give us a few days to rest and recover and we'll be ready to listen to any feedback you have.
... We hope you all had a great day (or two) out and our next Event in the Winter Festival in March..
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The ferrets being readied for the first race. Winner of the first race was Thor, the second race was won by Daisy. Next racing around 4-30 to 5 pm today.
Open again for the final day, looks to be overcast and may just touch 20*C this afternoon. Today sees the Belchamp Morris Men performing at 13:00 and 15:00 and Essex Ferret Welfare Society running Ferret races at 14:00 and 17: 00
Tonight has the Salt-Shaler Blues band perforimng from about 20:00.
Beer wise all the bars are still well stocked, we've over 200 beers still on, we are possibly a little too well from our point of view but thats great from your point of view and for the staff party after we close tonight.
Looks like some chickens came home to roost after the Illicit covers band did there set.
Friday night regulars the Illicit Covers Band will be starting to play about 8 to 8-15 tonight in the goods shed. Illicit
It’s turned out to be another great day for a beer or three. The 5-15 train has just unloaded a good platform full of guests ready for a Friday night of fun, and no doubt we will see the next theee trains crammed with visitors too.
The sun is out, the beer is flowing, and the weather forecast for today is no rain till midnight. Temperature wise its predicted to be 17 so it a nice day for a drinking, not too hot, not too cold. Almost Golilocks-esq.as planetary scientists would say..
To speed up the entry on the door if you already have bought tickets please check you printed out the actual ticket with the barcode on it. See sends this ticket as an attachment to the booking email. We need to see and scan the ticket barcode not the ticket purchase email. We can look up booking but it will take a while to do so , and you probably want to get to the beer ASAP.
We've been told for some people the Facebook See Tickets app may hang. If you plan to arrive after 17:30 tonight you need tickets and the direct link to See is https://www.seetickets.com/…/east-angli an-railway-m…/1250210
These are print at home types, we *may* be able to read the barcode from a phone but a print out is better as some phone screens may be too shiny to read the barcode.
The rains paying us a visit, the sheds suddenly got full, although that could also be as the bands just starting to play too.
loved it had a great night there trying ciders but had to come home after a few strong ones lol
Would recommend it to anyone friendly atmosphere plenty to beers choose from and food choices not bad either
Worth catching the train from home just after 06:00.
Well organised / great atmosphere Excellent selection of ales ciders & food �
Very good, still fair amount of decent ales available. Scorpion chocolate far too hot. Very and entertainment good too.
This festival is the best. So many real ales to choose from. Love the fact can camp. As then no worries of getting home. Could do with more vegetarian options on the food side. Excellent venue hopefully will make it for weekend next year. All work really hard keeping it all together for the weekend thanks camra. Great success.
Such a wonderful atmosphere loved every min of it.
One of the best beer festival's around superb range of beer and a brilliant setting. All round a brilliant night.
Just brilliant. Was my first one ever and enjoyed it :) great drinks and fab location. Plenty to drink and eat
It was very good but I can't remember to much for obvious reasons!
I have nothing bad to say... ale was excellent... staff were excellent... food was excellent... see you next year �
Haven't been to Chappel for some years now, but boy I wish I had. The.evening atmosphere was fantastic, loved the food field, stone baked pizza was fantastic and couldn't help myself but have some fish and chips as well, nice clean fish and batter, very good. Great range of beers and very helpful barmen (and women). Live music always goes well for me with a few bevvies, and of course a special mention to #shalfordbrewery your bar/tent was buzzing all night, great little sing song at the end. Highly recommend for a great night out, out of the ordinary! Well done to all concerned �
Great range of beers and good atmosphere.... .can they please colour code the labels so easy to pick out what type of beer it is from a glance so you can join bar at right spot please? Also, food expensive and ran out quite early..plus toilets were locked up in field by around 7pm meaning queues in the ladies as per!
Great location, friendly atmosphere and most importantly a fantastic selection of local beer
Great location beer here beer there and everywhere in the engine sheds great time to be had the space is very good, got to be my favourite festival of the year...
Great day, great choice of beers � looking forward to next year already ��
Good selection of beer and they didn't run out this year �
Good selection of Ciders and Great Atmosphere :)
First visit for over 20 years and it has evolved. Using a marque as Engine shed is full, and other Station Building as main bars, with smaller bars doted around in rail carriage and smaller tents. Field with picnic tables and choice of eatery venders. My Breakfast baguette for £5 was a bargain. Entry includes glass and vouchers. I was there during day time but I have heard it gets busy in the evenings. Hourly train service from Marks Tey.
Fhappel Ceer Bestival .Was made to feel one of the crowd by all the regulars even though it was our 1st visit. Mind blowing choice of beer. Literally. Had a wicked day and a train home is only a stumble up the stair's. Best day out by far. Food's a bit expensive though.
Excelelnt day out plenty to eat and drink will be going again next year !
Chappel is, hands down, the best beer festival in Essex!
Been visiting Chappel since I moved to Colchester 12 years ago. Can't recommend this beer festival highly enough. More beer than you can shake a stick at and a great venue. Go with friends or make new ones while you're their.
Took some video this year. Upload to follow.
Been coming for many years, These are some things we noticed and many people were talking about a lot during the evenings we attended. A big thing that makes Chappel great is the restoration shed, it IS the atmosphere, you say it takes a month to sort out, you can go to any old beer festival and be in a marquee but this is unique to Chappel, It MUST have been noticed how it was not as popular as usual, we were able to just walk in and out with a drink as no-one was enjoying being in there (except when raining) everywhere else was full as usual. It was not the same without the shed.
Also the food selection could be improved, the burgers were like rubber, something like a pastie stall would go down well with beer drinkers to soak up the beer ready for the next fill up! and the prices of most of the foods were quite expensive this year. BUT we did as always have an enjoyable time each session we came, the atmosphere was great with all the people about. will be back for the next beer fest.
A top day out. A great selection of beers & ciders from the smaller breweries, most of which I didn't know existed locally!
A tip that held me in good stead......only drink 3rds! :-)
A great festival, one of the best around...lots of local beers, great atmosphere and a great setting!
loved it as always but disappointed that i didn't get a 31st glass as had run out so if anyone has one or one to sell me i would gladly have it as there will be a hole in my collection otherwise.
Would be good if there were more ciders especially at the lower alcohol content end. Others festivals usually have some strawberry or other berry ciders which are always very popular. Actually maybe you did and had run out by Saturday afternoon when I visited! I have probably been spoiled by the huge cider bar at Chelmsford Beer Festival! Shame it rained. People under the canopy near Henrietta blocked the path.
Loved the selection of real ales on offer.
But, as for the camping ticket- could you inform your gate staff/team how any camping tickets are exchanged for tokens, it took a while to find someone who knew. Thanks.
It did rain a fair bit, the only issue with the success of the fest is that there is very little covered areas for such weather- so bring a brolly if it looks like rain.
These are not gripes, just comments. I enjoyed it very much, and the ferret racing was fun! 😁
Great location, lovely beers. Shame it was colder than normal! Keep up the good work!
Fabulous beer festival in a very unique setting makes this one of the must got to festivals of the year.
Chappel Beer Festival delivered once again. Great selection of beers and still going strong on the Saturday night. Food stalls were a let down this year. Smaller selection than before and by 7pm some had sold out entirely. Not ideal when you're coming for the evening. Also very very expensive too.
Great beers, great breweries and nice selection. Trains needed more carriages probably out of their control and perhaps a bit more seating would be great.
5th one in 6 years and will definitely be at the next one! Thank you
Can't fault the selection of beer. Really good. However the price of food is ridiculous and I believe the vendors work on the captive audience theory that if your hungry you'll pay it. Selection of food is another niggle, not all of us are meat eaters. However the beer, which is the main event, is utterly faultless.
Been going for many years now, but find the prices are going up and up. Above pub prices for regular beers. A bit greedy I think. Good choice as usual but don't expect to order from the programme.
Still the best festival but little niggles starting to creep in for me. Prices now seem much higher. Selection still superb. Major problem for me is the train service to and from; I don't expect much from GA at best of times but the train needs to be bigger, better organised and the bus replacement on return went a very long way round meaning we missed our train. Will have to think about going next year, and not given a second thought before.
loved it had a great night there trying ciders but had to come home after a few strong ones lol
Would recommend it to anyone friendly atmosphere plenty to beers choose from and food choices not bad either
Worth catching the train from home just after 06:00.
Well organised / great atmosphere Excellent selection of ales ciders & food �
Very good, still fair amount of decent ales available. Scorpion chocolate far too hot. Very and entertainment good too.
This festival is the best. So many real ales to choose from. Love the fact can camp. As then no worries of getting home. Could do with more vegetarian options on the food side. Excellent venue hopefully will make it for weekend next year. All work really hard keeping it all together for the weekend thanks camra. Great success.
Such a wonderful atmosphere loved every min of it.
One of the best beer festival's around superb range of beer and a brilliant setting. All round a brilliant night.
Just brilliant. Was my first one ever and enjoyed it :) great drinks and fab location. Plenty to drink and eat
It was very good but I can't remember to much for obvious reasons!
I have nothing bad to say... ale was excellent... staff were excellent... food was excellent... see you next year �
Haven't been to Chappel for some years now, but boy I wish I had. The.evening atmosphere was fantastic, loved the food field, stone baked pizza was fantastic and couldn't help myself but have some fish and chips as well, nice clean fish and batter, very good. Great range of beers and very helpful barmen (and women). Live music always goes well for me with a few bevvies, and of course a special mention to #shalfordbrewery your bar/tent was buzzing all night, great little sing song at the end. Highly recommend for a great night out, out of the ordinary! Well done to all concerned �
Great range of beers and good atmosphere.... .can they please colour code the labels so easy to pick out what type of beer it is from a glance so you can join bar at right spot please? Also, food expensive and ran out quite early..plus toilets were locked up in field by around 7pm meaning queues in the ladies as per!
Great location, friendly atmosphere and most importantly a fantastic selection of local beer
Great location beer here beer there and everywhere in the engine sheds great time to be had the space is very good, got to be my favourite festival of the year...
Great day, great choice of beers � looking forward to next year already ��
Good selection of beer and they didn't run out this year �
Good selection of Ciders and Great Atmosphere :)
First visit for over 20 years and it has evolved. Using a marque as Engine shed is full, and other Station Building as main bars, with smaller bars doted around in rail carriage and smaller tents. Field with picnic tables and choice of eatery venders. My Breakfast baguette for £5 was a bargain. Entry includes glass and vouchers. I was there during day time but I have heard it gets busy in the evenings. Hourly train service from Marks Tey.
Fhappel Ceer Bestival .Was made to feel one of the crowd by all the regulars even though it was our 1st visit. Mind blowing choice of beer. Literally. Had a wicked day and a train home is only a stumble up the stair's. Best day out by far. Food's a bit expensive though.
Excelelnt day out plenty to eat and drink will be going again next year !
Chappel is, hands down, the best beer festival in Essex!
Been visiting Chappel since I moved to Colchester 12 years ago. Can't recommend this beer festival highly enough. More beer than you can shake a stick at and a great venue. Go with friends or make new ones while you're their.
Took some video this year. Upload to follow.
Been coming for many years, These are some things we noticed and many people were talking about a lot during the evenings we attended. A big thing that makes Chappel great is the restoration shed, it IS the atmosphere, you say it takes a month to sort out, you can go to any old beer festival and be in a marquee but this is unique to Chappel, It MUST have been noticed how it was not as popular as usual, we were able to just walk in and out with a drink as no-one was enjoying being in there (except when raining) everywhere else was full as usual. It was not the same without the shed.
Also the food selection could be improved, the burgers were like rubber, something like a pastie stall would go down well with beer drinkers to soak up the beer ready for the next fill up! and the prices of most of the foods were quite expensive this year. BUT we did as always have an enjoyable time each session we came, the atmosphere was great with all the people about. will be back for the next beer fest.
A top day out. A great selection of beers & ciders from the smaller breweries, most of which I didn't know existed locally!
A tip that held me in good stead......only drink 3rds! :-)
A great festival, one of the best around...lots of local beers, great atmosphere and a great setting!
loved it as always but disappointed that i didn't get a 31st glass as had run out so if anyone has one or one to sell me i would gladly have it as there will be a hole in my collection otherwise.
Would be good if there were more ciders especially at the lower alcohol content end. Others festivals usually have some strawberry or other berry ciders which are always very popular. Actually maybe you did and had run out by Saturday afternoon when I visited! I have probably been spoiled by the huge cider bar at Chelmsford Beer Festival! Shame it rained. People under the canopy near Henrietta blocked the path.
Loved the selection of real ales on offer.
But, as for the camping ticket- could you inform your gate staff/team how any camping tickets are exchanged for tokens, it took a while to find someone who knew. Thanks.
It did rain a fair bit, the only issue with the success of the fest is that there is very little covered areas for such weather- so bring a brolly if it looks like rain.
These are not gripes, just comments. I enjoyed it very much, and the ferret racing was fun! 😁
Great location, lovely beers. Shame it was colder than normal! Keep up the good work!
Fabulous beer festival in a very unique setting makes this one of the must got to festivals of the year.
Chappel Beer Festival delivered once again. Great selection of beers and still going strong on the Saturday night. Food stalls were a let down this year. Smaller selection than before and by 7pm some had sold out entirely. Not ideal when you're coming for the evening. Also very very expensive too.
Great beers, great breweries and nice selection. Trains needed more carriages probably out of their control and perhaps a bit more seating would be great.
5th one in 6 years and will definitely be at the next one! Thank you
Can't fault the selection of beer. Really good. However the price of food is ridiculous and I believe the vendors work on the captive audience theory that if your hungry you'll pay it. Selection of food is another niggle, not all of us are meat eaters. However the beer, which is the main event, is utterly faultless.
Been going for many years now, but find the prices are going up and up. Above pub prices for regular beers. A bit greedy I think. Good choice as usual but don't expect to order from the programme.
Still the best festival but little niggles starting to creep in for me. Prices now seem much higher. Selection still superb. Major problem for me is the train service to and from; I don't expect much from GA at best of times but the train needs to be bigger, better organised and the bus replacement on return went a very long way round meaning we missed our train. Will have to think about going next year, and not given a second thought before.
loved it had a great night there trying ciders but had to come home after a few strong ones lol
Would recommend it to anyone friendly atmosphere plenty to beers choose from and food choices not bad either
Worth catching the train from home just after 06:00.
Well organised / great atmosphere Excellent selection of ales ciders & food �
Very good, still fair amount of decent ales available. Scorpion chocolate far too hot. Very and entertainment good too.
This festival is the best. So many real ales to choose from. Love the fact can camp. As then no worries of getting home. Could do with more vegetarian options on the food side. Excellent venue hopefully will make it for weekend next year. All work really hard keeping it all together for the weekend thanks camra. Great success.
Such a wonderful atmosphere loved every min of it.
One of the best beer festival's around superb range of beer and a brilliant setting. All round a brilliant night.
Just brilliant. Was my first one ever and enjoyed it :) great drinks and fab location. Plenty to drink and eat
It was very good but I can't remember to much for obvious reasons!
I have nothing bad to say... ale was excellent... staff were excellent... food was excellent... see you next year �
Haven't been to Chappel for some years now, but boy I wish I had. The.evening atmosphere was fantastic, loved the food field, stone baked pizza was fantastic and couldn't help myself but have some fish and chips as well, nice clean fish and batter, very good. Great range of beers and very helpful barmen (and women). Live music always goes well for me with a few bevvies, and of course a special mention to #shalfordbrewery your bar/tent was buzzing all night, great little sing song at the end. Highly recommend for a great night out, out of the ordinary! Well done to all concerned �
Great range of beers and good atmosphere.... .can they please colour code the labels so easy to pick out what type of beer it is from a glance so you can join bar at right spot please? Also, food expensive and ran out quite early..plus toilets were locked up in field by around 7pm meaning queues in the ladies as per!
Great location, friendly atmosphere and most importantly a fantastic selection of local beer
Great location beer here beer there and everywhere in the engine sheds great time to be had the space is very good, got to be my favourite festival of the year...
Great day, great choice of beers � looking forward to next year already ��
Good selection of beer and they didn't run out this year �
Good selection of Ciders and Great Atmosphere :)
First visit for over 20 years and it has evolved. Using a marque as Engine shed is full, and other Station Building as main bars, with smaller bars doted around in rail carriage and smaller tents. Field with picnic tables and choice of eatery venders. My Breakfast baguette for £5 was a bargain. Entry includes glass and vouchers. I was there during day time but I have heard it gets busy in the evenings. Hourly train service from Marks Tey.
Fhappel Ceer Bestival .Was made to feel one of the crowd by all the regulars even though it was our 1st visit. Mind blowing choice of beer. Literally. Had a wicked day and a train home is only a stumble up the stair's. Best day out by far. Food's a bit expensive though.
Excelelnt day out plenty to eat and drink will be going again next year !
Chappel is, hands down, the best beer festival in Essex!
Been visiting Chappel since I moved to Colchester 12 years ago. Can't recommend this beer festival highly enough. More beer than you can shake a stick at and a great venue. Go with friends or make new ones while you're their.
Took some video this year. Upload to follow.
Been coming for many years, These are some things we noticed and many people were talking about a lot during the evenings we attended. A big thing that makes Chappel great is the restoration shed, it IS the atmosphere, you say it takes a month to sort out, you can go to any old beer festival and be in a marquee but this is unique to Chappel, It MUST have been noticed how it was not as popular as usual, we were able to just walk in and out with a drink as no-one was enjoying being in there (except when raining) everywhere else was full as usual. It was not the same without the shed.
Also the food selection could be improved, the burgers were like rubber, something like a pastie stall would go down well with beer drinkers to soak up the beer ready for the next fill up! and the prices of most of the foods were quite expensive this year. BUT we did as always have an enjoyable time each session we came, the atmosphere was great with all the people about. will be back for the next beer fest.
A top day out. A great selection of beers & ciders from the smaller breweries, most of which I didn't know existed locally!
A tip that held me in good stead......only drink 3rds! :-)
A great festival, one of the best around...lots of local beers, great atmosphere and a great setting!
loved it as always but disappointed that i didn't get a 31st glass as had run out so if anyone has one or one to sell me i would gladly have it as there will be a hole in my collection otherwise.
Would be good if there were more ciders especially at the lower alcohol content end. Others festivals usually have some strawberry or other berry ciders which are always very popular. Actually maybe you did and had run out by Saturday afternoon when I visited! I have probably been spoiled by the huge cider bar at Chelmsford Beer Festival! Shame it rained. People under the canopy near Henrietta blocked the path.
Loved the selection of real ales on offer.
But, as for the camping ticket- could you inform your gate staff/team how any camping tickets are exchanged for tokens, it took a while to find someone who knew. Thanks.
It did rain a fair bit, the only issue with the success of the fest is that there is very little covered areas for such weather- so bring a brolly if it looks like rain.
These are not gripes, just comments. I enjoyed it very much, and the ferret racing was fun! 😁
Great location, lovely beers. Shame it was colder than normal! Keep up the good work!
Fabulous beer festival in a very unique setting makes this one of the must got to festivals of the year.
Chappel Beer Festival delivered once again. Great selection of beers and still going strong on the Saturday night. Food stalls were a let down this year. Smaller selection than before and by 7pm some had sold out entirely. Not ideal when you're coming for the evening. Also very very expensive too.
Great beers, great breweries and nice selection. Trains needed more carriages probably out of their control and perhaps a bit more seating would be great.
5th one in 6 years and will definitely be at the next one! Thank you
Can't fault the selection of beer. Really good. However the price of food is ridiculous and I believe the vendors work on the captive audience theory that if your hungry you'll pay it. Selection of food is another niggle, not all of us are meat eaters. However the beer, which is the main event, is utterly faultless.
Been going for many years now, but find the prices are going up and up. Above pub prices for regular beers. A bit greedy I think. Good choice as usual but don't expect to order from the programme.
Still the best festival but little niggles starting to creep in for me. Prices now seem much higher. Selection still superb. Major problem for me is the train service to and from; I don't expect much from GA at best of times but the train needs to be bigger, better organised and the bus replacement on return went a very long way round meaning we missed our train. Will have to think about going next year, and not given a second thought before.
loved it had a great night there trying ciders but had to come home after a few strong ones lol
Would recommend it to anyone friendly atmosphere plenty to beers choose from and food choices not bad either
Worth catching the train from home just after 06:00.
Well organised / great atmosphere Excellent selection of ales ciders & food �
Very good, still fair amount of decent ales available. Scorpion chocolate far too hot. Very and entertainment good too.
This festival is the best. So many real ales to choose from. Love the fact can camp. As then no worries of getting home. Could do with more vegetarian options on the food side. Excellent venue hopefully will make it for weekend next year. All work really hard keeping it all together for the weekend thanks camra. Great success.
Such a wonderful atmosphere loved every min of it.
One of the best beer festival's around superb range of beer and a brilliant setting. All round a brilliant night.
Just brilliant. Was my first one ever and enjoyed it :) great drinks and fab location. Plenty to drink and eat
It was very good but I can't remember to much for obvious reasons!
I have nothing bad to say... ale was excellent... staff were excellent... food was excellent... see you next year �
Haven't been to Chappel for some years now, but boy I wish I had. The.evening atmosphere was fantastic, loved the food field, stone baked pizza was fantastic and couldn't help myself but have some fish and chips as well, nice clean fish and batter, very good. Great range of beers and very helpful barmen (and women). Live music always goes well for me with a few bevvies, and of course a special mention to #shalfordbrewery your bar/tent was buzzing all night, great little sing song at the end. Highly recommend for a great night out, out of the ordinary! Well done to all concerned �
Great range of beers and good atmosphere.... .can they please colour code the labels so easy to pick out what type of beer it is from a glance so you can join bar at right spot please? Also, food expensive and ran out quite early..plus toilets were locked up in field by around 7pm meaning queues in the ladies as per!
Great location, friendly atmosphere and most importantly a fantastic selection of local beer
Great location beer here beer there and everywhere in the engine sheds great time to be had the space is very good, got to be my favourite festival of the year...
Great day, great choice of beers � looking forward to next year already ��
Good selection of beer and they didn't run out this year �
Good selection of Ciders and Great Atmosphere :)
First visit for over 20 years and it has evolved. Using a marque as Engine shed is full, and other Station Building as main bars, with smaller bars doted around in rail carriage and smaller tents. Field with picnic tables and choice of eatery venders. My Breakfast baguette for £5 was a bargain. Entry includes glass and vouchers. I was there during day time but I have heard it gets busy in the evenings. Hourly train service from Marks Tey.
Fhappel Ceer Bestival .Was made to feel one of the crowd by all the regulars even though it was our 1st visit. Mind blowing choice of beer. Literally. Had a wicked day and a train home is only a stumble up the stair's. Best day out by far. Food's a bit expensive though.
Excelelnt day out plenty to eat and drink will be going again next year !
Chappel is, hands down, the best beer festival in Essex!
Been visiting Chappel since I moved to Colchester 12 years ago. Can't recommend this beer festival highly enough. More beer than you can shake a stick at and a great venue. Go with friends or make new ones while you're their.
Took some video this year. Upload to follow.
Been coming for many years, These are some things we noticed and many people were talking about a lot during the evenings we attended. A big thing that makes Chappel great is the restoration shed, it IS the atmosphere, you say it takes a month to sort out, you can go to any old beer festival and be in a marquee but this is unique to Chappel, It MUST have been noticed how it was not as popular as usual, we were able to just walk in and out with a drink as no-one was enjoying being in there (except when raining) everywhere else was full as usual. It was not the same without the shed.
Also the food selection could be improved, the burgers were like rubber, something like a pastie stall would go down well with beer drinkers to soak up the beer ready for the next fill up! and the prices of most of the foods were quite expensive this year. BUT we did as always have an enjoyable time each session we came, the atmosphere was great with all the people about. will be back for the next beer fest.
A top day out. A great selection of beers & ciders from the smaller breweries, most of which I didn't know existed locally!
A tip that held me in good stead......only drink 3rds! :-)
A great festival, one of the best around...lots of local beers, great atmosphere and a great setting!
loved it as always but disappointed that i didn't get a 31st glass as had run out so if anyone has one or one to sell me i would gladly have it as there will be a hole in my collection otherwise.
Would be good if there were more ciders especially at the lower alcohol content end. Others festivals usually have some strawberry or other berry ciders which are always very popular. Actually maybe you did and had run out by Saturday afternoon when I visited! I have probably been spoiled by the huge cider bar at Chelmsford Beer Festival! Shame it rained. People under the canopy near Henrietta blocked the path.
Loved the selection of real ales on offer.
But, as for the camping ticket- could you inform your gate staff/team how any camping tickets are exchanged for tokens, it took a while to find someone who knew. Thanks.
It did rain a fair bit, the only issue with the success of the fest is that there is very little covered areas for such weather- so bring a brolly if it looks like rain.
These are not gripes, just comments. I enjoyed it very much, and the ferret racing was fun! 😁
Great location, lovely beers. Shame it was colder than normal! Keep up the good work!
Fabulous beer festival in a very unique setting makes this one of the must got to festivals of the year.
Chappel Beer Festival delivered once again. Great selection of beers and still going strong on the Saturday night. Food stalls were a let down this year. Smaller selection than before and by 7pm some had sold out entirely. Not ideal when you're coming for the evening. Also very very expensive too.
Great beers, great breweries and nice selection. Trains needed more carriages probably out of their control and perhaps a bit more seating would be great.
5th one in 6 years and will definitely be at the next one! Thank you
Can't fault the selection of beer. Really good. However the price of food is ridiculous and I believe the vendors work on the captive audience theory that if your hungry you'll pay it. Selection of food is another niggle, not all of us are meat eaters. However the beer, which is the main event, is utterly faultless.
Been going for many years now, but find the prices are going up and up. Above pub prices for regular beers. A bit greedy I think. Good choice as usual but don't expect to order from the programme.
Still the best festival but little niggles starting to creep in for me. Prices now seem much higher. Selection still superb. Major problem for me is the train service to and from; I don't expect much from GA at best of times but the train needs to be bigger, better organised and the bus replacement on return went a very long way round meaning we missed our train. Will have to think about going next year, and not given a second thought before.