SMOKEFEST 2026

Smokefest 2024 is on!   Specifically, on September 21st & 22nd.  
Once again we're hoping to catch the warmish end of summertime rather than autumnal chills in the hills. 
Tickets on sale from 9am on Wednesday 1st May.

For those of you new to the Smokefest concept:
We love smoked beer, and feel everyone else would too, given the proper oportunity.  With that in mind, every year we organise the UK’s only all-smoked beer festival.
Whether you’re a longstanding rauchbier aficionado or just curious to see what the [very minimal levels of] smoky hype is about, we’re confident we can cater to anyone’s tastes and showcase the range of flavours and interesting nuances that smoked ingredients bring.

Smokefest is advance-ticketed to keep numbers sensibly limited, as our intent is to have the whole beer list available on both days, and also to keep enough space and elbow room that it's a comfortable environment throughout.

Tickets will be £16 each, which covers your entry, the traditional Smokefest memorabilia/glassware, and your 'welcome aboard' first drink to get you settled in. 

We'll have 20 or so smoked beers on draft, and more in bottle/can.

We have two all-day sessions, 12 noon till 8pm.  This makes sure there's plenty of time to work through whatever you like on the beer list, socialise, fuss brewery dogs, and chat, all while avoiding palate fatigue (our water supply continues to be unsmoked and freely available, and there'll be other soft drinks).

We're still working on arranging some hot food, but we're aiming to have some suitably varied on-site supplies.  And there are local establishments too, for nipping out to or having them deliver.

We'll also have our smoking gun on hand once again, so we can enhance any snacks you may bring along!

A bit of Smokefest history

We started this in 2018, after the idea occurred to us during a Sunday afternoon bottling session, and it was good! so we did it again!

We had a wide range of beers with different styles of smoke: some very small batch festival exclusives: and a guarantee of like-minded company.
There's also been a good range of smoked snacks – cheeses, meats, nuts -   and in 2019, guests also brought various intriguing things for on-demand cold smoking: tea-cakes, flying saucers, and Coca-cola all worked surprisingly well.  Last year we also had our friends at the Cheese Wheel with smoked cheese sets to accompany the beers.

And now here we are with Smokefest v4 or v5 (depending on whether you choose to count the rather fragmentary 2022 experience). 
More of the same, but slightly more so! 

When: 
September 21st & 22nd
12 noon - 8pm 

Where:
At the Brewery (see below)

​How much?
£16 per person

How do I book?
Here, from 9am on the 1st May!  just look in the next column! (or scroll down if you're on mobile)

How do I get there?
Trains are convenient! - we're 3 minutes from Newtown station, and 10 mins from Central.  New Mills is around a 40 minute journey direct from Manchester Piccadilly.  And we'll be watching for service announcements and changes on the day to make sure you all get home.
If someone drives you, while there's no parking possible at the brewery there is nearby on-road parking  (or the Newtown station car park).

Please note:
Over-18s only, with an exception for dogs - no canine age limitation.
The Marina is private property and the residents' living space - please don't wander around outside the brewery.
And for the occasional non-smoke or non-beer drinker who just wants to come along for the company/experience, we'll have a smattering of other beverages in our fridges/kettle areas.

Tasting Event - 25th September (Thursday)

£25.00

WHEN:  7 p.m. start (ish)

WHERE:  At the brewery 

WHAT:  Breaking into the Dogs Of War vault for a 10th birthday special event!

We're sharing our secret stash, bottles 1-6 of each of the 2018 & early 2019 releases, so these are both barrel-aged and 750ml-bottle-aged.

We'll have various brewers on hand, trying to remember things about the original beers, and answering any questions / generally rambling about our first decade.

A reminder these are all in the region of 10% ABV - just to help you plan sensibly! And it should work out at a bottle-and-a-fair-bit per person, so we won't be rushing them.

PRICE:  £25, which covers entry and a serving of each of these 7 venerable beers. Very limited places, for the obvious reason!

(And as it's just before the final Tap weekend of the year, we'll have the bar all set up, so there'll be some palate-cleansers and snacks available too)

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buy!

"Smoke & Monsters" artwork, by @elliadesigns, of course