Portchester Charity Beer Festival: a Hampshire tasting

Autumn in Hampshire usually means settling in for the colder months, but for anyone who likes a proper pint, the season opens with something worth the trip. The Portchester Charity Beer Festival is back, and it's the kind of event that's easy to pencil in without much fuss: a day of tasting the best Hampshire has to offer, all in support of a local cause.

This year's festival ran on Saturday 3rd October at the Portchester Community Centre on Westlands Grove, from midday through to 8pm. Entry was £10 a head, with tickets available to book in advance, and the whole thing was strictly over 18+, so a bit of photo ID was worth having on you. If you missed it, the good news is that it's an annual fixture, so it's worth keeping on the radar for next time.

What you get for your ten pounds is a proper spread of Hampshire beer. The festival pulls together a wide range of beers, ales and ciders from breweries in and around the county, plus a Prosecco table for anyone who'd rather something sparkling. It's not just about the beer, either: food, refreshments and snacks are laid on throughout the day, so you can graze as you go rather than commit to one big meal. There's also a raffle with some decent prizes up for grabs, and the day wraps up with a round of announcements and thanks, which is a nice touch for a community-run event.

Keeping things lively on the music front, the Ukes of Wallington provided the soundtrack. They're a local band of social musicians who meet weekly in Portchester and play everything from the 1920s right through to the present day, so the setlist tends to wander in a way that keeps everyone happy. Between the beer, the food and the live music, it's a full day out rather than just a quick drink.

The venue itself is worth a mention. The Portchester Community Centre is a registered charity sitting right in the middle of Portchester, surrounded by green open space. The current building went up in 2012 and packs in five different halls, kitchen facilities, plenty of free parking and a courtyard garden, so it's built to handle a crowd. When it's not hosting the beer festival, the centre runs a weekly timetable of classes, groups and activities and takes part in the Fareham Community Lottery, so the money raised at the festival goes somewhere it'll actually be used.

If you're still keen on Hampshire beer after the festival's over, there's no shortage of places to keep exploring. The South East has a strong brewing scene, with names like 40ft Brewery, ABC Brewing, ABYSS Brewery, Aleworks Brewing Company and Winchester's Alfred's Brewery all worth a look. It's a great way to keep the tasting going at your own pace.

So, if you didn't make it this time, don't let it get away from you next year. A day of local beer, a bit of live music and a raffle, all for a good cause, is hard to argue with when the autumn chill sets in.