Cider drinkers go thirsty at Herm’s Cider and Ale festival
VISITORS to the Herm Ale and Cider festival have complained about the lack of cider that was on offer.
Herm’s management said it had planned the event based on demand from previous festivals, but some drinks had run dry before the end.
The event ran from Wednesday to Saturday last week at the Mermaid Tavern, offering beverages as ‘Slack Alice’ and ‘Fire Dancer’.
However, drinkers on the final day were left infuriated that many varieties had sold out.
One cider drinker, who had been to the festival for the past couple of years, was one of those left frustrated by the lack of fermented apple juice.
‘The festival is always such good fun,’ he said.
‘As the festival gets closer to the end it’s understandable for things to start running out, but for an entire bar to be low or out of cider on the busiest day of the event was disappointing.
'I hope that Herm management will learn from this and stock appropriately so people can enjoy this event for what it’s meant to be – a cider festival.’
The festival has run twice a year for the past 13 years.
A festival spokeswoman said that with most ale, beer and cider festivals, it was inevitable some stock would sell out before the end of the last day, but apologised to those who had missed out on the still ciders.
‘Unfortunately, they are ordered from all over the UK and the logistics of getting them to Herm means we would be unable to order them with a day’s notice, particularly on a Friday or Saturday, as suppliers close over the weekend,’ she said.
‘You can never predict what will be the most popular, and once a box of cider is opened it doesn’t keep, so venues have to be mindful they don’t over-order and have too much waste.’
She added that orders had always been based on the previous festival’s demand and by looking at current ticket sales.
‘However, last weekend, due to both record attendance on the first three days, with around 1,000 customers, and record interest in the still ciders rather than the ales, we did sell out of boxed still ciders by Saturday night.
'There were, however, 17 different real ales still available, several fizzy cider brands with different flavours, and a range of keg craft beers and lagers.’
Tickets for the event varied from £10 for entry and a souvenir pint glass, to a £47 ticket, which came with tokens for four pints.
Some attendees took to social media to complain that once ciders had gone, they had not been able to use vouchers on other drinks. But The Mermaid Tavern said this was not the case.
‘All tokens during the festival can be used towards any drink as they have a monetary value and are simply used to ease transactions over the bar,’ she said.
‘Customers would definitely have been able to use their tokens to purchase other drinks and not have been limited to only purchasing cider with their tokens.
'If customers had any tokens remaining at the end of the night they can give them back at the till for a refund.’
Next year the Mermaid Tavern is planning to host just one festival in September.
Drinkers should find it is better stocked with apple beverages.
‘We are responding to demand to make it a more cider-led event rather than real ale,’ the spokeswoman said.
‘Tastes and demands change from year to year and there is currently clearly a shift in taste towards still ciders.’
n Herm has postponed this weekend’s cheese festival ‘Cheesefest’ until next spring – due to a popular demand for Sunday roasts.
