By Neil Sayer, Archdiocesan Archivist

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The Beer Festival held annually in the Crypt is such an established part of the Cathedral’s calendar that it’s hard to believe it started accidentally, and with a good deal of controversy. 

Real ale drinkers have relished the chance to sample a wide range of their favourite tipple in the impressive surroundings of the Lutyens Crypt for more than a quarter of a century, the first one being held there in 1999. The first Liverpool “Beer Exhibition” was actually held in 1974, when local members of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) booked the Everyman Theatre to offer some alternatives to the mass-produced and often bland fare sold by the “Big Six” major brewers. 

In 1976, the venue was the University Catholic Chaplaincy next door to the Cathedral. Aintree Racecourse, the Adelphi Hotel and the Albert Dock were among other venues that hosted the festival, but in 1999, with little notice, the organisers were left desperately casting around for an alternative site. It was one of the Cathedral staff, also a CAMRA member, who suggested the Crypt as a suitable space, offering room for hundreds of kegs of beer and hundreds of people to mingle in. 

The idea was not universally popular. Complaints came in both to the Cathedral authorities and to the Catholic Pictorial from those who saw this as an abuse of a sacred space. Pic Columnist Johnny Kennedy was dead set against the proposal and printed a few letters from objectors. “In my view,” he said, “a beautiful Catholic Cathedral is not a suitable venue to have such an event.” He acknowledged that the festival was not taking place within the Cathedral itself, and “that those who attend the Real Ale Festival will be decent people, genuine lovers of real ale drawn straight from the cask.” He knew too that the Cathedral needed to generate income, often by allowing its facilities to be used for non-religious purposes such as graduations and music performances. 

Certainly Monsignor Peter Cookson, the Cathedral Administrator, thought that the Crypt was “separate from the main Cathedral building and its sacred spaces,” and that the Hall and Concert Room were “in effect our parish hall.” He sympathised greatly with those who had first-hand experience of dealing with alcohol addiction, but noted that the event would be “carefully monitored to ensure that there is no drunkenness or unseemly behaviour. It is not intended to promote excessive drinking but is more like a wine-tasting, to encourage discrimination and quality.” What it wouldn’t be, he said, was “a thigh-slapping orgy of men in Lederhosen banging Steins on the table in the Munich Bierfest tradition.” 

The first Crypt Beer Festival was deemed a success by its organisers - so much so that it has returned every year since. Peter Fane, Branch Chair of Merseyside CAMRA, said that “The Crypt was an ideal venue for the festival because it kept the beer so cool.” Some 3,000 devotees came to taste over 150 beers. 

Religious puns in the ales on offer were unavoidable: Vicar’s Ruin was available, as was Bishop’s Farewell, and the strongest beer to be had was the 11.5% brew with the precautionary name of Last Rites. Mr Fane thought the venue was entirely appropriate: “Beer drinking has a long tradition in religious communities,” he said. “Monks, we must remember, were the first people to brew beer commercially.” Trappist monks, of course, still produce bottled beer, often quite strong stuff. And Catholic clergy have been associated with the production of other alcoholic drinks: Dom Pérignon perfected the production of champagne, liqueurs come from Benedictine and Carthusian monasteries, and the wine/cassis aperitif Kir was invented by the French priest Fr Félix Kir. St Arnold, incidentally, is the patron saint of beer drinkers. 

Allaying some of the fears expressed when the venue was announced, Mr Fane noted that “visitors showed great respect for the premises.” Cathedral staff were no doubt pleased to be called “marvellous” by him, but the Beer Festival still requires some tidying up, despite the foresight of the organisers: “We protected the floors with plastic sheeting and put boards down when we brought the barrels in.” 

This year’s Beer Festival takes place in the Crypt from 19–21 February. Over 200 real ales and ciders will be available, and tickets may be obtained from the CAMRA website.