Matthew Clark pitches up at British Summertime

Matthew Clark is taking its premium beers and ciders to the Hyde Park British Summertime Festival this month for its biggest edition of Boutique Beers to date.

Festivalgoers who attend Hyde Park British Summertime Festival on July 6 will be able to enjoy a cornucopia of beers and ciders courtesy of Matthew Clark’s Boutique Beers (Photo: Hyde Park British Summertime Festival)

Stepping away from standard event formats, the drinks wholesaler is aiming to tap into the UK’s vibrant festival scene where its partner bar and events company Peppermint will be providing all drinks throughout the 10-day consumer event.

At Matthew Clark’s Boutique Beers Festival, taking place between 3pm and 9pm on 6 July, visitors will be able to taste through a range of over 200 premium products and share passion for premium and craft brewing with the people behind the bottles, cans and kegs.

Taking Boutique Beers to this vibrant festival setting follows a recent surge in demand for global craft beers and ciders at Matthew Clark, as reflected by booming sales in the speciality draught lager arena, with sales up nearly 70% on last year, and sales of speciality packaged lager up 40%.

In addition, sales of premium packaged cider are up 6.2%, with customers increasingly reaching for a new, interesting, and great quality product when selecting a beer or cider.

Matthew Clark’s three Boutique Beers and Perfectly Picked Cider tents will be pitched within the British Summer Time event space in Hyde Park.

The tents will offer three different tasting spaces: one for beer, another for cider and a third including a space dedicated to ‘Hoptails’ – beer cocktails – in collaboration with Pernod Ricard.

The Boutique Beers Festival will unite British and international producers at the forefront of the craft movement. New listings from Devon cider-makers Sandford Orchards highlight Matthew Clark’s growing premium and heritage cider range, which will also include Angry Orchard’s offerings from the Apple Belt of New York and Sxollie from South Africa.

Matthew Clark will be showcasing a range of new beer listings too, such as London born-and-brewed ‘By The Horns’ and wildly hoppy ales from Colorado’s finest Crazy Mountain.

“We’re delighted to be taking part in British Summertime and look forward to introducing 18 beers and 25 ciders which have recently been added to the portfolio,” Justin Wylde, Matthew Clark category manager for beer, cider and softs, said.

“For the first time ever, in addition to the tents, BrewDog, Meantime and Pilsner Urquell will also be present, sharing their beers from trucks.

“Great beer, of course, deserves great food, and there will be a range of things to try from the finest street food trucks on site, as well as ice cream, all complemented by live music in Hyde Park.”