For those of you who aren’t already aware, The Filling Station has taken the Cambridgeshire craft beer scene by storm.
By offering sustainable, high quality, and locally made craft beer which you are able to take away and drink in your very own home (thanks to their state of the art dispensing technology) they have attracted people from all over the county.
It really is a unique experience for Cambridgeshire which has interested experienced craft beer fans as well as newbies like myself since it’s opening. For a more in-depth explanation on how the system works make sure to read our review here.
For anyone who knows me, I’ve been a huge fan of Germanic beer for a long time, spending many holidays across Germany sampling the best the country has to offer. I enjoy Oktoberfest so much I’m have even been to every Bavarian themed beer hall within the UK. So, imagine my delight when I heard that the Filling Station was doing an Oktoberfest event!
The Filling Station doesn’t have much space to work with (being a shipping container in a small car park) so I was curious to see how they were going to manage it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they used the long tables famously associated with Germanic beer halls which maximised the number of people who were able to join the event. I’ve always been a big fan of these tables as it encourages conversation and interaction between people sharing a large table, which the people visiting seemed to be embracing.
They were selling their usual beer cans and draft for people who still wanted to buy their usual but also offered a selection of Oktoberfest themed beers outside. These were sold from their pop up bar served by the staff team who were really getting into the Oktoberfest spirit by wearing authentic lederhosen.
I was delighted to see some themed hats for sale which I decided to grab as they were priced at a very reasonable £3.50. Massive respect here as these could have easily been sold for a tenner but clearly the team decided not to gouge and instead get people involved in the fun!
They also sold 1 litre steins for £10. I was gutted that I forgot mine as I had several sat at home. It just isn’t Oktoberfest without an obnoxiously large beer in your hand!
They had an arrangement with Eric’s Fish & Chip Shop next door to provide sauerkraut hot dogs with battered pickles and mustard mayo. This was a very clever idea to save space, as it’s just not the same without a sauerkraut sausage and providing one on site would have taken up more valuable space.
As you can see from the pictures kindly shared by the team at The Filling Station, good times were had by all. They managed to squeeze 40-50 people drinking happily within such a small space. It didn’t feel crowded either which is a credit to the way they arranged the event.
I’m really looking forward to next year and this time I won’t forget my stein!
For those of you who have not been to The Filling Station make sure to come to St Ives at the Morrisons round about and pay them a visit! If you like craft beer, international beer, or local beer, you won’t regret it.
Thanks for reading.
The Cambridge Foodies 