Alan “Howling Laud” Hope was the special VIP guest at the annual Fleet Lions Ale Festival on Saturday (9th August) which was held at the Harlington Centre in Fleet. Alan affectionately refers to the Harlington Centre as his personal gym and office as he visits this building regularly in his capacity as a Fleet Town Councillor.

There were two sessions at this Ale Festival, the afternoon session which attracted around 250 people and the evening session had a full house of around 600 by 7.30pm. The total of 800+ people was a record attendance for the Fleet Lions Ale Festival and by 9.30pm when the Festival closed they had drunk all of the ale and cider i.e. over 3000 pints.

As there was no wastage of ale or cider, Fleet Lions were able to maximise both their income and profit which means a substantial boost to the amount they donate to their nominated charity.

For 2014 this is ” Sailability ” which through the partnership of Farnham & District Sports Association for the Disabled and Frensham Pond Sailing Club enables disabled people and those with illnesses to experience and enjoy sailing in a safe and supervised environment. Two bottles of Monster Mash, personally signed by Howling, were donated as prizes to the Fleet Lions raffle and the winners were delighted to get them.

Howling opened both the afternoon and evening sessions and was also the MC for the whole day, introducing the two live bands etc. Howling took the opportunity both on the stage and in many conversations with the customers afterwards to put the Monster Raving Loony Party firmly on the map. There was lots of banter about OMRLP policies and references to the Dukes of Hazzard show and Howling was more than happy to respond with his well honed Boss Hogg impressions. Howling was in demand for many photos and also to personally sign bottles of Monster Mash.

All six of the currently available Co-ALE-ition ales were on sale at the very same time and also at the same venue which was a notable 1st for Co-ALE-ition. Howling presented a signed, framed certificate to acknowledge this achievement to the three main Ale Festival organisers from Fleet Lions — Jim Storey, Dan Franklin and Jonathan Hellem (see photo).

The six Co-ALE-ition ales on sale at the Fleet Lions Ale Festival were as follows:-

1. Longdog brewery’s “Winning Co-ALE-ition”
2. Langham brewery’s “Co-ALE-ition Gold”
3. Ascot Ales’ brewery’s Co-ALE-ition “Hope & Glory”
4. Wild Weather brewery’s Co-ALE-ition “HowlinGale”
5. Mash brewery’s “Monster Mash”
6. Ascot Ales’s brewery’s Co-ALE-ition “Monsters In The Dark”

All six Co-ALE-ition ales were very popular and the sales of Monster Mash had to be suspended part way through the afternoon session to ensure there was some left for the evening session. The ales were served in excellent condition in specially produced Ale Festival half pint glasses.
In addition Howling and Derrill between them sold 82 bottles of Monster Mash as people left the Ale Festival at the end of the afternoon and evening sessions. Adding these Monster Mash bottle sales to the 6 casks of Co-ALE-ition sold means that almost 500 pints of Co-ALE-ition were sold on Saturday (9th August) and over 400 pints of Co-ALE-ition were drunk very responsibly in just 8 hours on one single day, which is yet another formidable record for Co-ALE-ition.
Co-ALE-ition brewery “Mash” from East Stratton near Winchester were very successful on the day. Monster Mash was the 1st Co-ALE-ition ale to sell out and was 3rd overall. In addition 82 bottles of Monster Mash were also sold as takeways and finally the best achievement of the lot Mash brewery’s Amber Ale was voted by customers as the best ale or cider at the Festival.
There is no doubt that Howling’s presence and involvement added to the enjoyment for people on the day and he also had a positive effect on both the numbers attending and on the final donation to the nominated charity.
There will be follow up publicity in the local paper (News & Mail) next week and also by the local branch of CAMRA in the next edition of their quarterly magazine