It’s my favourite weekend of the year! Time to feast upon BBQ’d meats, partake in too much drinking of cider, bask in the sun, and celebrate some downright tacky Americana. It can only be Grillstock festival!
This year Grillstock landed on my birthday weekend, so it was the perfect excuse to write the whole thing off and spend the entire weekend indulging in pulled pork and Brooklyn Beer. Now in it’s 5th year, the festival is held on the fabulously picturesque amphitheatre on the waterfront, which has seen some pretty strong festival action in its days, but surely none quite as fun (and indeed delicious) as Grillstock.
[VEGETARIANS – LOOK AWAY NOW]
We arrived relatively late on the Saturday afternoon, getting there just after half 3. Gates open at 11am, and I heard at the door that all the day tickets had sold out. Thankfully we had weekend passes (purchased at an early bird rate of £20) so in we strolled, and made a beeline for the bar.
There’s a lovely little marquee just past the front gate which houses a ‘dive bar’ stage in one corner, so luckily we had some entertainment while we waited for our beers! The queue was at least five deep, but the ever enthusiastic bar staff were doing their best to serve everyone as fast as they could. They had Brooklyn Beer on tap – IPA, Summer Ale, Brooklyn Lager and something called ‘Brewmaster’s Reserve’ – as well as our old favourite, Orchard Pig Reveller. I opted for a pint of the latter, and we made our way over to the competition area to try and score some free meat.
Behind the bar is a little village of tents, housing the BBQ teams hoping to be crowned ‘King of the Grill’ 2014. Every year we make straight for this area because it is rife with huge silver trays of leftover competition BBQ meat, being handed out as tasters by the teams. The best times to prowl this area are whilst the categories are being judged – these include best buffalo chicken wings, best brisket, best burger and best pork shoulder, amongst others. Sadly, they hadn’t started the judging the next category when we arrived, so we settled down and watched Elvis instead. I have to admit, he was one of the better impersonators I have seen over the years, and definitely left the small crowd with grins on their faces, ourselves included.
Several ciders later, and we became quite understandably ravenously hungry. To state that Grillstock is well catered for meat lovers is a huge understatement – the whole arena is a heavenly paradise of pork, chicken, beef and any other animal your carnivorous heart could possibly desire; the heady smell of smoke and flesh mingles deliciously in the air and wafts playfully over the harbour, leaving a meaty trail your nose can follow all the way from Temple Meads. It’s pretty special.
I’m really ashamed that I cannot remember where I bought this hot dog from (or rather, I had had slightly too many ciders to note down its name). All that I remember is that it had the longest queue, which could only mean that it was the most popular, and therefore the best hot dog van in the whole festival. I’ve got a bit of a thing for hot dogs – I was a vegetarian for 9 long years, until that fateful April evening in New York, when a hot dog at a Mets baseball game tempted me over to the dark side.
This hot dog was genuinely one of the best things I have ever eaten. You know on Man v. Food where Adam Richman talks about the ‘snap’ of a hot dog? I had no idea what he was talking about, until now. Most places which serve hot dogs on the menu are from jars in brine, or even just massive sausages, but this was a proper ‘frank’, which made a deliciously meaty snap when I bit into it. In my drunken state I asked for absolutely everything on top, which turned out to be masses of tangy, vinegary coleslaw, BBQ sauce and pickled chillies. If I could marry a food item, it would most certainly be this dog.
Saturday ended with lots more cider, watching Fun Lovin’ Criminals (HUEY!) and weaving our way back up Park Street. Obviously, we were a little worse for wear on Sunday, and so made straight for a cutesy looking little juice shack, which for the princely sum of £3.50, were offering iced elixirs capable of curing any hangover. I had a mint, blackberry and apple concoction, which as well as being fresh and delicious, also set me straight in no time at all.
Back on the cider, we took a trip back to the competition area. We were in luck, the teams had began to assemble their entries for the best burger competition, and we set up camp next to The Beefy Boys. I like these guys, I recognised them from last year, plus any team using a Beastie Boys pun as their BBQ team name is alright in my book. Their burger looked absolutely incredible – they were using the little red funnel thingies to steam the burger before serving it, obviously topped with a mountain of cheese, sitting on some secret-looking sauce, and in a bun so soft-looking you could happily take a nap on it.
I lingered long enough to get chatting to one of the Beefy Boys themselves, who very, VERY kindly let me have a taste of his burger. Honest to blog, it was the best burger I have ever tasted. They mentioned that, being from Hereford, they only use the local high-quality beef, plus it probably had something to do with being steamed to pinky perfection, and topped with crispy bacon. The Beefy Boys ended up winning the Best Burger category, so now I can boast that I’ve sampled an award winning burger! Get in.
Apparently, as well as running a competition-winning BBQ team, these guys also do pop up restaurant type things around the Hereford area. If you’re lucky enough to live in that area of the country and are interested in tasting their food, you can find them on the internets .
Despite being stuffed full of delicious burger and samples of pulled pork, I couldn’t resist the charms of some chunks of rare beef, especially when slathered in a herby chimichurri salsa. Again, I didn’t make note of the name of this place (it was hard to concentrate when confronted by beef) but they were definitely there last year, I remember their generosity with free handouts! The thing itself is so simple, which is what makes it so goddamn delicious – it’s simply seasoned grilled beef, in a Hobbs House ciabatta bun, with some leaves and chimichurri. Certainly something you could attempt to make at home, but perhaps not as well executed as this!
This tasty looking sandwich is again testament to the quality of the food stalls at Grillstock, whoever does the bookings needs a bloody knighthood. They really do make it impossible to choose where to eat – as well as the places I plumped for there was Jamie Oliver’s Barbacoa, offering up braised ox cheeks; a Levi Roots Reggae Reggae tent, serving Ital stew, jerk chicken and other Caribbean favourites; Mexican burrito stands (I did so well to resist) and Bristol institutions such as Biblos, offering a more healthy alternative in the form of some pretty hefty looking wraps. There is some comfort in the knowledge that they will more than likely be there next year, so I will have my chance to try them. Either that, or I just need to get in there earlier!
Grillstock has packed up camp and is heading north to Manchester, stopping at Albert Square on 28th-29th June. If you’ve never been to Grillstock before, and you are based in the exotic North West, then I urge you to go along and check it out – after all, nothing beats a weekend of meat, music and mayhem!
Psssst! Have you entered my giveaway yet?
