Brews, food, music, and comedy in Shoreditch

Organizing a piss-up at a brewery is surprisingly challenging: the folks behind CBR had to stage a pre-Olympic trial-run of their hop-festival in order to be ready for the head-shrinking logistics of getting 40+ Brit-only micro-brewers -- plus DJs, comedians, and food stalls -- into The Old Truman space for the last weekend in February.Each apportioned the same amount of space, the ale-makers will all be handing out free samples, from big fish like Meantime & Brewers Union, to obscure fish like Rebel Brewing Company (Mexi-Cocoa chocolate & vanilla stout), and Elephant School, whose Peasants Revolt you will never forget, even though nobody cares about peasants.Because drinking on an empty stomach is a good idea only if you need liquid courage to get through a runway show, they're going to be moving Lewisham's Brockley Market several miles north, driving up food truck goodness like candied bacon burgers from Mother Flipper, Mexican from Luardo's, and rotisserie chicken from Spit & Roast.They'll also be massaging your ear canals with the sweet sounds of Norman Jay, putting on an info-packed "beer lab", and hosting shows by Edinburgh fringe comedians the Thinking Drinkers, who'll "embark on an alcohol-fueled jaunt through time, co-starring Jesus, Plato, and Adolf Hitler" -- if you're concerned about the logistics of that, you're not drinking enough.