Features

Elgood's elegant Georgian brewery in Wisbech was struggling in the age of micro-breweries and stiff competition from big regionals Adnams and Greene King. But thanks to managing director Belinda Sutton -- representing the fifth generation of the family -- Elgood's is in good shape with a host of new brands, including its own version of Belgian lambic, and a vigorous export policy

Added: Thursday, November 5th 2015

Brewers in Bristol are busily pushing back the boundaries of beer with Bristol Beer Factory winning awards for its Milk Stout while Moor is challenging tradition by producing unfined beer made without isinglass finings and where Justin Hawke is replacing glass with real ale in cans. Pictured are Sam Burrows (left) and Simon Bartlett at Bristol Beer Factory

Added: Friday, October 9th 2015

Alan Hinkes has scaled Mount Everest five times and is the only Brit to have climbed all 14 8,000 metre peaks in the Himalayas and Karakoram ranges. When he's not climbing, he enjoys good beer, real ale in particular. He recalls his early drinking, the beer deserts of Newcastle and Scotland in the 1980s, and some of his favourite brews at home and abroad. He's seen here (left) with ranger David Tyson on Great Gable, toasting the Cumbrian peak with a special beer

Added: Wednesday, October 7th 2015

Bristol is enjoying a major revival of good pubs and good beer. The fast-growing Brewhouse & Kitchen chain has a new outlet in the Clifton area while trendy King Street is awash with pubs and bars serving a large range of cask ales and craft keg products. The pubs include the imposing Royal Navy Volunteer Inn, in a "town house" dating from the 17th century

Added: Sunday, September 27th 2015

With 900 breweries, Italy is enjoying a remarkable beer boom. It's a country without a beer tradition and the inspiration for craft brewers comes from Belgium, Britain and the United States. Fine beers, including from Sardinia (pictured), were on display at a three-day festival in Rome called Fermentazioni while specialist bars in the city add to drinking pleasure

Added: Monday, September 21st 2015

After years in the doldrums following the closure of Friary Meux in the 1960s, there's a major ale revival underway in Surrey. In Farnham, the William Cobbett pub pays homage to the radical writer who championed the cause of ale. Hogs Back Brewery has restored hop growing and the ancient Farnham White Bine variety, while Emily and Miles Stephens (pictured) are brewing in a former farm dairy

Added: Sunday, September 6th 2015

Rumours that Harveys of Lewes was stopping production of its Imperial Stout proved to be false -- especially as the beer won two top prizes in August from CAMRA and the World Beer Awards. Far from axing the beer, head brewer Miles Jenner, seen on the left with hop farmer Stuart Highwood, is installing additional equipment to boost production

Added: Tuesday, September 1st 2015

A good way to spend a Saturday is to visit an ancient alehouse on the Romney Marsh in Kent that has been run by the same family for around 100 years and then visit a new brewery producing an excellent range of draught and bottled beers. Doris Jemison, owner of the Red Lion at Snargate, was presented with a special award for being in 30 continuous editions of the Good Beer Guide while Matt Calais (pictured) has given up a successful career in TV to open his brewery

Added: Thursday, August 20th 2015

Beer and pubs are booming in Newcastle and Gateshead as the area recovers from the loss of heavy industry and carves out a new future. The once derelict Quayside area of Newcastle is now thriving with bars and pubs while new breweries are opening throughout the region, including Northern Alchemy where Carl Kennedy and Andy Aitchinson (pictured) brew in a former shipping container

Added: Wednesday, July 29th 2015

Wylam Brewery, founded just 15 years ago in George Stephenson's birthplace, has ambitious plans to move from its farm buildings near Hadrian's Wall to the splendour of the Palace of Arts in Exhibition Park in Newcastle-on-Tyne. The council should give the go-ahead this autumn but residents in Jesmond may put a spanner in the works. Pictured: Wylam's brewing team of Lee Howourth, Ben Wilkinson, Christopher Lee and Matt Boyle

Added: Thursday, July 16th 2015