Founded in 1872, Adnams is one of those regional family brewers that seemed to keep their wares close to home for many years. Not so these days, as the fame of Suffolks Southwold brewery spreads far and wide. Theres a new energy-efficient 300 barrel brew length brew-house and a lot of marketing weight has been put behind the brands in recent times. CAMRA Champion Beer of East Anglia 2007, this is beautiful copper-coloured beer brewed with East Anglian malted barley and a blend of hop varieties. Its both late and dry-hopped with Fuggles to preserve the herbal flavours of this traditional English hop for a distinctive, lingering hoppiness. This, they say, makes it as distinctive as Southwold Jack (the knight with the sword) who appears on the pump clip. At this very modest strength, it shouldn’t be a case of "arise" after a few.

A company established as Oak Brewery, Ellesmere Port in 1982, it moved to Heywood, Greater Manchester in 1991 and was renamed Phoenix in 1996 after the brewery it occupied - which we thought was strange as Oak beers had enjoyed a loyal following, but Tony Allen, the owner, says he saw more marketing potential in the name Phoenix. Their beers were available in the Riverside Hotel in Chester in the 80’s, which Jerry Brunning later bought and turned into a private house. The hotel cat at the Riverside, named Bob, had an unusual feline complaint that meant it could walk perfectly in a straight line but as soon as it turned a corner it fell over, only to get up and walk in a straight line again etc. etc. So Tony decided to call a new beer he was launching Wobbly Bob, a legendary brew with an abv of 6.0%.

The imaginatively-named Arizona is apparently “dry as a desert and refreshing as an oasis”. Oh dear. Nevertheless, it is a very pale, thirst-quenching dry beer, which is balanced with a fruity malt and hop flavour. It has already converted a few girlie lager drinkers to the delights of real ale at Harkers in Chester, where it is a frequent guest, and made the opening line up at the Fox.

Oop in’t Dales they’re very fond of ‘Sheep’. Black Sheep that is.

The Black Sheep Brewery was born from the acrimonious split of the famous Theakston brewing dynasty, when Scottish & Newcastle swallowed them back in 1987. Sixth generation brewer Paul Theakston eschewed the corporate shilling to set up just around the corner from the original family operation. Hence the name.

Today Black Sheep Best Bitter reaches drinkers far and wide and in the North East was voted number one cask ale by in the inaugural 2007 Daily Telegraph/ Cask Marque beer poll. In Yorkshire voters placed it second only to the legendary Timothy Taylor’s Landlord - tough contest that.

Brewed with English hops, Maris Otter malt and water from the brewery’s own well, this golden ale is served in the northern manner with a tight creamy head - every lovely sup recorded by a ‘froth ring’ as it slips down the glass.

It’s brewed in traditional Yorkshire Square fermenting vessels developed 200 years ago. And by ‘eck lad, that’s a sight.

The legend of the Cheshire Cat goes way back in time and was featured in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

And this beer has enjoyed a bit of a fairytale success. The grinning cat pump clip couldn’t be better suited for a beer that gives you a ‘got the cream’ sort of mouth feel.

Light and fruity blonde ale that offers hints of lemon and grapefruit and a gentle, dry, hop bitterness Cheshire Cat began life as A Blonde for Christmas in 2005. Such was the magic, it quickly became a regular brew. That popularity can be witnessed daily in Harker’s, as the staple quaffing diet for the cask-ale-loving fat cats there. Blimey, do they shift some stuff. Greater praise for beer is hard to find.

Weetwood Brewery (see Oat House Gold) set up in 1993 near Tarporley and has garnered a strong following. The beers regularly show up in Brunning & Price pubs. A bit like Alice’s cat.

This gem of an Oxfordshire brewery is well worth a visit. Founded in 1849 in the eponymous village near Banbury, the present building was constructed in 1900 and boasts one the finest examples of a Victorian tower brewery

Yes, it is a brewery big on tradition; retaining shire horses and dray to deliver to local hostelries while the big boys have abandoned such frippery in ‘cost saving measures’. And a 25hp steam engine is still used to power much of the brewing processand is believed to be the only on in the country that fulfills its original purpose.

Regular brews Hooky Bitter, a classic session ale, and Old Hooky, a cracking strong bitter, have been around a long time. But Hooky Gold keeps up with the modern trend towards paler coloured ales. And it does that very well indeed. Pale golden, crisp ale with a citrus aroma from American hops, it satisfies with a fruity rounded body at a reasonable strength. Well worth getting up your own head of steam for.

Twelve beer enthusiasts from around the company worked with Tony Allen of Phoenix Brewery developing our own cask ale over a period of seven months. This version - brew No. 8 - was the one we were finally happy to put our name to. It was an arduous process, but we were prepared to make the personal sacrifice for the good of the cause.

Brewed using East Kent Golding hops with a touch of American Mount Hood hops for aroma, this has been fermented using a Timothy Taylor derived yeast. Tony used predominantly Maris Otter malts with a small amount of Crystal to give colour and body, and the water is sourced from Ullswater as it is particularly pure and soft.

This beer has a gentle and pleasant aroma with a fine dark gold/amber colour and a good creamy head that clings down the glass. Taste wise, this has a malty, fruity sweetness and a long, rounded but refreshingly dry finish.

This is a lovely chestnut brown coloured best bitter based on a traditional Welsh recipe. It has rich and nutty fruit flavours due to the subtle addition of crystal and chocolate malts to Maris Otter pale ale malt. The initial well balanced taste gives way to a delicate smoked finish which went down a storm with our own beer enthusiast Struan at the Grosvenor - as well as the enthusiasic regulars. The Great Orme Brewery was established in November 2005 and is situated on a hillside in the Conwy Valley between Llandudno and Betws-y-Coed. It commands views of the Conwy Estuary and the Great Orme, from which, of course, the brewery takes its name. After a couple of these Stru imagines he is out there on his bike, giving it some.

This golden pale ale started life as a summer special but is now a firm regular from the idiosyncratically named Purple Moose brewery- best ask brewer Lawrence Washington about that.

Lawrence first practised his art creating formidable home brews in Cheltenham for several years. But as a volunteer worker with the Festiniog Railway, he recognised the opening for some decent beer in the Principality and so, in 2005, decided to fire up at Porthmadog.

He quickly got up a head of steam, with Snowdonia Ale winning gold in its class and the overall champion title at the SIBA (Society of Independent Brewers) West Beer Competition 2006.

Pale and crystal malts are united with Pioneer, Styrian Goldings and, unusually, the Polish Lubelski hop to deliver a crisp, gently citrus beer that 'flies out' at the Glasfryn- a pub where the lighter coloured brews always go down well.