Melton pub to host 12-day real ale beer festival

The Kettleby Cross, on Wilton Road, is hosting the event, which promises ales brewed using only British-grown hop varieties.

A selection of 15 real ales, including three from overseas brewers who have produced their beers in England, will be available during the festival, which starts on Wednesday October 12 and runs through to Sunday October 23.

The ales will cost £1.99 a pint and some will be available in the pub for the first time, including some brewed especially for the event.

David MacCallum, manager at the Wetherspoons pub, said: “The festival is a great celebration of real ale all made using only British-grown hop varieties.

“It will allow us to showcase a selection of superb ales over a 12-day period and support the British hop industry too.

“The hop varieties include Jester, Fuggles, First Gold, Opus, Goldings and Godiver.”

There will be an opportunity to sample different beers with three one-third-of-a-pint ales being served for the price of a festival pint.

A festival news booklet, which includes the tasting notes for all of the ales, will be available in the pub as well as on the Wetherspoon app and website.

The festival line-up includes Jester (Green Jack Brewery), Rebel Flame (Shepherd Neame Brewery), All the Leaves are Brown (Brewster’s Brewery), Bonkers Conkers (Greene King Brewery), Hoptober (Coach House Brewery), Kaleidoscope (Lancaster Brewery) and Victory Ale (Batemans Brewery).

The overseas ales are Autumn Amber (Mad Giant Brewery, South Africa), Rav (Telemark Bryggeri, Norway) and Wungong (Nowhereman Brewery, Australia).