Cheers! Beer lovers hail region's ales

Fixed Wheel Brewery's Blackheath Stout was crowned the nation's top winter ale on the opening day of the Great British Beer Festival Winter, held in the West Midlands for the first time.

King Korvak's Saga, by Brierley Hill based Fownes Brewery, took the silver award in the porter category. Dark Ruby Mild, by the Sarah Hughes brewery in Sedgley, also made the final.

More than 8,500 beer drinkers are expected to attend the five-day festival at New Bingley Hall in Birmingham by the time it draws to a close on Friday.

More than 400 real ales, keg beers, ciders perries and gins were on offer at the event.

Committee member Cy Day, from Bromsgrove, said people had travelled from as far afield as Denmark, Germany and Scandinavia to attend the event, which is the winter equivalent of the Great British Beer Festival which is held in London during the summer.

Celebrated beer writer Roger Protz, who edited Camra's Good Beer Guide for 24 years, said the standard of finalists had been extremely high this year.

He said the West Midlands, and the Black Country in particular, was an area steeped in brewing heritage, but he worried that people were turning away from the traditional mild ales that the area was renowned for.

"I love Batham's and Holden's, I think they are lovely beers, but when people drink their beer I want them to drink Batham's and Holden's mild, because if people don't support these wonderful beer you will lose them.

"Sarah Hughes' Dark Ruby Mild is 6.8 per cent, which proves that milds don't have to be weak."

The Champion Winter Beer of Britain awards followed more than a year of local tasting panels and regional heats.

Mr Protz described it as “a very fine example of a stout.”

“We were all very impressed by its rich malty flavour, its fruity hop aroma and the overall flavour of the beer," he added.

Fixed Wheel owner Scott Povey, said afterwards: "I'm just really shocked. It's amazing news for us, fantastic.

"Blackheath Stout is the first beer we brewed, and is named after where we're based. We're really pleased to see it get the recognition it deserves. We'll probably have to brew it a bit more now! Thank you to all the judges for voting for us."

Fixed Wheel was also running free tasting sessions on the opening day of the festival.

For each day of the festival a different brewer from the West Midlands will be demonstrating one of its ales in the festival's discovery zone.

Today, it will be the turn of Salopian Brewery from Hadnall near Shrewsbury, which will be offering its Paper Planes Session to visitors, while tomorrow Birmingham-based Rock & Roll Brewhouse will be exhibiting its 4.1 per cent varietal pale ale made with bramling cross hops on cask, and its Saison of the Witch beer in bottles.

On Friday, Hobson's from Cleobury Mortimer will be offering tastings of its Town Crier golden ale, and on Saturday Fownes will be promoting its Frost Hammer 4.6 per cent pale ale.

Steve Tooth from Smethwick will be offering advice on brewing from home, showing people how they can make beer from both pre-prepared kits, or also from hops and barley.

The festival will return to the venue for the next two years.