Had a great day out today fulfilling my yearning for some serious real ale action after months of…read morelife in Germany. To that end, I visited one of the UK's oldest independent breweries, Three Tuns. I'm not sure how old the existing building is, but it's a gorgeous red brick affair that was threatened with residential development in 2002. Fortunately, common sense won out and the brewery began producing again in 2003. The current output can only be described as fantastic. I drank Three Tuns all over mid-Shropshire today, and each pint was magical. From the first extremely hoppy XXX, to the pint of Stirling after lunch in the adjacent Three Tuns Inn, to the pint of Curate straight from the barrel. I ended up going home a happy man carrying 12 pints of the amber nectar with me. Unfortunately, brewery tours have to be booked in advance, and it's best to arrange for a Saturday. I shall do just that!

Having visited the pub next door a few times and sampling the beer that is brewed here, I have to…read moresay it is one of the finest selection of traditionally brewed ales I have ever tasted. Go there - try some - simple!

Wychwood Brewery was kind of a rare opportunity for me to try beer from abroad. I am very grateful…read morethat the opportunity has arose and I got to try a beer from the UK. Steve and I experienced their Hobgoblin Ruby Ale. There are a couple different versions of this Ruby Ale but we had the one that came in at 4.5 ABV. It is an English style Brown Ale with noticeable flavor highlights of toffee, maltiness, sweetness and dryness all very well balanced with none of those flavor highlights being too heavy handed. I like brown ales in general but virtually all of the ones I have had are made in the United States. What I noticed with this UK one was the dryness and how the sweetness was more in the background on your taste buds rather than dominant. Not too sure how it was done but it was a refreshing change of pace.

Surprisingly challenging to find in this little town, once dominated by the brewery, down a…read morebackstreet in a seemingly residential area. Upon arrival we were ushered downstairs, and given a half-pint of their monthly special - ours was the 'full Brazilian' which was...well...not the best, but good to try. We were then taken around the brewery by our very knowledgeable tour guide / ale aficionado. This involved tasting the raw hops, and different kinds of malts used, and looking at lots of vats and pipes and other brewing stuff. It is actually surprisingly small for how common their beers are, some of the equipment was over a century old which seemed impressive. After the tour came the bit that everyone was looking forward to, the tasting! Beers served at the recommended temperature, which despite the detailed lecture from our doctor of ale tour guide about ale temperature, was still a little warm for me. 11 beers, served one or two at a time to compare and contrast. Before you get excited they were served in tasting cups, about the size of a double-shot but still...11 in half an hour was pushing it for some. Finally, nice and loosened up, into the gift shop for some hobgoblin related purchases. Of course, you can buy the beer here and of course, it is a fraction of the price it is in London...of course, make sure you plan how much you can carry *before* purchasing. A couple of things to remember: * Book at least two weeks in advance for the tour, places are limited - more limited than I had expected. * Don't wear flip-flops...they will force you to wear 'daps' because of all the crazy cleaning irritants on the floor.

I highly recommend to go there and have a tour. Nigel was such an excellent guy, he knows a lot and…read morehe's very passionate about beer. My go to are the IPA, Haus and Pils. The place have si much potential, I hope they will open a bar and a bear garden

Wonderful micro-brewery and beers. They have a pub also called the Norman Knight with all of their…read morebeers, amazing place! Keep up the good work. Best beer in the area for miles.....

Hook Norton is an excellent, traditional British brewer and the brewery itself is very traditional,…read morea late 19th-century Victorian tower brewery. They offer outstanding tours through the fascinating brewery, which still has a functioning steam engine which was still used to power the brewery until less than 20 years ago. The tour finishes up with tastings and we were given unlimited samples of all the bers they had cask or keg available at the time, along with a tasting glass. The tour is the best brewery tour I've been on to date, anywhere. There is a restaurant onsite as well, which is nice and serves not only their excellent beers, but also excellent food.

The restaurant is immaculate, the service was great and the food quality was great! Certainly going…read moreback but maybe get a tour round the brewery too!!!

I visited here with my parents, brother and sister-in-law for a family meal, and we were all very…read moreimpressed with the food and the service. The place itself is quite charming, with low-hung beams (mind your head - hard hats are available at the entrance) and a warm log fire. For real ale fans they had 3 Wye Valley beers on offer (HPA, Butty Bach and Bitter) plus one guest ale from Mayfield Brewery (Ryeland Gold). It isn't the easiest place to find (you might need sat-nav to navigate the tight country lanes) but it is worth the effort. You will be made very welcome and the menu and drink will be suitable reward.

My family revisited this pub since my last review.The service was first class,and the meal…read moreexcellant. The beers were well kept. Toilets are spotless. The selection of food on offer was first class,well prepared ,served on hot plates . Highly recommended for a special event.plenty of nooks & crannies so ambient restaurant noise can be absorbed. Worth a second & third visit.

Tiny micro brewery which produces really, really nice continental style craft beers like Pilsners,…read moreBelgian and Bavarian style wheat beers (my favourite is the Chocolate Wheat Beer) At the moment you can only buy the bottled beer in a few venues in Cardiff (see their website) and in a few festivals, but I believe this about to change and will soon be available in shops. They also hold regular MicroBEER Festivals in the yard outside now and again, so sing up for their e-mails.

The microbeer festivals, the first weekend of every month, are lovely, intimate and busy affairs…read morewith live music and much conversation. The brewery itself is open most saturdays selling bottled beers. The beers are totally delicious and unqiue but not as cheap as your local pub, just a warning which shouldn't put you off since you pay for what you get. The entrance to the beer courtyard is opposite The Diary (formally Pontcanna Pine),just go under the archway. As well as the website the facebook site is an excellent way to keep informed about the festivals etc.

This multi-award-winning brewery's ales arrived a few years ago and through quality and flavour…read morethey quickly became established as a good, standard, local ale for many pubs in Birmingham to run on their pumps. Pure UBU at 4.5% is stronger tasting than it's alcohol content. Mad Goose at 4.2% has slightly less alcohol but is the more robust tasting of the two. Pure Gold is their light golden ale that weighs in at 3.8%. As well as the ales that they brew the brewery are distributors for traditional German lagers and the citrusey Maisels Weisse Beer. Dear to the heart of Purity is an environmental ethos, and they utilise a wetland area that they have created to filter waste water from the brewing process. They also use natural ingredients and they support recycling schemes. Evidence of this is to be found at the Moseley Folk Festival and the Mostly Jazz Festivals where drinkers pay £1 for a quality plastic glass which they are encouraged to keep for the weekend to get refilled. I like my Purity in the form of a Mad Goose from the Hare & Hounds, as I'm perched on a stool at 'Ronnie's Corner.'

Having tried the beers on offer from Purity at several local pubs and festivals I have been…read moremightily impressed. Their beer is crisp and fresh and makes a great alternative to the normal choice you often get in pubs, which is either the gassy and rubbish big brand beers like Carling, or else the 'reassuringly expensice' fashionable continental lagers. That Purity is also a local brew makes it all the more worth supporting. I took a trip out to their brewery and was surprised to find that such a great product comes from such a small place. This is literally a small family farm, but the brewery have made great efforts to make it worth the trip out. Their small shop stocks the beer in various shapes and sizes - from gift bottles to kegs - and there are also some tshirts and other branded items if you really want to show your support.

So, I visited Two Towers Brewery for the second time last night. As it was an event, I am going to…read morepost about my first experience of this beery treat. So... I tend to plan something fun for a group of us to do around my Birthday. We've been to Monkey Forest and done all sorts of things... but last year I was at a loss. Whatever I plan has to be sufficiently fun to appease me, a group of goths and my lovely parents. It also helps if it's cheap and there is plentiful booze (this is generally the case in most dilemmas in life). After a brief poke around the interwebs, I stumbled upon the Two Towers website. Being an attraction that's local to me and makes beer, I was on to a winner. I dropped the fabulous Peter an email to enquire as to the chance of getting a private tour (as there were about 25 of us). About the same time, there was a groupon offer floating about (2 people for £6 for the tour). After having a conversation with Peter, it was decided they would do us the tour for the promotional rate of £3pp (very kind of them). As it's a little hidden away in the backstreets of Hockley, it's worth doing your homework first. It's actually only about a 10 minute walk away from the Clocktower in the JQ, but if you don't know where you're going you can get lost easily. A normal tour price is £10pp (but is well worth the cost), but keep an eye out for offers. From the outside, it doesn't look like much. The first comment I got last night was "Vicky... are you taking us to a carpark?". Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. The Brewery is in an mini-industrial estate. After arriving at the white door (normally surrounded by kegs and polypins), you might think it was closed! Just give it a push and if it opens, the brewery is open! It's actually open 8:30am - 5:30pm most days for sales to the public, but you need to pre-book if you want to do the tour. It's a small unit, but it doesn't need to be large. As an aside, there are plans in the works to extend and buy some new equipment; but I imagine it won't be ready and open in it's new state for a little while yet. There is a small area with beers for display and sale, a hatch for the serving of the drinks and the equipment at the back of the room. Despite it's small size, a tour can be between 1.5 - 2 hours in duration. Mark takes you through the background and history of the brewery and it's beers, the brewing process and the details of all of the ingredients used in the making. Whether you are an experienced home brewer yourself or have no idea about the process, it's interesting to learn the minute details of what makes the Two Tower beers so special. I have done the tour twice now and love it. I thoroughly recommend giving it a go (or you can always just pop in and grab some of the delicious beer for sale). The current facilities are basic, but will be changing this year!

A tour of a Birmingham Brewery that takes its names, and inspiration from the huge history of our…read moregreat city??? Yes Please I was invited to visit the Brewery on a Saturday afternoon. Most of the 16 or so people attending had been given the tour as a Christmas Gift which sounded like a fantastic idea. I'd tried Two Towers before at Hotel La Tour with their amazing Steak and Brummie Ale Pie which made it even more fun to try some of their other ales. The building itself is two units of a warehouse on the edge of Jewellery Quarter with several "vats" to create the beer in. I tried Electric Ale which is an exclusive to the Electric Cinema (The oldest working cinema in the UK) It's tasty and citric as ales go. If you are looking to sample some locally produced ale and hear all about how the history of Birmingham ties in to the beer then you can't go far wrong.