Beers for Fears
Halloween and Bonfire Night are just around the corner - a great excuse to get together with friends and crack open a local ale or two. And when it comes to craft ale in Hampshire there is certainly a whole lot of choice.
There are breweries scattered across the county with passionate people working all hours to produce new brews. A top brew takes science, patience and investment.
They are a friendly bunch too. Buying a beer from one of these breweries couldn’t be a more different experience to reaching for a four pack in the supermarket. With a craft ale purchase comes chat and knowledge about the brew and often a cheeky taster. Many of the breweries have fashioned a bar or have an ale shop on site. Inside these places the enthusiasm for the pursuit of the next top brew is evident in every keg.
If you’ve got a few friends to water then most breweries offer firkins or a bag in the box as well as bottled beer. For larger quantities you might need to order a head. Several breweries will even deliver to your door.
Touring a local brewery is a great introduction to their beer and a chance to talk to the brewer about what they produce. This weekend two breweries have open days giving you the chance to stock up ahead of Halloween and Bonfire Night and one has a new beer on just for Halloween.
Red Cat Brewing, Unit 10 Sun Valley Business Park, Winnall Close, Winchester, SO23 0LB
Saturday 29th October, 11am-5pm, 14 ales, music and Broughton Buffalo Burgers.
Triple FFF, Unit 3 Magpie Works, Station Approach, Four Marks, Nr Alton GU34 5HN
Saturday 29th October, 12pm-5pm, tastings of new crafts ale range, plus 10% off bottled beers
Andwell Brewery, Andwell Lane, Hook, RG27 9PA
They have crafted 'Ruddy Darter' just for Halloween. Brewery Shop open Mon-Fri 10am-6pm and Saturdays 10.30am-1pm.
Betteridge’s, Hurrstbourne Tarrant
Bowman Ales, Droxford
Flack Manor,Romsey
Goddards Brewery, Ryde, Isle of Wight
Hop Art Brewery, Farnham
Irving & Co Brewers, Portsmouth
Island Brewery, Shalfleet
Itchen Valley Brewery, Alresford
Suthwyk Ales, Fareham
Upham Brewery, Upham
Follow @HampshireFare on Twitter for all the latest news from Hampshire's breweries and plenty more food news, events and competitions.