from fish & chips on Friday to an autumnal day in autumn picking blackberries there is a beer here for every occasion and even more for you to discover for yourself.

For this book I have tried to speak with the brewers of each beer (though it wasn’t always possible as they are brewers who spend their time brewing first and foremost) and get the stories on the motivations that drove them to create their beers, how they came to develop the recipe and sometimes how they felt on first tasting the beer. Obviously I have including my own tasting notes: the beers are here because they taste good, not just because they have interesting back stories.

I am afraid you won’t learn how to brew in reading this book, and you won’t always find out which hops are used. For me, writing about beer has always been about people and stories and that is why I want to let the brewers tell the tales (tall or otherwise) behind their beers, while the writer will try and paint a picture about what my impression is. I hope I have achieved what I set out to do, but that will be up to you to let me know.