New beer festival seeks sour taste of success!

CHRIS'S GAMBLE TO INTRODUCE DRINKERS TO FRESHER FLAVOURS

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

A VILLAGE pub is taking a gamble by staging a beer festival that's a bit different.

Most beer festivals showcase real ales or craft beers but this one will put the spotlight on sours, known for their tart tastes and maverick flavours.

The Royal Oak, in Radcliffe-on-Trent, is putting on the four-day festival, starting today, which focuses on sours, among them cotton candy cupcake, Scottish raspberry, oak and honey, lime gose and hot honey apple and mango as well as more traditional Lambic-style sours, which originated in Belgium.

Landlord Chris Farman said: "It's our first ever sour beer festival. Sour beer is exploding at the moment with new specialty breweries opening and other established breweries dipping their toe into this style, but while it's popular it's still a bit risky for a village pub.

"I'm a huge lover of sour beers as are some of my team. It's not something you'd typically expect from a little village pub but I thought 'why not?"

Drinkers will be able to sample a dozen sours from Edinburgh brewery Vault City, another Scottish brewer Otherworld, and Bang the Elephant, closer to home in Langley Mill.