All About Ale by Chris Harvey

SPRING is in the air, and that can only mean one thing —the Maldon Camra Beer and Cider Festival is just around the corner.

This popular event takes place this year from April 5 to 8 at the Plume School, Fambridge Road in Maldon.

Last year’s event attracted about 1,600 visitors, who between them drank over 4,000 pints.

This year we are showcasing 40 beers from north of the border. In common with the rest of the UK, there has been an explosion of interest in the brewing of high-quality ales in Scotland, and there are now nearly 90 breweries dotted all over the country.

Traditionally, Scottish ales were brewed in a different manner to English ones, and tended to be more fruity and malty, with only a gentle hop bitterness.

However, many of the new breed produced by microbreweries in Scotland tend to be paler and more bitter than before.

At our Festival, we have got the Champion Beer of Scotland for 2016, Raj IPA, brewed by Tryst in Fife. It’s a powerful golden ale, using three popular British hops to produce a deep, lingering taste.

There are also ales from as far away as the Northern Isles, including Dragonhead from the Orkney Brewery. This is a superb Scottish stout, in which a strong, dark malt aroma flows into the taste.

One beer I’m looking forward to sampling is Usquebae, a strong 7% ABV honey-coloured ale from Strathaven in Lanarkshire.

It has been matured in specially selected oak casks, and gives off a vanilla aroma, toffee palate and a lasting warming finish.

We are also proud to be offering the 20 best beers from our Essex breweries. A fine selection of ales from Mighty Oak, Crouch Vale, Maldon Brewing Company and Wibblers will be available, along with beers from elsewhere in the county.

Mighty Oak’s Equinox sounds very tempting – a refreshing light golden ale with an inviting apricot, peach and grassy hop aroma.

Our festival charity this year is the David Randall Trust, whose patron is Essex and England cricketer Alastair Cook.

David Randall was a childhood friend of Alastair’s and was a very talented cricketer and musician. Sadly, he died of cancer at a young age and the foundation provides funding to assist young sports people and musicians to pursue their ambitions.

They will be manning a stall at the festival to give information on the work they do and to raise funds.

I hear there are plans to auction a shirt signed by the England cricket team.