A VILLAGE pub is celebrating after scooping a prestigious award for the quality of its beer.

Laura and Edd Herring, who run the Drum Inn on Earls Colne High Street, have been awarded the Cask Marque accreditation for serving the perfect pint of cask-conditioned ale.

The pub is a free house and not tied to any brewery, although its main supplier is Greene King.

Greene King nominated and sponsored the pub to be judged by Cask Marque, a body which judges real ales and cellar hygiene.

Backed by 50 of the country’s leading brewers and pub companies, Cask Marque accreditation is only awarded to licensees whose ale passes a series of rigorous checks of both beer and the cellar standards.

Since its foundation in 1998, Cask Marque has inspected more than 750,000 pints of beer and accredited more than 10,000 of the country’s 40,000 pubs estimated to serve cask conditioned ales.

The Drum was inspected by a Cask Marque representative and achieved a high score in all areas.

Each real ale is judged for temperature, appearance, aroma and taste, with each category being marked from zero to five.

The pub’s real ales all scored the maximum five in each category giving each product 20/20, which is extremely rare.

It also scored 96 per cent on its cellar inspection, giving it a five-star hygiene rating.

Edd said: “This award is a great endorsement for us.  A lot of our customers visit the pub especially for the cask ale and it is really gratifying to know that we are getting the formula just right.

“Given the pub scored the maximum level in all categories this represents a huge achievement by all at the pub to maintain quality and serve the perfect pint.

“Being a non-food pub, our ales and lagers are the things that we rely on and so it is of the utmost importance that we get these things right.”

Cask Marque director Paul Nunny added: “Edd and Laura should feel justifiably proud of this great achievement, which not only recognises the effort they put into serving the perfect pint but also acts as an independent guarantee of quality for customers.

“All too often, publicans don’t appreciate the care and attention cask beers require and then run the risk of losing custom by serving pints that are below par.”