On a warm evening in late September the people at Butcombe Brewery invited local residents to come and see round their new premises in Cox's Green, Wrington, and to sample their beers. I'm trying to avoid the obvious cliché here, but they certainly gave everyone who attended a most enjoyable and informative evening - pints were handed out by charming bar persons and there were plenty of staff on hand, including the MD himself, Guy Newell, to answer questions and mingle with, there was Morris dancing from the Mendip Morris Men, and all kinds of jollity
		I've been a fan of Butcombe Bitter for many years; when I first tried Butcombe Gold, at the Ring o’ Bells, I thought it was one of the finest draught beers I'd ever tasted; and then, at the Wrington Fete on that blazing sunny afternoon in July I sampled a glass of Butcombe Blond and found it irresistibly refreshing! Having reminded myself how delicious and individual all three of their beers are, I joined a party of Wringtonians being shown round by Tim, one of the brewers, and we learned how malt is cracked, mashed with hot water (supplied by good old Bristol Water plc) then boiled and infused with hops, and fermented, all in beautiful stainless steel vessels, and finally poured into barrels to await delivery to Butcombe's own pubs - and many others - over an increasingly wide area. If you missed the open evening, if you haven’t yet tasted Butcombe's fine beers, or if you want to try them all again, there's a shop on the premises that sells bottles, barrels or cans of all three bitters, soon to be joined by a fourth variety, Butcombe Brunel IPA to celebrate the famous engineer's bicentenary, plus T-shirts, fleeces, gifts, presentation packs and other similar merchandise.
							What a coup that three such fine real ales are now being brewed in our midst!
			The shop is open Monday-Friday 9-5 and Saturday 9-12. Well worth a visit! S.T.