CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

Christmas is the best time to indulge in delicious food, and this year the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is recommending the perfect real ale in a bottle to complement your festive feast.

Because of the wide range of styles and flavours available, beer is an incredibly versatile drink that can be matched with any dish with much more success than wine. There are more than 2,500 different varieties of real ale brewed by more than 600 breweries, and around 800 are available as real ale in a bottle.

BREAKFAST: Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs
TRY: An English style wheat beer
WHY: The beer will complement the delicate flavour of the fish, but is not too hoppy as to overwhelm it.
RECOMMENDED: Meantime Wheat Grand Cru (Contact brewery for stockists) or O'Hanlon's Double Champion Wheat. (Available at Booths, Thresher and Majestic).

DINNER:

For an Aperitif, try fruit beer such as Meantime Raspberry Grand Cru. (Contact brewery for stockists).

STARTER: Vegetable Soup
TRY: A pale bitter.
WHY: The gentle perfume flavours of the beer will complement the taste of the vegetables and leave a pleasant hoppy aftertaste.
RECOMMENDED: Coniston Bluebird Bitter. (Available at Asda, Booths, Co-op, Sainsbury's, Waitrose)

MAIN COURSE: Turkey
TRY: Malty Ales
WHY: The bittersweet malt will bring out the subtler tastes of the turkey without overpowering the flavours in the vegetables and trimmings.
RECOMMENDED: Fuller's 1845. (Available at Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose).

VEGETARIAN: Nut Loaf
TRY: A Malty Ale suitable for vegetarians
WHY: The spicy, smoky flavours of the malt will complement the nuttiness of the dish.
RECOMMENDED: Black Isle Organic Scotch Ale (Suitable for vegans. Contact the brewery for stockists).

DESSERT: Christmas Pudding or mince pies.
TRY: A dark stout or porter
WHY: The roast coffee and chocolate flavours in dark stout or porter are a perfect match with sweet desserts (including the after dinner chocolate mint).
RECOMMENDED: Titanic Stout. (Available at Sainsbury's).

As a Digestive try a barley wine such as the 2006 Champion Winter Beer of Britain, A over T by Hog's Back Brewery.(Available at Harrods).

CAMRA Press Officer Owen Morris said: “The traditional Christmas turkey dinner is a great time to enjoy the company of family and friends, and for too long people have thought that wine is the only beverage to serve.

“Beer is much more suited to sit next to any dish. You do not have to have a pint of each different style. In fact a small stemmed glass is a much better way to enjoy these beers with a meal and a third of a pint measure is perfect for beer and food matching.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors: All beers recommended feature in CAMRA's Good Bottled Beer Guide by Jeff Evans. Available direct from CAMRA (priced from £8.99) at www.camra.org.uk/shop or by calling 01727 867201, or from all good bookshops.

Real ale in a bottle is also known as bottle conditioned beer as the bottle contains yeast so that the ale goes through secondary fermentation in the before it is served.

For other beer and food selections please click here. For more information please contact:

CAMRA Press Officer Owen Morris: 01727 798443/mobile 07939 425471.

Brewery contact numbers:

Meantime (London SE7): 020 82931111
O'Hanlon's (Devon): 01404 822412
Coniston (Cumbria): 015394 41133
Fuller's (London) : 020 89962000
Black Isle (Munlochy, Highland): 01463 811871
Titanic (Staffordshire): 01782 823447
Hog's Back (Surrey): 01252 783000