It's well-known that Bristol is blessed with one of the finest beer scenes in the UK and that has once again been emphasised with a new collaborative beer.
Four of the city's best breweries have teamed up to produce an IPA which will be sold at this year's Bristol Craft Beer Festival, which takes place at the Lloyds Amphitheatre between June 7-8.
Today (April 4) brewers from Wiper & True, Good Chemistry, New Bristol Brewery descended on Left Handed Giant's brewery in St Phillips to start making the one-off beer, which will be a tropical-infused 6.1% sour IPA perfect for the sunny weather.
The beer, which will be named by the public, contains mango, passionfruit and goosebury purees to give it a sweet and sour edge - and it will also be vegan-friendly as glucose is being substituted with maltodextrin in the brewing process.
It will take around a month to make and will be released on May 4 as part of the East Bristol Brew Trail, giving people a chance to try it before the two-day festival, which this year will welcome DJ sets from some of the best female selectors around alongside the copious amount of beer.
"This emphasises how close Bristol's beer scene is"
Noel James from New Bristol Beer Factory: "This collaboration emphasises how close Bristol's beer scene is. We all get on and it's all very supportive.
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"We were the fourth brewery in Bristol and there's now 23. People ask if it's saturated but we all have different strings to our bow and we're all offering something different, so there's plenty of choice for customers in Bristol.
"Each one of us brews a very different style of beer to the other, so there's plenty of choice for customers in Bristol.
"We're all doing our own thing within our own breweries but we're all like a big family and we're all really proud of the scene here.
"In terms of the chosen beer for this year's festival, there's been a massive rise in sour beers lately and they're perfect for summer.
"It's going to be special."
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"This is a beer for a Bristol"
Greg Wells, co-founder of Bristol Craft Beer Festival, said: "This is a beer for Bristol.
"It's the first one we've done which is being made solely by Bristol breweries, with four really great breweries on board.
"It's a summer beer and also the first sour one we've done, which will be perfect for a sunny day on the Harbourside.
"The beer will be launched on the first bank holiday weekend and we'll be at the East Bristol Brew Trail handing out cans of it before it's on cask at the festival.
"We can't wait to try it."
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The Naming process
The name of the special beer is being left to the general public.
To keep up to date on the naming process and all the other latest information, follow @BristolCBF on Facebook and Twitter.
Tickets
Tickets for Bristol Craft Beer Festival are available now from the festival's website at £45.50 plus booking fee which includes entry to the event for five hours, festival pours of any beer from any brewer, a full music line up and more.
