McMullen's beer voted East Anglia's best

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has voted McMullen's Country Bitter the best pint of real ale in East Anglia.

The independent Hertfordshire brewer will now take its place in Camra's national finals to be held at the Great British Beer Festival at London's Earl's Court on 2-6 August.

Fergus McMullen, production and sales director, said: "I am delighted for everyone at the brewery, and particularly our head brewer Chris Evans and his team. It's a wonderful achievement.

"We've won many awards for our beers since we began brewing in 1827, including a major international award for County Bitter, and it's the first for our new whole-hop brewery. We were up against hundreds of other beers so we're all really proud of winning this very prestigious award."

Chris Evans, head brewer, added: "The whole brewing team is thrilled. We have over 180 years of traditional brewing experience at McMullen, and the recipe for Country's distinct fruity taste is a testament to this in the way we carefully mix the Progress, Brambling Cross and English Fuggle hops. The addition of crystal malt to the pale ale malt creates a light colour and adds a nutty taste. Best bitter drinkers really enjoy this beautifully balanced, complex ale, which we've been brewing since 1964."

Pictured, left (from bottom to top) are Philip Holzbauer, Fergus McMullen and Jon Storey. On the right (from bottom to top) are Chris Evans, Michael Penn and Gary Cook.

Bloxham's new pub gets its own McMullen beer >>

By Neil Gerrard

E-mail your comments to Neil Gerrard here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

Caterersearch.com jobs

Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Caterersearch.com jobs