Brews in brief

February 17, 2010: BrewDog Brewery has reclaimed the title for brewing the world's strongest beer. It took the tital last year with its 32% ABV Tactical Nuclear Penguin, but then lost it to German brewer Schorschbräu when it released its 40% Schorschbock. Never guys to shy away from a challenge, BrewDog have now come up with the cheekily-named Sink the Bismarck, which weighs in at 41%. It costs £40 per 330ml bottle and is only available from the brewer's website.

February 12, 2010: March will see the return to pubs of Hook Norton’s First Light. A beer named by drayman Roger Hughes, First Light (4.3% ABV) is a very pale and light brew. Its colour reminded Roger of the sunshine in the in the early morning falling on the brewery yard. The beer has complex hop aroma and is ideal to drink on its own as a thirst-quenching drink, or as an accompaniment to food. Hook Norton managing director, James Clarke, said: “First Light’s continental-type palate is from the high proportion of malted wheat used to make the beer, which is used in addition to malted barley. A salute to the approaching longer, warmer days, First Light is a pale, light brew with a complex aroma, anticipating heady days alfresco.The finest Styrian hops are added, which give a fruity nose, with hints of watermelon and lychees.”

February 6, 2010: Dark Star Brewery has moved to new premises at Partridge Green, West Sussex, where shiny continental plant can produce 20,000 barrels a year. The brewery started in the cellar of Brighton's Evening Star pub in 1994 before moving to a separate unit at Ansty in 2001. The new brewery has cost £250,000 to set up.

February 3, 2010: Tennants has signed up to sponsor the shirts of Glasgow's Old Firm Scottish Premier League teams, Rangers and Celtic. The deal replaces a similar one with Carling, which comes to and end this summer.

February 3, 2010: Amber Ales has started the new year by launching two new ales — Imperial Stout (8% ABV) andDouble IPA (9%), celebrating the brewrey's sponsorship of the Derby CAMRA Winter Festival. Most of the brews will be bottled, with some of the rest left to age in cask.

February 3, 2010: Greene King's Old Speckled Hen is featuring in an advertising campaign for the new series of quizcom Argumental, on the Dave TV channel. The move follows a successful Old Speckled Hen 'Seek out Something Different' campaign on Dave, which features an inquisitive fox on his quest for the elusive Hen. The new branding can be seen on Argumental billboards and tube posters.

January 25, 2010: Cains beer is to make its debut in a China comedy club this evening. Its Export Lager will be on tap at the Whose Line Is It Anyway show at The Orange in Beijing. Cains craft beer for February is Double Bock (4.5% ABV). It is a continental-style Bock lager brewed in accordance with Reinheitsgebot purity laws with authentic Munich malt complemented with Saaz and Hallertau hops. This complex brew delivers a deliciously full, velverty rich and warming palate.

January 8, 2010: A range of 11 beers under the umbrella title of Brewer's Selection will be released during 2010 by Hook Norton, with the first to hit the bars this month being Double Stout. More

January 7, 2010: Celebrity chef Brian Turner has developed a new beer in asociation with Thornbridge Brewery. Amber Ale (4.2% ABV). Designed, as one might expect, to be "fantastic with food", the beer is being showcased in the winter ale menu in Mitchells & Butlers pubs.

January 4, 2010: Dragonheart is this month's craft beer from Cains. This strong (5% ABV) brown ale 5% is brewed to a 19th century recipe and fermented in traditional open vats. "A blend of premium ale malts and the finest of English hops combine to produce a fruity and complex character," says the brewer.

December 30, 2009: The first beer has been produced on a small microbrewery at The Crown, Pewsey, Wiltshire. World's End Gold was launched on the pub on December 11.

November 19, 2009: Skinner's has introduced a new winter warmer for 2009. Betty's Big Sister is a 5.3% bigger boldern version of the brewery's perenially popular Betty Stogs.

November 13, 2009: Acorn Brewery has produced a special beer for this weekend's Winter Beer Festival in Barnsley, to mark the 1,000th brew since the company launched six years ago. The beer — one of 30 real ales on offer — is called Two Monkeys.

November 12, 2009: Hook Norton's latest special edition brew, Twelve Days, has gone on sale on draught in pubs and will be available until the end of the year. More

November 12, 2009: Mrs Tipples Ghost is the first beer from the new Thame Brewery, in the Cross Keys brewpub, in the Oxfordshire town. More

November 6, 2009: New branded Foster's glasses are to carry information on the number of units of alcohol in the pint. Brand owner Scottish & Newcastle, a subsidiary of Heineken, plans to roll out 1.8 million of the glasses by March, at a cost of £2 million. Glassware for S&N UK's other brands will be similarly marked by the end of 2010, the company hopes. A company spokesman said it was always looking at ways to promote responsible drinking.

November 2, 2009: Cain's Raisin Beer makes a return this month as its craft brew for November. The beer, which was launched in 2003, is a rich fruit and amber ale and has a refreshing taste due to the infusion of raisins, while Goldings hops give depth, density and complexity.

October 29, 2009: Hook Norton’s Flagship is to remain on sale in November and 10p from every pint sold will be donated to a charity which supports wounded service personnel. More

October 29, 2009: Pickled Partridge is Badger’s seasonal winter ale, now available. It has a hoppy, fruity aroma and a good long finish of roasted malt. Badger brewer Toby Heasman said: "Pickled Partridge has nutty, fruity overtones, which make it great ale to serve alongside cheese, good bread and slices of baked ham. It can even hold its own against Christmas puds! We use generous amounts of crystal and chocolate malt, and these give the ale good complex base flavours, then on top there are hoppy, fruity aromas. When Pickled Partridge was trialled at the Great British Beer Festival, it was our most popular beer and the first to sell out."

October 19, 2009: Cains has joined Twitter — you can log on for the brewer's Tweets at twitter.com/CainsBeers

October 17, 2009: Titanic's seasonal beers for November will be Night to Remember (4.3% ABV) and Wreckage (7.2%), respectively a well-balanced best bitter and a sweet, malty winter ale with a port-like aroma.

October 17, 2009: Humpty Dumpty Brewery, in Reedham, Norfolk, has produced its 200th brew this week — some of its Little Sharpie (3.8% ABV).

October 8, 2009: Bucket of Blood.— a red ale infused with spicy hops — is St Austell Brewery's seasonal Halloween offering, taking its name the Bucket of Blood pub at Phillack, Cornwall, part of the brewery's estate. More

October 8, 2009: Arthur's Ale, from the North Wales Brewery, will make its debut on Saturday, October 17, at the Llangollen Food and Drink Festival. The dark and rich brew will be one of 30 local beers at the festival.

September 16, 2009: Guinness is to trial a 2.8% version of its iconic stout in Scotland as part of a health initiative. The beer has already been trialled in parts of Ireland, with positive feedback, and is now to go on sale in Fife and Edinburgh. Regular Guinness is 4.1% ABV. The new beer is called Guinness Mid-Strength.

September 15, 2009: It's nearly time for that great German tradition of Oktoberfest, and this year brewer Daniel Thwaites is celebrating in its own way with a commemorative seasonal beer. Golden Wunder is a 4.6% ABV straw coloured ale with a distinctive continental happens balanced with a smooth dry finish. More

September 10, 2009: Fire-Bellied Toad, a 5% bottle-conditioned beer from Frog Island Brewery, has been crowned best drink at the Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards 2009. More

August 26, 2009: Hereford steak and Abbot Ale pie is one of the dishes that has helped to propel the Popham Little Chef, now run by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, into the 2010 edition of the Good Food Guide, published in September 8.

August 24, 2009: Blue Monkey Brewery, of Ilkeston, has brewed Cathedral Quarter Ale to help promote businesses in a particular sector of Derby. The beer is being sold in the Old Silk Mill pub, in Full Street.

August 22, 2009: Old Bog Brewery, based at the Masons Arms, Headington, Oxford, has come up with a new beer to raise funds for Oxford United's transfer kitty. The 12th Man Fund is the brainchild of brewer and publican Chris Mason, who is an ardent United fan. The beer will be unveiled at a beer festival being held in the Masons Arms next month.

August 22, 2009: Dark Star Brewery is to move to new premises which will increase its brewing capacity by 300%. Beer should be released from the new site, in Partridge Green, Sussex, in October. The brewery was established in Brighton's Evening Star pub in 1996 and is currently at Haywards Heath.

August 9, 2009: Drinkers in Cambridge are being invited to toast the university’s 800th anniversary with a new ale created specially for the occasion by Greene King head brewer John Bexon. The beer, known as 1209 after the year of the University's foundation, is based on the type of medieval brew that would have been available to scholars when they arrived in Cambridge 800 years ago and is available in historic pubs in Cambridge, including the Eagle, the Champion of the Thames, the Fort St George and the Green Dragon.

August 7, 2009: Cambridge Brewing Company's YouEnjoyMyStout has been named champion American cask-conditioned beer at the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) Great British Beer Festival. More

August 3, 2009: Fuller's Organic Honey Dew is now among the top 20 premium bottled ale brands in the country, according to the latest sales figures from industry analysts AC Nielsen. More

August 2, 2009: Durham Brewery has started bottling its best selling beer, Magus. The 3.8% ABV session beer was originally brewed in 1994 with the Magnesia Bank in North Shields in mind, and it was championed by owner and landlord Richard Slade. Even though Richard has moved to The Battlesteads Hotel, at Wark, he still has Magus, as do the present owners of the Maggie Bank. Magus has won many accolades, being Durham CAMRA beer of the year numerous times, CAMRA beer of the North East and winning gold in the bitters section at Peterborough.

August 2, 2009: Conwy based brewer Gwynne Thomas has had his popular Welsh Honey Bitter accepted for exclusive sale in Marks & Spencer, which is gaining a great reputation as a home of good regional real ales. More

June 30, 2009: Batemans is adding GHA, a new, lighter-coloured cask beer to its core range. More

June 15, 2009: Another week, another new Badger beer. Dandelion premium ale is the latest bottled beer to be launched by the Dorset brewer. The pale golden organic ale combines dandelion, which has been treasured for centuries for its herbal qualities, with floral hop notes to give a grassy hedgerow aroma. With its hint of sweetness to balance the natural bitterness of the hops, and its fresh herbal finish, it is, says brand owner Hall & Woodhouse, a perfect match with a rack of organic lamb or freshly grilled trout. At 4.5% ABV, the beer is available in Sainsbury and online at www.badgerdirect.com

June 11, 2009: A summer beer garden on a warm balmy evening, the aroma of cut grass and the hum of crickets is, says Badger, the perfect backdrop to enjoying a cold crisp pint of its new summer cask beer, Lemony Cricket, a fresh zingy ale. More

June 7, 2009: The Nant Brewery has produced a special ale, Brenin Bootliquor, for the bar at the Welsh National Mountain Centre at Plas y Brenin. It was launched at the centre this weekend.

June 1, 2009: Durham Brewery has launched Old Vienna, a 5% ABV beer deep golden in colour from a liberal use of Vienna malt. The mouthfeel is full and smooth with orange notes. To create a balanced flavour, Saaz and Magnum hops give a crisp freshness. Packaged in five-litre minicasks, it has no sediment so needs no settling time. It can be put it in the fridge and serve cold. Old Vienna can be purchased from Durham's online shop at
www.durham-brewery.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Shop_Draught_Mini_Casks_10.
html or direct from the brewery.

Meanwhile, Durham's Cloister (4.5%) beer has been voted Durham CAMRA bottled beer of the year.

April 30, 2009: JW Lees is producing a new Coronation Street beer ahead of the 50th anniversary of the UK soap next year. The brewery has signed a five-year deal with ITV to produce the bitter bearing the programme's name. It has been released in pubs this month.