| brewer | name | abv | Description |
| | | |
| Arkell’s | 3b | 4.0% | Of unusual colour, nutty, with a bitter finish |
| Batham | Bitter | 4.3% | Light in colour but rich in taste. Clover and buttercups from one of the few genuine Midlands survivors (Brierley Hill). |
| Batham | Mild | 3.5% | A classic old-fashioned mild with a sweetness that still manages to taste like a bitter |
| Black Sheep | Best Bitter | 3.8% | For all those who liked Theakston’s as it used to be. Great traditional bitter from Yorkshire by Paul Theakston before Scottish and Newcastle barred him from using his own name. Bags of body and even more in the drier, more astringent Special. |
| Black Sheep | Special | 4.4% | Now making it’s third appearance, and as popular as ever. |
| Brakspear | Bitter | 3.4% | A national treasure. The Henley brewery’s reliable real amber nectar blends the hops and malt so you can still taste both. |
| Brandy Cask | Brandysnapper | 4.0% | |
| Burtonwood | Top Hat | 4.8% | Cheshire brewery gradually expanding. Last year’s magnificent Buccaneer tasted of ginger and spring onions. Top Hat is a more conventional, premium ale. |
| Burtonwood | Hopper | 4.2% | Unknown – try it and see! |
| Crown Buckley | Buckleys Best | 3.7% | Buckley was a Welsh brewery with 18th century roots: the bitter is slightly sweet but can be tasty |
| Dark Horse | Dark Horse Ale | 3.6% | Rare. |
| Donnington | S B A | 4.0% | Deliciously embracing Cotswold ale from brewery even smaller than Hooky: beer that calls out for a hunk of cheese. |
| Donnington | Best Bitter | 3.5% | Well balanced and distinctive local brew |
| Everards | Tiger | 4.2% | A rich amber beer that tastes stronger than it is (I think). Lots of malt and hops. Put one in your tank. |
| Fuller’s | Summer Ale | 3.9% | The great Chiswick beer champion’s pale gold warm weather ale: lighter than London Pride but still unmistakably Fuller’s. |
| Gales | India Pale Ale | 4.2% | A classic dry bitter from Porsmouth. Puts wind in your sails |
| Greene King | King’s Champion | 3.8% | From the family that gave you Brighton Rock. Suck it and see. Great, easy drinking session bitter |
| Greene King | Abbot Ale | 5.0% | Strong, reliable and gently mind-expanding: worth acquiring the habit |
| Harveys | Sussex Best Bitter | 4.0% | A beer for summer afternoons – or to make any afternoon seem like summer – southern bitter at its best. |
| Harveys | Tom Paine | 5.5% | Strong premium ale. One to pay your respects to. |
| Hogs Back | T.E.A | 4.2% | Tawny brown, malty bitter with balancing hoppiness |
| Hook Norton | Twelve Days | 5.5% | Rich, dark, delicious and dangerous: the ghost of Christmas Past (and hopefully Future) miraculously preserved. |
| Hook Norton | Double Stout | 4.8% | Reincarnated from First World War days, lovely liquid Treacle that won’t stick in your throat. |
| Hook Norton | Best Bitter | 3.4% | International silver medal winner. Drunk like water around here, but a great deal tastier. |
| Hook Norton | Old Hooky | 4.5% | A hint of old-fashioned toffee in liquid form. |
| Hook Norton | Mild | 2.9% | Dark but not deadly, sweet but not cutey-cutey. In a word: mild. |
| Hook Norton | Haymaker | 4.9% | When the sun shines, watch out: firm, dry, self-confident and bursting with flavour. Hooky’s celebration of summer. |
| Judges | Solicitors Ruin | 5.6% | |
| Lees | Bitter | 3.5% | One of the few great northern survivors. Never mind the admen: when at its best, this is the real cream of Manchester. |
| Mansfield | Old Baily | 4.8% | Legal |
| Marston’s | Pedigree_ | 4.5% | Well Known popular bitter. |
| Morrels | Graduate | 5.2% | Strong. Local |
| Oak | Midsummer Madness | 4.5% | A definition of the festival |
| Oakhill | Best Bitter | 4.0% | A genuine new wave British microbrewery in best Somerset Tradition. |
| Robinson’s | Best Bitter | 4.2% | Cheshire family brewery: said by some to have an aniseed note, though I’ve missed it. Better have another one. Here’s to you, Mrs. |
| Shepherd Neame | Spitfire | 4.7% | Would you believe this is the last big brewer in Kent, the home of English hops? Lovely soft bitter. Spitfire is a dry, strong modern classic invented to mark anniversary of Battle of Britain. |
| Taylor | Landlord | 4.3% | Often regarded as one of the best ales in the country, fruity, almost “lemony” bitter. |
| Uley | Old Spot Prize Ale | 5.0% | Fruity redish coloured ale, strong balaced aftertaste of hops and bitterness |
| Wadworth | 6 X | 4.3% | One of the classics of the CAMRA years. Quaffed in copious quantities by students, despite (because of) the Sick Sex nickname. |
| Wells | Eagle I P A | 3.6% | Well balanced, with a dry finish. |
| Wells | Bombardier | 4.3% | Chunky Bedford bitter with a satisfying aroma and a pleasantly rounded palate. Fortifying. |
| Whitbread | Flowers Original | 4.5% | The big brewer we all hate to love. Has turned real ale into a “theme” but then there are so many worse ones. |
| Wye Valley | Dorothy Goodbody | 4.2% | Yes, it does have a good body, but then what would you expect of a Hereford lass? Heaps of hops. |
