16th Colchester Winter Ale Festival 2025
- Dates
- to
- Location
- Colchester Arts Centre, Church St, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1NF
- Beer list
- 100 beers listed
Beer List
This beer list is tentative, please check at the festival for available beers as changes can occur before and during the festival.
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Down the Hatch GF
Easy drinking amber IPA
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Walrus of Love GF
Beautiful Irish Stout
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Poseidon's Porter GF
Notes of coffee and toffee with a fruity hop finish
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Chockwork Orange GF
Deep chocolate old ale, brewed with oranges for a citrus bitterness
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Redhouse GF
A rich dark stout with sweetness from cocoa nibs and vanilla notes. Infused with Madagascan vanilla and bourbon
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Margaret's Field V GF
Amber ale brewed with a complex array of malts and citra hops. These hops have grapefruit and citrus notes making it a refreshing beer all year round
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Absolutely Beer Fuggled V GF
A premium grade bitter, rich, very malty with a bitter finish, almost reminiscent of a Belgian tripple
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Judy's Hole V GF
A chocolate porter. Initial sweetness, rich with a hint of chocolate and coffee and gentle bitter finish
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Winter Spiced Ruby
Chalk Hill (Coach and Horses Pub & Brewery, 82 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR11ba)
Traditional English Ruby Ale, sweet and malty with undertones of stone fruit with an infusion of warming ginger and cinnamon
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Milk stout with dark chocolate and coffee flavours and a sweet lingering finish
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Vicars Ruin
A straw-coloured best bitter with an initially hoppy, bitter flavour, softening to a delicate malt finish
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An amber coloured beer bursting with hoppiness and character
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16/884 Porter
A strong, smooth, rich and full bodied porter
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Brass Monkey
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Jack Spitty
Golden easy drinking summer ale. Full of hop flavour with delicate bitterness and light aroma
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Long Time Dead
The Beer that Gives Back - brewed in memory of one of our former Chairs, "Big Al"" Wareham "
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Golden Seahawk
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Snowy Ale
Light coloured winter ale
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Don't Panic V
Smooth blonde ale made with a blend of grains including Vienna and Munich with Cascade and Chinook hops which give subtle fruity notes
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Stupid Boy V
Using the finest crisp Maris Otter grain combined with Amarillo hops to give a full bodied flavoured ale
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Golden Mild
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Hazy Saison brewed with pineapple and papaya for a fruity finish
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American IPA brewed with pineapple
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Jester Brew 20
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Lancer
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White Knight
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Duck Lite
Packed out with Mosaic and Bru-1 hope, big blueberry and tropical notes with an underlying aroma of pineapple
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Bostin' Mild V
Deep malt flavour with notes of caramel and chocolate
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Bostin' Bitter
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Amber
Traditional amber coloured bitter, with a dry floral hop bitterness from East Kent Goldings, Fuggles and Willamette hops and a sweet finish
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Endeavor Bitter
A warming full malt-bodied chestnut bitter with lots of Endeavour hops for spicy notes
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Milk Stout
Roasty stout with hints of chocolate and coffee, with the added smooth sweetness of lactose
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Wheat Trip
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College Hop Out V
A hazy pale ale brewed with Citra and Simcoe hops to create a beer with a tropical fruit punch!
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Roasted Stout V
A stout with notes of dark chocolate and roasted coffee
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Way to Amberillo V
An amber ale brewed exclusively with Amerillo hops
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Khyber V
A true to style strong and bitter IPA with Centennial hops
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Witchfinder General Porter V
A collaboration brew with Witchfinder General guitarist Phil Cope. It’s dark and heavy - just like the band!
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Caramel Swirl
A beautifully warming stout packed full of chocolatey malts, with a swirl of caramel to give it a light sweetness
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Sabre-R Sonic V
This year’s collab with Ruark Audio - a single hopped west coast with Idaho 7
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Bawley Bitter V
Pale, sessionable bitter with spicy hedgerow and blackcurrant notes
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SS9 V
Seriously strong stout with deep boozy notes of coffee and chocolate
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Happy Hound
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Jay IPA V
Strong British IPA
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Cherry Raven V
Cherry stout
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Ten for Bliss V
Wintery brown ale made with oranges
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Pale Ale
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Special Bitter
A special session beer, with subtle notes of malty flavours with a lasting hoppy bitterness taste in your mouth
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Black Adder
A dark, bitter stout. Roast and nut aromas with a fruity balance of hops and dark malt provide an excellent lingering finish
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Mid-Winter Gold
A thirst quenching golden ale, bursting full of citrusy flavours using powerful hops giving it a refreshing crisp finish
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Mole Trap
A well-balanced session beer. Crisp hoppy bitterness with a late malty flavour coming through
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Mersea Mud
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Oyster
Three dozen freshly shucked oysters are added to this ale to create a rich flavour
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Skippers
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Yo Boy
A session bitter with Cara malt for a smooth flavour and cascade hops for bitterness
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A rich dark mild with bags of character from the lavish use of chocolate malt
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Marcus Aurelius
A luscious and velvety stout. Bursting with dark, roasty flavour with an underlying vanilla richness
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Frank (Zappa hopped Pale Ale)
Moonshine Brewery (Shelford Road, Fulbourn, Cambridge, CB21 5EQ)
Spicy with hints of mango, passion fruit with a citrus aroma
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Red Kite
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Snow Leopard
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Blonde Bombshell
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Gun Port Stout
The strongest of Old Cannon's ales, this Russian Imperial Stout is soft, smooth and mellow
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Perfect Storm
A winter seasonal special, this old ale includes cocoa nibs for a truly decadent beer
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East Street Cream
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Folk V
A fruity blonde ale with notes of sour cherry, plum and a rounded chocolate finish
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Malt & Ginger V
A malty best bitter with a ginger twist throughout
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Cherry & Chocolate Porter V
A rich and malty fruit porter with a burst of cherry and chocolate
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Thirst Quencher V GF
Modern pale session bitter
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Mouth Pans Hops V GF
Naturally hazy pale with American hops
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Classic English golden ale brewed only with Boadicea hops giving a gentle fruitiness with a slightly spicy finish making it extremely drinkable!
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Copper coloured with fruity caramel flavours coming from the combination of Crystal malts with English and European hops. Bittersweet finish
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Mild
No tasting notes available
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Best
A classic light amber coloured best bitter with a clean malt flavour and fine hop character derived from a blend of aroma hops
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Gold
Malt aromas lead to a well balanced sweet and bitter beer, with hops lasting in the finish
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Canny Canuck V
This modern take on a North East classic has deep malty flavours of biscuit, nuts, caramel and hints of chocolate and fermented maple syrup which creates a smoky woodland aroma
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Oot n' Aboot V
Boasting robust North American hops, with notes of citrus, mango, pineapple and stone fruits. complemented by a gentle malt character with a striking blonde colour and a touch of haze, its bold bitterness delights the palate
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Plum Pudding V
This Christmas stout combines roasted malt richness with the gentle sweetness of winter plums. Each sip is smooth yet complex with hints of dark fruit, roasted coffee and cocoa
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Belta Blonde V
A session ale with a harmonious and subtle blend of sweet citrus, tantalising passion fruit, hints of honey, and a light malt character
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Brill Gold
Silky smooth satisfaction with a fresh twist, delivering a refreshing taste that’s simply irresistible
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Wychert
In the comforting blend of sweet maltiness and bitter hops, Wychert quietly pays tribute to times well spent
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UXB
Baltic porter with raspberries added for a dark, fruity experience
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Red Raddle
Named after the red paint used on the millstones. Originally brewed to celebrate the 200th year of Crabble Corn Mill, and is a 5 hop, ruby red premium bitter
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1381
The year of the Peasants’ Revolt. This Session IPA is full of fruit and citrus hop aroma and flavour provided by the Mosaic & Centennial American hops. The perfect all day thirst quencher
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Kang Jaksina V
Rich Baltic porter, matured for 3 months in the cask for good measure
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Gaudy Hop Sensation V
Heavily hopped with Motueka and Rakau hops from New Zealand. Not to be confused with a golden ale
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Nine Feet Underground V
A punchy stout
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Arctic Fox V
Amber winter seasonal
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Coggeshall Gold
An intense, hoppy beer with a lemon and lychee aroma, this is a year-round favourite and a very easy-drinking beer
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Grandmas Rich Porter V
A dark ruby chocolate malty ale with a rich but smooth finish
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Lavender Honey V
Honey from The Norfolk Lavender Company is added during the brewing process to give this beer a delicate yet moreish flavour
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Wolf Whiskers V
Dark, rich, malty ale with a smooth liquorice aroma
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Red Riding Hood V
A lightly hopped reddish ale, locally produced malts blended with raspberry & rhubarb to make a smooth but howling good ale
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Xactly That!
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SmoXey Mild V
Slightly strong for a mild, however the rounded blend of dark malts and the smokey aftertaste compliment the 4% ABV
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ViXen
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BlaX Forest
An unfined rich creamy stout with a delightful black cherry and vanilla sweet flavour
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XSB
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Brewery map
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About the festival
Wednesday 29th January 2025. 12 noon-10:30pm
Thursday 30th January 2025. 12 noon-10:30pm
Friday 31st January 2025. 12 noon-10:30pm
Saturday 1st February 2025. 11am-10:30pm
Still in its usual home of Colchester Arts Centre.
We’ll welcome a range of real ales from across the country:100+ in total and up to 80 at any one time. There will be real cider and perry too. For the first time in many years we hope to have draught Belgian beers available alongside a carefully selected bottled Belgian selection.
No tickets required. Free admission to all before 3pm. £3 entry fee after 3pm. Free for CAMRA members at all times. £3 glass deposit. Fully refundable or keep your glass if you choose to. Cash or card accepted.
Initial data sourced from CAMRA
Information is provided to the best of our knowledge, but please check with the festival organiser before attending as the details here may be inaccurate.
This website is not endorsed by the festival organisers, it's just something I put together which I thought might be useful. Bear in mind that the information provided here may be inaccurate.