Beers are like buses: you wait around for the next one and then two come at once!

And so, the Easter holidays are upon us – that much must be true when queuing has become a media-frenzied Olympic sport at Terminal 1 of Manchester Airport.  Enjoy the calm then if you’re not travelling afar, especially if it doesn’t involve car, jet-plane or ferry (especially P&O), and in spite of the seemingly endless round of bad news stories (I am going to give up listening to the Today programme) sit back and enjoy the prospect of two new local Derbyshire beers on sale this week, both of which pay their respects to history and landscape.

First up is Thornsett Brewery and Hop Yard’s Rowarth Rambler Golden Ale.  Brewed especially for the British Workers Sports Federation Rowarth Camp 90th Anniversary weekend which commemorated the 1932 camp, birthplace of the Kinder mass trespass, and marked the contribution of those who strived to secure the Right to Roam.   Only using English Hops, Rowarth Rambler has a balance of floral and sweet flavours, with a clean bitter finish. This 3.6% golden ale will be popular throughout the 90th Anniversary celebrations which continue this month; the 23rd and 24th April sees the focus turn to Hayfield, the scene of the 1932 trespass.  For more information visit https://kindertrespass.org.uk/ 

If session beer is your thing, then Big Stone Beer in Chinley has just launched Dimpus, an easy drinking 3.5% session ale brewed with Goldings Hops.   As the label says, “Looking east from the brewery, Dimpus Gate sits in the saddle between Mount Famine and South Head.  It is a wild spot and this session beer is a nod to all those shepherds who have steered their flocks along the ancient shepherds road.  This easy drinking ale should satisfy the thirst of the ramblers and mountain bikers who follow in the shepherds footsteps.”  This amber beer is characterised by its earthiness, and honey and floral tones – a perfect reflection of Dimpus Gate.