Chappel Winter Beer Festival returns to railway museum

Some sessions sold out at the popular venue as beer aficionados streamed through the doors for the three-day fest.

Dozens of ales were on offer, with many tipples hailing from Essex breweries, East Anglia and further afield.

Volunteer Tim Page, from Danbury, pours a pint

Tess Franklin from Halstead

Tess Franklin, from Halstead, said: "It's a great festival. I've just arrived here with Hike Essex on a ten-mile walk.

"It's really nice to sample all the local ales and be part of a vibrant community."

Keirdryn Paris from Sudbury

David Steel from Colchester and Barry Shirfield from Colchester

David Steel, from Colchester, was at the festival with pal Barry Shirfield, from Chelmsford."

David said: "It's an excellent festival and a good use of a local resource.

"It's really good to be able to get the train here and home again, and the quality of the beer is brilliant."

John Lucas selling beer cards

Mark Bartram of Bartram's Brewery

Mark Bartram, of Bartram's Brewery, in Norfolk, was seeing swift sales of his "headline" ale - Comrade Bill Bartram's Egalitarian Anti-Imperialist Soviet Stout.

"It's a popular beer and has won lots of awards," he said.

"We're just building the brewery at the back of the Thelnetham White Horse, near Diss, and should be up and running by Easter.

Tim Adams of Hopleaf

Brendan Sothcott

Festival organiser Brendan Sothcott, of CAMRA and the East Anglian Railyway Museum, said: "We try to support local breweries and get them here to the festival.

"This week we range from Colchester Brewery which is half a mile away in Wakes Colne to a brewery in Belfast so we cover the country, but we do try to support the local boys.

"The museum is also progressing nicely.

"We are doing some major work to the bottom of the yard and have got new track work going on.

"The festival helps raise money for that. People enjoy drinking beers and raising money for the museum, so it's win-win."