With the London Drinker Beer & Cider Festival celebrating 20 years, this year is special and the London brewers think so too. Young's will be supplying their Special London Ale on draught. Usually in a bottle conditioned form, this 6.4% beer has the typical Young's dry aftertaste. This, coupled with its bitterness, prevents the beer being sweet with an orangey malt flavour.

The bottled conditioned version won CAMRA's Champion Bottle Conditioned Beer of Britain in 1999. London's other family brewer, Fuller's has also won the award for its bottled 1845; once in 1998 and again in 2002. It was originally brewed to celebrate the brewery's 150th anniversary. The Festival is delighted that this beer will also be available on draught. With an alcohol content of 6.3%, it has a strong rich malt flavour tempered by the Golding Hops and a fruity raison character.

But if these are too weak for you then Fuller's will also be supplying their Golden Pride on draught. This beer too is usually in bottles and with a mere alcohol content of 8.5%, it should certainly add to party mood! It is a deep amber in colour, full bodied (as you would expect at this alcohol content), moderately hopped with a sweet orange character.

Other Londoners include beers from Grand Union and Pitfield and more unusually Young's Champion Live Golden Beer, which is a bottled conditioned lager. And from Bedford, for the third year running, there will be Charles Well's Banana Bread Beer plus almost 50 other beers from around the country.

Christine Cryne