Twickenham Fine Ales

well worth getting the original or naked ladies in if you run a bar or pub in the area. excellent beers and great to support a local brewery.

Twickenham Fine Ales is a small micro-brewery, situated in the wilds of suburban Twickenham, in West London. Established in 2004 using equipment from the Springhead Brewery in Nottingham, it now produces an award-winning range of real ales, using only Malted Barley, Hops, Water and Yeast (ie - no additives).

They produce three beers all year round: Twickenham Original, a 4.2% best bitter with a malty flavour; Naked Ladies, a 4.4% well-hopped bitter (the name refers to statues of water nymphs in a nearby garden); and the golden coloured Sundancer, another well-hopped bitter, with citrus notes. The high point came earlier this year when Sundancer won the silver medal in the Great British Beer Festival - a huge honour.

In addition, they do four seasonal ales and a range of acoasional beers in more distinctive styles, such as wheat beers, dark ales and milds. Their 6.1% 'Daisy Cutter' strong ale has won several awards at other beer festivals, including 1st in the "Strong Bitter" category and then 2nd overall at Reading Beer Festival.

The brewery itself, like many micro-breweries, is not that exciting to look at from the outside - it's really just a small shed. The equipment inside is more attractive, though, and the real interest comes from learning about the brewing process and - of course - sampling some of the products! As a small company, staff are knowledgeable, friendly and very, very enthusiastic.

The brewery sells to pubs and clubs in West London, as well as beer festivals, and is starting to supply venues in central London too. Brewery tours are by prior arrangement for groups, only.