The oldest written recipe in the world is four thousand years old.

And it’s for beer (sorry Delia).

King or peasant, beer has always been central to the daily diet.

Noah even provisioned the ark with it.

Now, we’re not suggesting that you follow in the footsteps of your forebears and switch your entire water consumption to beer. But, we have put together a range from some of the finest small breweries the world has to offer which may just prove too tempting.

Winter ale and honey porter from St.Peters; T.E.A. from Hogs Back, oak-aged beer from Innis & Gunn, pale ale from Timothy Taylor, trappist ale from Chimay, wheat beer from Hoegaarden and pils from Pilsner Urquell, to name but a few.

Nearly all of the beer comes from small, independent breweries who are fanatical about the quality of the raw ingredients and the skill of the master brewer. The results speak for themselves. Multi-award winning, full of flavour and revered by those in the know.