Winter … don’t you just love it? Jack Frost nipping at your vitals, scraping the ice off the windscreen, the cold virus circulating around the office air conditioning system. But then there’s always the beer!

In winter I revert to type. I shake off my carefully cultured image of Mr Hoppy, happy with a glass of something golden and fresh, and seek out the big, dark, chocolately, Christmas cake fruity brews that are the signature of the season. And the coming of the Exeter Winter Beer Festival next weekend is a great date in the West Country diary. Nothing but winter brews. Heaven in Devon.

I have enjoyed two excellent examples of winter beers lately. The Bath Ales Barnstormer in the Copperhouse, Hayle (see below), and over the past few days the Penzance Beer Company’s excellent Liberty (5% ABV) which has that waming dark, chocolate malty, taste, with some rich fruit in the background. I’ve drunk a lot of this over the past three days or so and can’t recommend it too highly. I understand it’s going to be a regular brew at The Star.