Y OU really don't have to go far to find a link between

books and booze. Some of the most celebrated writers of both

fact and fiction have been legendary drinkers. Indeed for a not

insignificant number of our most creative wordsmiths, alcohol

has been the raw material from which their downfall was

engineered.But the organisers of Appledore Book Festival are

hoping that Chapter One — the festival's very own brew — will

be responsible for nobody's downfall. In fact they're hoping

that anybody who drinks enough Chapter One to cause them even

to fall down will at least be good enough to do so in the

comfort of their own homes...Chapter One was first served on

draft at the Beaver Inn, where the regulars had no problem with

the delights of the 5.2, hoppy, dark pint that is more redolent

of a winter ale than the sort of thing you might use to wet

your whistle when limbering up for a poetry recital. Beer this

strength is a thing of beauty only if everybody in your party

is drinking it, and at the same rate. However, it would seem

that regulars at the Seagate Hotel, not more than half a mile

away, were not too keen on a beer that strong. Perhaps there

are more daytime drinkers at the Seagate than at the Beaver...

Who knows. Whatever the reason, though, Brian Broughton, from

the Torrington-based Clearwater Brewery which makes the beer,

was asked to come up with something a little less heavy on the

liver. And so he duly made Chapter Two, which is doing rather

better at the Seagate than its predecessor.So can Brian explain

the vagaries of Appledore's beer drinking public? Apparently

not. "There are certain pubs on my books which have stronger

beers and don't have problems selling them. But, in my

experience, there is nothing more fickle than the pub trade,"

he said. "I really don't know why a beer that sells well in one

pub is less popular just down the road."Chapter One is a

beautiful dark brew that, for all those real ale aficionados,

combines First Gold and Fuggles hops to give a fruity, aromatic

pint with a good bitter finish.Chapter Two, I couldn't tell you

about as I haven't tried it.Come to mention it, I've barely

tried Chapter One — the launch was held at 11am in Appledore

which, I must confess, is a little early for me. Frankly any

time before clocking off is too early to truly appreciate a

beer that clocks in at 5.2%. I did have a little taste, in

order to enable me to write about it, but I await eagerly the

bottles that festival director Nick Arnold promised me. And in

return I pledge to fall down only in my living room...OU really

don't have to go far to find a link between books and booze.

Some of the most celebrated writers of both fact and fiction

have been legendary drinkers. Indeed for a not insignificant

number of our most creative wordsmiths, alcohol has been the

raw material from which their downfall was engineered.

But the organisers of Appledore Book Festival are hoping

that Chapter One — the festival's very own brew — will be

responsible for nobody's downfall.

In fact they're hoping that anybody who drinks enough

Chapter One to cause them even to fall down will at least be

good enough to do so in the comfort of their own homes...

Chapter One was first served on draft at the Beaver Inn,

where the regulars had no problem with the delights of the 5.2,

hoppy, dark pint that is more redolent of a winter ale than the

sort of thing you might use to wet your whistle when limbering

up for a poetry recital. Beer this strength is a thing of

beauty only if everybody in your party is drinking it, and at

the same rate.

However, it would seem that regulars at the Seagate Hotel,

not more than half a mile away, were not too keen on a beer

that strong. Perhaps there are more daytime drinkers at the

Seagate than at the Beaver... Who knows. Whatever the reason,

though, Brian Broughton, from the Torrington-based Clearwater

Brewery which makes the beer, was asked to come up with

something a little less heavy on the liver. And so he duly made

Chapter Two, which is doing rather better at the Seagate than

its predecessor.

So can Brian explain the vagaries of Appledore's beer

drinking public? Apparently not.

"There are certain pubs on my books which have stronger

beers and don't have problems selling them. But, in my

experience, there is nothing more fickle than the pub trade,"

he said. "I really don't know why a beer that sells well in one

pub is less popular just down the road."

Chapter One is a beautiful dark brew that, for all those

real ale aficionados, combines First Gold and Fuggles hops to

give a fruity, aromatic pint with a good bitter finish.

Chapter Two, I couldn't tell you about as I haven't tried

it.

Come to mention it, I've barely tried Chapter One — the

launch was held at 11am in Appledore which, I must confess, is

a little early for me. Frankly any time before clocking off is

too early to truly appreciate a beer that clocks in at 5.2%. I

did have a little taste, in order to enable me to write about

it, but I await eagerly the bottles that festival director Nick

Arnold promised me. And in return I pledge to fall down only in

my living room...