GAVIN AITCHISON enjoys a beer tour of the world, without leaving York.

SOME friends and I toured the world in the space of an afternoon last month.

We encountered five cities spanning three continents in around an hour and 50 minutes. Jules Verne eat your heart out.

Our jaunt began in Wellington then took in Melbourne, Edinburgh, Victoria and Phoenix but we saw few sights or landmarks, and indeed didn’t even bother with our passports.

You’ll have twigged by now, I imagine, that our whistlestop adventure was more restrained than I suggest. It was little more than a leisurely afternoon’s drinking around some pubs just south of York city centre, all of which happen to share their name with world cities.

There will be an international flavour to my drinking next week too, but with even less travelling.

Next Friday, the latest JD Wetherspoon’s beer festival opens, boasting up to 50 ales from the UK and around the world. It runs until April 13. There are 40 British beers but the greatest excitement arises from the ten international stars, which have been ‘guest-brewed’ by their creators at a selection of breweries around the UK.

Shaun and Keith Standeaven of The Standeaven Brewery in South Africa, for instance, visited Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh to produce their African Pale Ale, Ed Hortemo from Nøgne Ø swapped Norway for Lincolnshire to brew his Brown Ale at Batemans, and Wayne Wambles from Cigar City Brewing in Florida visited Wychwood in Oxfordshire to produce his Siren’s Song, billed as a session IPA.

Only the most well-travelled beer ticker will fail to find a new beer among the selection. Solange by Hildegard Van Ostaden in Belgium (brewed at Everard’s in Leicestershire) sounds a must-try – it’s a saison-style beer that promises aromas of apricot and fresh grass.

The Gunnamatta Tea Leaf IPA, brewed at Adnams in Suffolk by Stu and Sam from Yeastie Boys in New Zealand will appeal to those after something quirky. The Scheyern Klosterbock, brewed by Tobias Huber of Klosterbrauerei in Bavaria, promises “hints of ripe fruit, coffee and fine tobacco”, and those who think Spanish beer amounts to little more than lager for the beach should try the Fermín Red Ale, brewed at Shepherd Neame in Kent by Alberto Pacheco of Mateo and Bernabe in Logroño.

If all the exotic stuff gets too much, or you have an unshakeable conviction that British is best, then don’t despair. The 40 UK beers offer plenty choice too, from safe pale ales and bitters to weird and wonderful experiments.

Raspberry Rose by Lancaster and Plum Porter by Elgood’s will capture the imagination of those who like fruity beers, for instance, while RCH’s Chocolate Slug Porter will appeal to those who like a beer with a lingering rich taste.

My regular drinking buddy Ian can’t wait to try Port of Leith IPA from Caledonian, while I in turn am looking forward to Meridian, a best bitter from Orkney’s Atlas range, rarely if ever before seen on cask in York.


Shorts

Still on the festival theme, don’t forget that today sees BeerTown taking place in Malton’s Milton Rooms and Dunnington Beer Festival taking place in the Reading Rooms, while next weekend Suddabys at The Crown Hotel in Malton has its spring festival.

Twitter: @pintsofview