This is the story of a drinks journalist. A man who, through no fault of his own, found himself enjoying and talking about all drinks, other than those nasty sweet "alcopops" and novelty drinks in funny-shaped bottles that you bring back from holiday and sit in your cupboard for years until, one day, you or more likely your partner simply throw them out ... or those revolting shameful concoctions that are based on chocolate bars with alcohol and thickeners added, which are a way for the behemoth of the drinks industry to lure those who would be much better off taking the tea-total route ... like children and vulnerable adults ... then I'm also not keen on the flavoured grain alcohols that masquerade as traditional Southern American whiskeys, when they're nothing of the sort ... breathe ... breathe ... OK. HOWEVER, there is one subject to which our journalist returns again and again: beer and, in particular, ale. Real, old-fashioned, hand-pulled ale.

So how better to celebrate that than to make an appointment with the largest beer festival in the UK and head down to Olympia for the Great British Beer Festival?