On Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May from 10am-5pm Greene King are hosting a Real Food and Beer Festival in the Westgate Brewery Gardens. The Festival will take place in a large marquee on the lawn behind Westgate House, Bury St Edmunds (a few doors down from the Theatre Royal), across the gardens and into the Brewery Tap.

This food and drink extravaganza is part of the 25th Bury St Edmunds Festival, and is a celebration of local products from this fantastic region..
The marquee and brewery grounds will be adorned by the region’s best producers and their fine fayre, and Greene King will of course be showcasing their own fine ales. There will be a hog roast, a venison spit roast, butchery demonstrations, hand-made preserves, local cakes and ice-creams, as well as beer master classes with Greene King brewers. Producers sampling and selling include Aspall’s Cyder, Powter’s Newmarket Sausages, Elveden Estate, Rodwell Farm Dairy, The Cake Shop, Alder Carr Farm, Kelly’s Turkeys, The Chilli Company, Jimmy’s Farm, Paddy & Scotts, Yum Yum Tree Fudge, The English Whiskey Company, and many, many more.
Tickets are £1 and are available from the Theatre Royal Box Office (01284 769505), as well as on the door at the event.
Abbot tankards are proving popular, the limited edition promotional packs have just about sold through on single bottles of Abbot Ale and Abbot Reserve but if you’re lucky you might find promotional packs of Abbot Ale 4×500ml bottles (please contact your local store manager for stocking details).
If you would like to receive a free personalised tankard, simply collect 7 promotional bottle tops, and send together with your till receipts plus a £2 postage and packaging contribution or just send the full amount of £10 (no need to send bottle tops or till receipts). The closing date of this offer is 31st August 2010.
Please click here for full terms & conditions.
If you’re a CAMRA member please scroll down to find an exclusive tankard deal open until the end of April 2010.
There is an exclusive offer to CAMRA members of an personalised Abbot Tankard for just £4.99. To receive a tankard members are asked to send a cheque for £4.99 made payable to Greene King to the address below with the name or message to appear on the tankard (maximum 25 characters including spaces) plus their address and CAMRA membership number.
Abbot CAMRA Tankard Offer, Greene King, Abbot House, Westgate Brewery, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1QT.
Please allow 40 days for delivery from receipt of request. Offer is only available until 30th April or first 1000 requests received, limited to 5 per membership number.
Unfortunately we cannot accept responsibility for applications lost damaged or defaced. Registered in England & Wales number 3298903.
Members of the West Suffolk Branch of CAMRA knew they were in for a treat when head brewer John Bexon invited them to the brewery to taste the year’s first brew of Abbot Reserve – produced specially for Cask Ale Week.
“It lived up to expectations,” as Kevin Waterson, chairman of West Suffolk CAMRA said. “What a fantastic brew – every bit as good this time round as when it won the prestigious Beer of the Festival title in last year’s East Anglian Beer Festival.”
Said John Bexon, “There’s always an air of excitement in the brewery when Abbot Reserve comes up on the brewing schedule, and since all the brewers are so proud of it, we wanted to share the enjoyment with other people who appreciate great beer.”
Abbot Reserve is 6.5% abv distinctive, full bodied, smooth and mature, bursting with fruitcake and toffee flavours
Abbot Reserve is on sale now for Cask Ale Week, and when your local has finished its supply, you’ll have to wait until November until you can next taste the cask version again. Happily, for those who can’t wait, it is on sale in bottles all year round.

A selection of Greene King tenanted pubs have been chosen to be exclusive members of the new Head Brewer’s Club, a collection of Greene King’s hero cask ale pubs.
Membership of the Head Brewer’s Club means the guarantee of a great pint of cask beer as well as top notch service. Due to the beer rotational policy of some pubs we can’t say for sure which pubs will have Abbot on but many of them are regular stockists but look out for the Head Brewer’s plaque at Greene King pubs in your area. Alternatively you can find a list of pubs along with more details about the ‘Head Brewer’s Club’ by clicking here or visiting www.headbrewersclub.co.uk.
With almost 700 people having taken the Abbot Beer Diploma the prize draw has taken place for the £10 student grants. There 100 winners have been notified and been asked to confirm their contact details so their grant can be sent in April.
The Abbot Beer Diploma has proved a great success but it’s not been easy for everyone to join the now 400 strong Abbot Alumni. The pass rate is 62% with 24% passing with merit or better and just 9% passing with distinction. Please click here if you’d like to take the Abbot Beer Diploma.
Abbot Ale, has teamed up with national treasure, Brian Blessed, to challenge drinkers to “Make Brian Laugh”. Those who have a joke to tell just need to submit it onto the Abbot website and if Brian thinks it’s side-splittingly funny, they’ll will be rewarded with his trademark booming belly-laugh.
The best jokes will also be included on an online joke book for everyone to enjoy – so why not give it a go and make Brian laugh.
Abbot Ale has teamed up with Old English Inns to invite you to an evening with Roger Protz, combined with a relaxing weekend at the historic 15th century Cock Hotel, situated in the picturesque market town of Stony Stratford.
Enjoy some great food and of course real cask ales. During your stay, you will have the opportunity to sample several special Greene King beers with an exclusive talk on the finer points of beer and cask ale from the renowned beer writer. They’ll also be a special beer tasting session followed by an opportunity to ask Roger Protz or members of the Greene King brewing team questions.
Click here for more details.

Abbot Ale is returning to television screens bringing viewers Classic Tales from a Classic Ale featuring Brian Blessed in the Hawley Arms, Camden. The short tales recalled by Brian (much to his own amusement and ours) will be shown between 9pm to 11:40pm on Dave and 10pm to 12:40am on Dave Ja Vu from Friday 30th October.

November and December will see the return of Abbot Reserve in cask, please check with your local landlord to see if they can stock this award winning brew. Abbot Reserve is 6.5% ABV beer, distinctive full bodied, smooth and mature beer, bursting with fruit cake and toffee flavours. Abbot Reserve continues to be available in bottles all year round.