Real ale is going through something of a spirited renaissance across the country and now there’s even more choice for enthusiasts here in Essex.

A real ale brewed with hops harvested from the award winning RHS garden Hyde Hall in Rettendon, is hoping to delight the tastebuds of real ale appreciators.

Called Raw Hyde, the ale is now on sale at the Hyde Hall Gift Shop for £3.50 a bottle after being brewed by the Brentwood Brewing Company of Pilgrims’ Hatch.

Managing director of the brewing company Roland Kannor said: “We adapted one of our existing recipes to include the hops harvested from Hyde Hall and the result is a golden, hoppy ale at 4.3 per cent, making it a perfect tipple.”

This is the second harvest from Hyde Hall’s “First Gold” English dwarf hops.

Hops are the flowers or seed cones of the plant Humulus lupulus and are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, giving it a bitter, tangy flavor. RHS Horticulturist Matthew Olive was involved in the process from the very start.

“Last year’s crop was used to make a limited-edition guest ale, but this year I harvested almost twice as many hops, which meant they were able to brewmuch larger quantities, viable for bottling,” he said.

“Having grown the hops myself, I’m clearly somewhat biased, but I think Raw Hyde shows great potential.

“It’s definitely what I’d call a session bitter – it’s smooth, not too strong and extremely quaffable.”

Matthew added: “My new year’s resolution will definitely be to grow enough hops for Raw Hyde to become widely available throughout Essex and beyond.”