The St George beer challenge - try your hand at brewing

Hello all. Latest news on the latest Chertsey Otters endeavour - a beer brewing competition. A couple of weeks back, a small posse of Otters assembled in the Crown to watch England play like drains against the Irish. Inevitably we ended up making our own fun, which including drinking a Very Large Quantity of Bombardier and indulging in intellectual pursuits like shouting and one-armed press-ups.

Turns out someone suggested a beer-brewing competition, presumably based on the assembled group's clear fondness for, and application to the drink of heroes. More improbably still, the next day someone also remembered this suggestion and a handful of people thought it was a good idea.

So, the terms of the competition are this:

1. Brew your own beer, to be ready on or near St George's Day (23 April).
2. The starting recipe to which all competitors must adhere is attached as an image (click on it to see it reet big - it's dead easy to do).
3. You may enter solo or form teams, but not with professional brewers.
4. The results to be judged by a professional brewer (he's the bigger of the two in the photo). A minimum of 5 bottles must be submitted.
5. No lager.
6. Your beer must be christened.

Handy contacts:

• Art of Brewing in Chessington: KT9 2NY, telephone: 020 8397 2111
• Whytes Home Wine Equipment, Protea, Stompond Lane, Walton-On-Thames, Surrey, KT12 1HB, telephone: 01932 856542

Remember, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself. And the possibility of being stuck with 40 pints of undrinkable bilge water. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Are you a man or an Otter?