A NEW Kentish microbrewery is wowing punters with its two debut brews, Winter Ale and Best Bitter.

Ripple Steam Brewery, which is based on a farm in Sutton-by-Dover, opened its doors last October and released its first brew for the festive season.

The maiden batches went down so well that the second edition of the brewer's dynamic duo is being delivered to pubs this week.

All the Ripple Steam beer uses English barley and wheat malts, together with a single variety of hop. The ingredients give the ale a distinctive texture and taste, and the brewer is now working on a fuller range of brews, from dark treacly stout to light pale ale.

Brewers David Cliff and Peter and Paul Norris share more than a century's background in brewing, including stints at the Greenwich Mean Time brewery.

Peter recalls how they came up with the idea of setting up their own brewery.

He said: "We were sitting at a local pub talking beer and I found that it was hard to get real ale near where I lived.

"So the idea came to me to brew my own beer and find the equipment.

"It took a few years for us to get the money together, find the right equipment and source the ingredients."

The trio then set about converting a milking shed on the farm into a bespoke brewery and perfecting their top tipples.

The 4.1 per cent Best Bitter is sure to be a supreme session selection, whereas the stronger Winter Ale is perfect to warm the chilly bones this winter.

The brewery describes the winter ale as "a full-bodied minx at 5 per cent and not one to be ignored".

In their poetic promotion of the winter warmer, the trio of brewers say: "If you close your eyes, she will send you onto the deck of a trawler on a rough sea and make you feel as if you were on dry land and safely back in the arms of the one you love."

Ripple Steam beers will be on sale at The Lifeboat in Margate and Bake & Alehouse in Westgate.

For more information about the brewery, visit its website www.ripplesteambrewery.co.uk