A brave brewery in Nuneaton is inviting people to suggest their own flavours for beer. The Church End Brewery near Atherstone is a well-established mico-brewery that has been producing traditional and unusual beer for the past eight years.
The award-winning brewery supplies more than 300 customers across the country.
Ìý| Ìý |  | Three of the beers already in production at Church End
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Talking to us on the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Coventry and Warwickshire website, Paul Hamblett from the brewery said he would consider any suggestions the public threw at them.
He said: "We've made beers using mangoes, grapefruit, bananas - all sorts of things. The one that wasn't successful was garlic. Much as I love garlic - it doesn't work as beer! I can't remember who suggested that one...!"
If you have a drink or ingredient suggestion, email us using the link on the left. We will display your suggestions here and will pass them on to the brewery. You never know, your beer could be on the pumps in your local before the end of the year!
ÌýPaul explained that using unusual ingredients in brewing beer is not a modern art. He said: "The use of fruits and plants to make beer goes back over 100 years, before hops were used in this country.
"Beers were made from nettle, bog myrtle and other native plants. We're reviving that tradition to an extent.
"They all tended to be very heavy and murky, though, as they didn't have the level of clarification we do now. I don't think a modern drinker would like a totally authentic, 100-year-old brew!"
Ìý| Ìý |  | Â鶹ԼÅÄ WM's Malcolm and Mollie trying Valentine ale
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Most recently, the brewery experimented with special aphrodisiac ingredients to make a beer for Valentine's Day. The love potion - called Alcofrolic - applied the ancient aphrodisiac properties of ginger and ginseng!
For the Coventry Beer Festival in 2002, the brewery made the most of the event's Highfield Road location and made Sky Blueberry Bitter, which contained fresh blueberries.
ÌýDespite being brewing avante guards, Church End Brewery still only use ancestral methods and stick to traditional forms of malt and hops.
They have also used local produce as key ingredients in some of their ales. The honey in their popular Pooh Beer is from a bee keeper whose apiary is just up the road from them in Ridge Lane.
The beer is so popular that it sells out every time they brew it - the bees just can't keep up with the demand!
ÌýThe small brewery team are happy to show people around their premises in Ridge Lane, near Atherstone, as long as a visit has been arranged beforehand. Just give them a call on 01827 713 080 to arrange a tour.
ÌýThere are many pubs across the country that offer Church End Brewery beers, but there are a couple of other options if you want to try the full range of flavours.
The brewery opens a small bar every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at its brewery site in Ridge Lane.
In addition, once a year The Anchor in Digbeth, Birmingham, holds a festival of all the current Church End brews. The event is always held on the last weekend of February. This year, the weekend falls across 28 February - 2 March.
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