Old Wine Vault pub toasts St Arnold with three days of beer, food and music

Faversham's Old Wine Vault pub in Preston Street is holding a three-day beer festival starting on Friday July 8 to honour an 11th-century Flemish saint.

The chap in question is St Arnold, the patron saint of brewing, and his feast day is July 8.

The story is that pious Arnold, at his abbey in Oudenburg, encouraged the local peasants to brew beer: it was healthier than drinking water. Unknowingly, by boiling water to make beer he was destroying some of the nasty viruses which lurked in local streams.

From such unlikely beginnings the Belgian brewing industry evolved and peasants began to put hops in their ale.

Refugees brought their skills to Britain, launching our own home-grown industry.

Down at The Old Wine Vaults in Preston Street mine host David Thompson thinks St Arnold is neglected in this country despite his services to ale-making, so David has determined to put this right.

He said: "The Belgians have a day of beer in his honour but we've decided to have a whole weekend!

"We believe St Arnold is a neglected soul so we shall raise our glasses to him on July 8, 9 and 10.

"We shall be feasting on the Saturday with a barbecue from 6pm and dining on a hog roast from 2pm on the Sunday."

The pub will be serving 13 different ales including Westerham Grasshopper, the beer that really won the Battle of Britain; it was Westerham Ales that were on tap in the officers' and sergeants' messes at Biggin Hill, aiding the RAF's response to the Nazi onslaught in 1940.

That would have struck a chord with St Arnold because he was a career soldier before becoming a Benedictine monk.

There are also three top ciders on tap if you tire of the beer.

To help everything go with a swing there will be music all the way with The 4 Cajones performing on Friday night, Steve Bolton on Saturday afternoon, Get Carter on Saturday night and The Trouser Trumpets on Sunday afternoon.

Festival ales and ciders

Beers: Mauldons – Suffolk Pride; Westerham – Grasshopper bitter; RCH – Steam Special; Naylor's – Porticus stout; Blackwater – Art Nouveau; Box Steam – Tender mild; Buffy's – Hopleaf; Highland Brewing – Orkney Best; Rebellion – Rebellion Blonde; Summerskills – Hopscotch; Village Brewer – White Boar; Milestone – Raspberry Wheat Beer; Purple Moose – Dark Side of the Moose

Ciders: Biddenden Bushels cask cider; Westons – Traditional Scrumpy; Sheppy's – Somerset Scrumpy