IF you like your beer, as readers of this column surely do, then this week has quite possibly been one of the highlights of your year.

Since Thursday, Knavesmire has been hosting the York Beer and Cider Festival, the biggest such event to take place in the city.

Some 200 beers and 30 ciders and perries are on offer, not to mention wines, lagers, beer-related merchandise and some cracking food.

It’s the first time the event has been held outdoors, and York Camra deserves huge praise for making such a good job of it.

As I’m working this weekend I had a day off on Thursday, so headed along nice and early for the first day.

To say one is spoilt for choice is an understatement. Piled high within a vast marquee are pale ales, stouts, milds and beers as far as the eye can see, from across the country, including about 60 from within 25 miles of York.

I enjoyed six half-pints focusing mostly on the Yorkshire and Scottish offerings.

I began with Copper Cascade (4.1 per cent) from Stewart Brewery in Edinburgh, described as a deep red, full-bodied medium dry beer, followed by Endeavour (3.6 per cent) from Cropton Brewery here in North Yorkshire, which includes four different hops. Of the two, the Endeavour was the more enjoyable, with a pleasant fruity kick.

Recommendations spread quickly at beer festivals and within half an hour of arriving, three people were urging me to try to Jaipur IPA (5.9 per cent) from Thornbridge in Derbyshire.

It was indeed a belter and it had a honey flavour, which I always enjoy in beers.

If there’s any left today, it’s worth seeking out.

I was keen to get back to my native Scottish and Yorkshire options though, so plumped next for a half pint from Roosters, in Knaresborough, which is fast becoming one of my favourite breweries.

Their tremendous YPA is, sadly, not at the festival but the Good Cheer Beer (3.7 per cent) is well worth a try. So too is the Grassington Gold (4 per cent) from Yorkshire Dales brewery, another fruity pale ale, and the Homecoming Scotland (4.2 per cent) from Perthshire.

I was sceptical of the blurb in the programme which promised forest fruits, floral spice and a biscuity malt but it delivered on the promise. There was something enjoyably rustic about it and unmistakeably northern.

The demands of this job meant that, along with six others, I was invited to judge the Yorkshire and North East Region’s heat of the golden beer category, ahead of next year’s Great British Beer Festival.

I’m usually loath to indulge in the sort of pretentiousness usually reserved for wine-drinkers but, after comparing appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste on the seven options, we managed to come up with a clear winner.

I was going to tell you what it was, but that might skew your choices if you do manage to get along this afternoon. I’ll tell the online readers through the week, and the printed ones next Saturday.

The true enjoyment at beer festivals comes from finding hitherto undiscovered gems and broadening your tastes, so if you can get down today (noon until 11pm) for the final session, make the most of it.