A Saturday off sports reporting presented me with the chance to do a review at the Chesham Beer Festival.

Having been there the year before, I was very much looking forward to going back to Chesham United FC and sampling the delights on offer.

Much like last year, the weather was glorious, which certainly made drinking the array of beers and ciders on offer even easier!

We got there quite early to avoid the crowds as last year was packed and as the day wore on, flocks of people gathered to have a wonderful time.

A local band, Crazy Dog, kept everyone entertained as well as food which was on offer. Burgers and hot dogs were £3 and were proving popular.

There were more beers on offer than 2018. My wife calls me a bit of beer snob but it was great to be able to sample beers that I had never tried before.

Entry was £5 and able to get two beer tokens with that and then it was another £10 for seven tokens, which is very reasonable.

There were 31 beers and ciders to sample and we made a conscious effort to try as many as possible.

I began with Natural Selection, an American Pale Ale. My wife and friend went for High Score, an Indian Pale Lager.

Both were very nice and smooth with a real hoppy finish to them. Not my usual purchase but went down very easily.

We then went for the ciders for a bit, which were a delight. They were very quaffable and with the hot sunshine out, made us a drink quite quickly which is always a danger in such nice weather.

The ciders we went with were the Cuckoo Penny, a rhubarb cider brewed in Worcester and a Clementine Perry from the same brewery.

It was like drinking a luxurious soft drink and we had to rein ourselves in as both were so nice.

Moving away from the ciders, I spotted a golden ale, the closest thing to a lager on offer (sorry what a philistine!)

It was called the Umpire Strikes Back and was made in mind for this year's Cricket World Cup. It was so easy to drink and had a lovely crisp finish.

My wife went with the Sleepwalker, which has New Zealand Roots but brewed in Nottingham.

She really enjoyed this beer as it was very much like a craft ale, which is her favourite.

My friend went with the strongest offering on the menu for his next trip to the bar, Death or Glory.

It was like nothing any of us had tried before. It was made from barley wine but had a smooth texture and a subtle flavour. At 7.2 percent, be very careful!

Like last year, it was a brilliant day. Such a well run event by the Amersham and Chesham Lions and I hope it is back again in 2020.