THE hops have been harvested and it is now time for the beer to be drank.

A popular Worcestershire brewery have been collecting the local hops for Green Hop festival which takes place this month.

Chris Gooch, brewer at the Teme Valley Brewery, said: "All the green hops are harvested in September and this gives us an opportunity to make beer using the fresh hops straight off the picking machine. We are fortunate that we have so many good quality local hops.

"We have five different types of hop: Earlybird Goldings, Fuggles, Northdown, Challenger and Mathon Goldings. They are always very popular and produce great beer."

These types of beer festival are rare as most real ales are made with hops which have been treated in a kiln, thereby prolonging the life of the hops.

The festival, now in it's ninth year, has grown in popularity with people from far and wide making the trek to the Talbot at Knightwick, where the brews are served.

The brewery continues to go from strength to strength.

In the summer the Worcester News reported how some of Teme Valley's best brews are now being exported to Holland and Denmark.

This year's event takes place on the weekend of Friday, October 12, lasting three days, starting at 6pm on the Friday, open all day Saturday until 11pm and finishing at 6pm on Sunday, or earlier if the casks are empty.

As well as the local brews, there will be seven other green hop ales and four cask conditioned Belgian beers.