Deputy brewer Mat Henney with a freshly-pulled pint of Patois, which will be served at the Great British Beer Festival in London. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0809584)

EIGHT barrels of Randall’s Patois cask ale will be served at the Great British Beer Festival in London next month.

The cask beer, which was a Guernsey brand some years ago, was reintroduced by Randall’s in October.

Chief brewer Matt Polli said the opportunity to showcase Patois was too good to turn down.

‘I think six years ago or so was the last time the brewery might have gone to it, but most recently we haven’t had a real ale to put into the festival.’

He said the reaction to the reintroduction of Patois had been fantastic.

‘We are selling nearly three times more now than we were in December. It shows that we are doing something right.

‘Before then the real ale market in Guernsey was dead because there was no locally brewed ale, but now that Patois is available, the ale from us is as fresh as possible.’

The festival, a five-day event held from Tuesday 4 to Saturday 8 August, attracts around 60,000 visitors each year and boasts more than 450 different real ales, ciders and foreign beers from around the world.