BEER enthusiasts are in for a treat for the 11th annual, free Great Craven Beer Festival which kicks off today and runs until Sunday.

Held at The Craven Arms and Cruck Barn at Appletreewick, the festival will see a re-match between Yorkshire and Scottish breweries after last year’s event resulted in a surprising draw.

This year’s event will see breweries from Yorkshire and from Scotland coming up with a whole new range of beers to battle it out for the title of best beer of the festival and overall winner.

In previous years, the Yorkshire breweries have been clear winners over other counties such as Northumberland, Cumbria and Lancashire.

David Aynesworth, of the Craven Arms, said: “There is no doubt that there has been a significant turn around and there are now some extremely good beers being brewed in Scotland and the result could be close again.”

Festival goers will be invited to vote for ‘best beer of the festival’ by ballot box, with their votes automatically counted towards coming up with the overall winner between Yorkshire and Scotland.

Entry is free, with snacks and meals available.

There will also be live entertainment on Saturday afternoon to help with the beer tasting by the Loud Minority Samba Drumming band.