Manx beer festival pays homage to RNLI's 200 years

A variety of local beers, ales and ciders are available across the three-day event

The Isle of Man's 11th annual beer and cider festival is set to get underway with a celebration of the RNLI in its 200th anniversary year.

The island is considered the birthplace of the charity, as its establishment was the brainchild of Manx resident Sir William Hillary.

A special ale named SOS has been crafted for the 2024 festival to honour the lifesaving organisation's bicentenary, with a donation from each pint sold donated to the RNLI.

Organised by members of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) Isle of Man, the event will be officially opened at 17:00 BST, when guest of honour Stephen Carter will pour the first pint of the special ale.

The founder of the Laxey Towing Company Captain is a mariner and pilot who guided more the 4,500 vessels in and out of Douglas harbour.

Matt Cox has been involved in the festival since it began in 2012

A sea shanty singing group is also set to perform to open the festivities.

The event, which features more than 150 real ales, ciders, perries and fruit wines, continues daily between 12:00 and 23:00 until Sunday.

Camra member Matt Cox said a number of new brews were being brought to the event, including three beers from wooden casks by Bushy's brewery, which was a first for the festival.

Bushy's brewery is putting on three beers from wooden casks for the first time

Other highlights included an 8.4% strength "barrel-aged porter in a sherry cask" from Odin's Brewery, which Mr Cox said he was confident would be "very popular".

He said, while organisers looked forward to welcoming the public, one of his personal highlights was the night before the festival began when the volunteers carried out "quality control" by sampling the products.