It’s the 12th annual Colchester Winter Ale Festival this week and as ever they’ll be plenty of cracking tipples to warm those cockles.

There will be ciders, perrys, a Belgian bar offering draught and bottled Belgian beers alongside English wines from Mersea Island Vineyard.

It all starts today and runs until Saturday with free admission from noon until 3pm and then £3 afterwards until closing at 11pm.

To give us all a head start we asked Martin Ibberson from Colchester CAMRA to give us his Top Five Beers to try at this year’s festival.

1. Winter Warmer, Brentwood Brewery. 4.7 ABV.

An appropriate name, especially bearing in mind the weather. This is a well-balanced, amber-coloured ,winter ale with spicy notes, creating a full flavoured beer.

2. Jumbo, Colchester Brewery, Wakes Colne. 6.6 ABV.

With its namesake just a hop, skip and a jump away, this is a big bodied dry stout with complex fruit and roast flavours accompanied by a full and smooth feel in the mouth.

The Wakes Colne brewery has grown in popularity over the years and as well as supplying festivals, you find there great beers in several local taverns and bars.

3. Good King Henry, Old Chimneys, Weston, Suffolk. 9.2 ABV.

They obviously make them strong across the border. This a dark black Imperial stout, the colour and deep luscious flavour derive largely from roasted barley.

4. Marmalade Stout, Red Fox Brewery, Coggeshall. 5.0 ABV.

Yes you did read that right and yes it does have rough-cut marmalade, giving this ale its orange notes. A chocolate stout it also has the bonus of a warming shot of single malt whisky. Red Fox is one of the county’s most dynamic brewers always serving up extremely tasty ales with interesting flavours.

5. Winter Wibble, Wibblers Brewery, Southminster. 6.0 ABV.

And if you like your whisky, this is a cracking old ale with whisky-like malt flavour and English hops balancing the strength, making it very drinkable indeed.