ALE enthusiasts will get merrier by the minute when they sink everything from fine wines to bubbly beers at a popular drinks event this weekend.

The Chappel Winter Beer Festival is the perfect chance for punters to revel in the glorious selection of real ales which the event has become famous for.

Jointly organised with the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), the festival is being hosted by the East Anglian Railway Museum, in Wakes Colne, today and tomorrow.

Visitors are invited to warm themselves with a pint of ale and enjoy a variety of deliciously tasty on-site food.

The festival’s unique selection of more than 400 beers will include offerings from local breweries and there will also be a selection of non-alcoholic soft drinks available for designated drivers.

More than 80 different ciders will be served at the festival, for anyone with a preference for a slightly fruitier and less bitter liquid refreshment.

Exquisite Essex wines will also be passed around for those looking for a tipple with a little more elegance.

Unlike the festival’s summertime sister, the winter festival will grant beer buffs unlimited access to the railway museum and its exhibits.

Exploring the museum, visitors can get an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at the Restoration Shed where engineers work to bring old and historic locomotives back to life.

The festival will have a cosy atmosphere with the event being held in the station’s heated and warming Victorian Goods Shed.

Running from 11am to 11pm, entry to the festival costs £3 on the door tomorrow, or is free for Camra and museum members.

Visitors looking to attended today can only enter after 5.30pm if they they have purchased a ticket in advance.

Advance tickets for this evening’s merry antics cost £17 or £14 for Camra and museum members, which can be purchased by visiting earm.co.uk/chappel-winter-beer-festival.

The cost of the ticket also includes a refundable glass deposit of £2 and £10 worth of beer tokens.

Visitors are encouraged to travel to the annual festival by train, in order to avoid having to worry about driving home.

For more information about how to get to and from the festival, head to nationalrail.co.uk.