Charlotte Smith-Jarvis speaks to beer expert Ross Turner of Arcade Street Tavern in Ipswich about all things beer.

Ever tried a Trappiste beer? A sour beer? Japanese beer? No? Then you need to get yourself down to Arcade Street Tavern quick smart.

Winner of Best Pub in the 2017 EADT Suffolk Food and Drink Awards, this place is an homage to all things brewed, with over 120 beers on tap and bottled available at any time – and a growing list of gins too.

But they don’t just stock the stuff. They know their product inside out and upside down. What Ross Turner (who owns the bar with business partner Ross Keo) doesn’t know about beer probably isn’t worth knowing – so he was the ideal person to talk to in the lead-up to Beer Day Britain tomorrow.

Q: Is there a beer for everyone?

A: People come in and say they don’t like beer. But they’ve tried an old bitter 20 years ago and assume it all tastes the same. We have a beer for everyone’s palette – sweet, sour, bitter – all sorts. Our list changes every six weeks and we’ve always got something new and different to try. We’ve had coconut beer, banana, mango, and Adnams have had a huge success with their Earl Grey beer.

Q: What’s your best seller?

A: Millionaire which is based on the flavours of millionaire’s shortbread. You’ve got that salt on the lips and then caramel in the mouth. It’s indulgent and very very popular.

Q: What’s the next big thing in beer?

A: Aged beers. They’re aged like wine. Adnams brought out aged Broadside which is matured for six years in bourbon barrels with cherries. We’re now seeing other breweries do this.

Q: You run cheese and beer pairing evenings – any favourites?

A: Porter and gouda are a classic pairing. I’d say San Francisco Porter with Old Amsterdam. The salt crystals from the cheese and the classic roasted caramel flavours in the porter make an incredible mouth sensation –a bit like cream liqueur. Peche is great with goat’s cheese too. I can’t eat goat’s cheese. I really don’t like it. But when I have it with peche it’s a flavour I never knew existed. Cheese and wine is well known, but for me cheese and beer go together so much better.

Q: What’s the nicest beer you’ve tried recently?

A: A Japanese beer called Hitachino Nest. I had it with Thai food recently. It’s got fresh orange zest flavours and is smooth with a hint of nutmeg.

Q: The most expensive beer you sell?

A: Crooked Stave. We don’t make money on it. They make one off beers not to be brewed again. You can keep them for years. Look at the best before dates on the bottles and it’ll say something like 2036.

Q: Your dessert island beer?

A: My all-time favourite is Schlenkerla Rauchbier from Bambery in Germany. It’s a tiny medieval town north of Nuremburg. The malt is smoked over beechwood and infused in the brewing process in the Marzen style.

Q: Sour beers are all the rage – what are they?

A: They are basically how beer was created 7,000 years ago. Wild yeast would ferment the mash and create the wort. Beer came about by accident! We have lambic beer. And kriek beer made by adding Morello cherries to lambic, and Gueuz which is grapy, apply and acidic. I love Duchess de Bourgogne. You get a delicate sweetness at the front and sour notes of oak and funkiness at the back.

Q: What would you give to a non-beer drinker?

A: Adnams Dry Hopped Lager – it’s lovely. Made with Galaxy hops.

Q: Your favourite East Anglian beers?

A: Nuraa by Woodfordes. Adnams Innovation IPA, Station 119 88 DIPA. Crouch Vale Brewery Brewers Gold.