LANDSCAPE gardener-turned-brewer Rob Witt has scooped gold at his first Robin Hood Beer Festival.
The new dad, 32, says the award-winning Four Hop Men of the Apocalypse beer is brewed to his own taste and is his perfect pint.
It was the first beer Mr Witt produced as an amateur brewer in his Beeston garden shed.
When it won a national competition two years ago, it gave the University of Nottingham graduate the confidence to ditch the day job and set up his own alternative micro brewery – Totally Brewed – near Meadow Lane.
Mr Witt, who has set up camp in the main tent of the Nottingham Castle beer festival, told the Post that his first experience of the event as a trader had been "fun but exhausting".
He said: "The reception we've had been really great.
"Thursday was kind of a trade night, so I had a lot of the other breweries coming over to say hello and they were really complimentary and I've been asking lots of questions.
"Even the big names like Blue Monkey and especially Magpie Brewery, who are my nearest neighbour if you like, have been incredibly helpful."
Mr Witt took 20 barrels with him and expected to sell out by the end of the festival today at 11pm.
He said: "Generally, business is going really well – I am selling more beer than I can make. It is a lot of hard work but I definitely made the right decision to change careers.
"I would rather work hard and be exhausted and do the job I love than go off every day in a suit to do a corporate job."
Festival-goer Andrea Turner, 44, of Edgware Road, Bulwell, was drinking Totally Brewed's Slap In The Face.
She said: "It is the second time I have tried it today – it was the first beer I went for and I scored it nine out of ten, and now I've had it again it will get another nine. It's not too heavy but still has lots of flavour."
The credit controller has been visiting the festival every year for longer than she can remember.
She said: "It has grown and changed over the years and I think it is just getting better and better. I'm glad they have the band playing all day now, as people who came in the day before didn't get the full experience. Everyone pays for a ticket, so they should get to see the whole thing."
Across four days, up to 30,000 people will visit the castle, with more than 1,215 brews to try.
Campaign for Real Ale volunteer Gus Manning, who is manning the organisation's recruitment stand, said the group had received more applications than ever.
"We normally get around 200 by the end of the festival but it's only 6pm on Friday and we already have 150. We have had to order in more application forms because everyone has been so keen – it's all really promising."
It is the 39th Nottingham beer festival and seventh Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival at the Castle. The first festival attracted 7,000 punters, while 30,000 are expected this year.
