Earlier this year I encountered a bold beer that was the result of a collaboration between two Kent breweries, Gadds and Westerham, along with Sambrooks in South London. With Stand is a 9 per cent ABV “anti-imperial stout” with a share of the sales going to charities supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Last month the annual Norwich City of Ale festivities got off to a flying start with the launch of four beers that were the result of collaboration between brewers in Norfolk and Leuven in Belgium.

In 2019 I went to the Zythos beer festival and learned that its home base, Leuven, is known as Beer City. I thought a “beer twinning” with Norwich could be productive and it was taken up with enthusiasm in both cities. Four brewers from Norfolk went to the Leuven area in February and the result was the collab beers tasted last month.

The two cities have much in common where beer is concerned. Leuven had 42 breweries in the 19th century while Norwich had 27. In the 20th century Stella Artois, founded in Leuven, went on the rampage, buying and closing its rivals in order to fill local bars with its lager.

Similarly, the big London brewer Watney bought and closed the three remaining Norwich breweries in order to foist its infamous Red Barrel keg beer on drinkers in scores of pubs in the region.

But you can’t destroy the heritage of good beer. There are now close to 50 breweries in Norfolk while the Leuven area has also seen the growth of many new independent producers.

The four Norfolk brewers who took part in the collaboration are Grain, Poppyland, Moongazer and Tindall. Their new-found colleagues in Belgium are Adept, Braxatorium Parcensis, De Coureur and Hof ten Dormaal.

David Holliday from Moongazer and Dimitri Staelens from Adept joined forces to brew Dark Horse or Donkers Haas (4.5 per cent). It’s made with oats making up 67 per cent of the grain along with Norfolk-grown Maris Otter malt, a caramel malt called Cara Special and English Fuggles hops. It has a rich creamy grain aroma and palate with a touch of banana fruit and spicy notes from the Fuggles.

Michael Green at Tindall and Jef Janssens at Hof ten Dormaal fashioned a 4.2 per cent beer called Coffee Pale. The grains are pale malt and oatmeal with an American hop, Belma. A roaster in Beccles supplied the coffee that’s added with the hops. There are many beers today that have an addition of coffee, but they tend to be dark whereas this is a pale beer with honeyed malt, fruity hops and a delicious coffee note.

Strangers Witbier (5.5 per cent), is a Belgian-style wheat beer brewed by Dave Cornell at Poppyland in Cromer, working with Bart Delvaux at De Coureur in Leuven. It’s an immensely complex beer brewed with pale and darker Munich malts, oats and rice. The hops are German Hallertau and Czech Saaz with the addition of orange peel, camomile, coriander and cinnamon. The unfiltered, cloudy gold beer has a massive attack of spices and fruit alongside rich malt and floral hops.

Strangers No More (4.8 per cent) was brewed by Phil Halls at Grain and Joris Brams at Braxatorium Parcensis. The Belgian beer’s name is Latin for brewery in the park and Joris’s plant is based in the grounds of a former Norbertine abbey where monks brewed beer. Rye and wheat are grown there today, and the grains were used in the beer, with pale malt and English Challenger and Goldings hops. Rye adds a delicious spicy note the beer that also offers powerful notes of biscuit malt and peppery hops.

There’s a good reason why two of the beers have stranger in their names. The beers were launched at the Strangers Hall in Norwich that gave sanctuary to people from the Low Countries escaping religious persecution in the medieval period. They brought with them a love of good beer. They grew hops and encouraged English brewers to use them: until then English ale was unhopped.

The four beers will be available in several of the 59 pubs which are supporting City of Ale that runs until 25 June. See www.CityofAle.org.uk.

A very different collab beer was also unveiled last month. Thornbridge brewery in Bakewell, Derbyshire, teamed up with the renowned Czech brewer Budweiser Budvar to launch a 4.8 per cent lager called Czech Mates. The beer was brewed at Thornbridge by head brewer Rob Lovatt and Budvar brewmaster Adam Broz.

It’s a rich blend of English and Czech ingredients: Maris Otter malting barley and East Kent Goldings hops with Budvar yeast. The beer is lagered or aged for 60 days – a lengthy time when most global lager brands are produced in just a week or two.

The finished beer has honeyed malt, spicy hops and a hint of apple on the aroma with creamy malt on the palate balanced by hops and fruit. Hop bitterness grows in the finish but there are continuing notes of biscuit malt and apple. The beer will be available in most major retailers.

To avoid confusion, Budweiser Budvar has nothing to do with the American Budweiser brand, which is owned by global giant AB InBev. Budvar is a state-owned brewery that will not be privatised until AB InBev drops its attempts to buy the brewery and destroy the integrity of the beer.

Enjoy the real thing.