THE pursuit of 'hoppiness' brought drinkers flocking to the opening days of the third annual Bolton Beer Festival.

Bolton Wanderers legend John McGinlay officially opened the festival of real ale and cider, held at Bolton Ukrainian Club, on Thursday.

By this afternoon thirsty ale aficionados were pouring back through the doors, some having queued for more than half an hour.

Tomorrow, the final day of the festival, will feature a fun day in association with Astley Bridge-based Bank Top Brewery.

The doors to the club in Castle Street will open at noon tomorrow, with the festival running until 10.30pm. The festival is also open until 10.30pm tonight.

While a relatively small festival in regional Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) terms, there have still been more than 40 real ales and eight real ciders and perries on offer for drinkers to sample.

Bruiser, a 4.2 per cent bitter from Hogarths microbrewery in Churchgate, was the first beer to sell out when the pump ran dry this afternoon.

Festival organiser, Pete Kobryn, said: “We look to provide people with some of the best real ales and ciders produced within the UK.

“Choosing only 44 beers, as there are over 1,500 breweries nationwide, makes final selection quite a challenge, but we feel we’ve come up with a great mix of styles, indicative of such a thriving industry.

“The beer list also includes some great quality ales from our Bolton breweries: Bank Top; Blackedge; Dunscar Bridge; and Hogarths.”

Money is being raised for Bolton Hospice during the festival, which is also offering bottled beers for the first time this year.

For more information: go to boltonbeerfestival.org.uk, go to facebook.com/BoltonCAMRAfestival or follow @BoltonCAMRAbeer on Twitter.