Weekend Quick Cryptic 53 - Solution

My fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Saturday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's my turn. The crossword is entitled "More beer, please" and has a theme in celebration of the 30th East Anglian Beer Festival, which is on this week and which is within walking distance for me. If anyone would like to join me for a drink there, let me know. You can see some of my pictures from it earlier this week here.

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTT. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Before looking at the answers, if you would like some additional help, click the label below.

Hints...

Some hints and tips:

• The answers include two well-known East Anglian beers, one from Greene King in Suffolk and the other from Woodforde's in Norfolk
• There are 10 other answers which are types of beer, all of which I have tried at this year's festival, although I had to seek out a bottle for one of them.

And click on this label to get the solution, explanation of the answers, and related beers I've had at the festival.

Solution...

And here is an explanation of the answers, and the related beers I've had at the festival (which you can read about here) :

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc,  {deletions} and [] other indicators.

Across

1 Gospel writer's points (5)

MARKS - Double definition.

4 Contorted facial expression of serious fighter pilot (7)

        GRIMACE - GRIM (serious) ACE (fighter pilot).

8 Free braille translation (7)

        LIBERAL - (braille)* [free].

9 Religious leader has a couple of books - biblical books (5)

        ABBOT - A B B (couple of books) OT (Old Testament; biblical books). And the first of our beers, from Greene King in Suffolk.

10 Secret hero becomes sixty (10)

        THREESCORE - (Secret hero)* [becomes].

14 Question about stray sailing barge (6)

        WHERRY - WHY (question) [about] ERR (stray). The second of our beers, from Woodforde's in Norfolk

15 Drivers club is ultimately not xenophobic (6)

        RACIST - RAC (drivers club) IS and last letter of, [ultimately],  noT.

17 Regulations upset idle genius (10)

        GUIDELINES - (idle genius)* [upset].

20 Warning light seen in Camberwell (5)

        AMBER - Hidden in, [seen in] CAMBERwell. The first of our beer types. Not separated as a category in the festival program, but the Fat Cat Tropical Tomcat was that sort of colour

22 Houses with a view of football? (7)

        TERRACE - Double definition, the second a cryptic hint.

23 Meagre line penned by correspondent (7)

        SLENDER - L (line) inside, [penned by], SENDER (correspondent).

24 Wife and husband consume cereal (5)

        WHEAT - W (wife) H (husband) EAT (consume). I had to go to the bottle bar to find a De Vossen Oranje Wit to bag this category. Curiously, despite the name, it is brewed in Suffolk.

Down

1 Beer leads to many increasingly lively discussions (4)

        MILD - First letters of, [leads to],  Many Increasingly Lively Discussions. Elgood's Black Dog Mild is a deserved previous festival winner. Nice.

2 Gemstone lifted in jewellery burglary (4)

        RUBY - Reverse hidden (this is a down clue), [lifted in] jewellerY BURglary. [Update: Today I had some Rudgate Ruby Mild, so the Consett Red Dust can go with 21D].

3 Cleaner in rush to get additional payment (9)

        SURCHARGE - CHAR (cleaner) [in] SURGE (rush).

4 Sadly longed for this era? (6)

        GOLDEN - (longed)* [sadly]. Plenty of golden beers this year. Cabin brewery's Jubilee Platinum Gold is a  classic of the style.

5 Some sip at this beer (3)

        IPA - Hidden in [some] sIP At. I liked the Mr Bees Landguard IPA.

6 Heavenly food male sibling found in vast continent (8)

        AMBROSIA - M (male) BRO (sibling) [in] ASIA (vast continent).

7 Earnest request to dine in hallway (8)

        ENTREATY - EAT (dine) [in] ENTRY (hallway).

11 Cow carers assembled this crop protector (9)

        SCARECROW - (cow carers)* [assembled).

12 Defensive blunders that hurt Newcastle's initial ambitions (3,5)

        OWN GOALS - OW (that hurt) Newcastle's [initial] GOALS (ambitions).

13 I relabel supply "dependable" (8)

        RELIABLE - (I relabel)* [supply].

16 We hear German ask politely for beer (6)

        BITTER - Sounds like [we hear] BITTE (german for "please"). Mine was the Woodforde's Wherry.

18 Light-coloured fence post (4)

        PALE - Double definition - I enjoyed some Five Points Pale Ale.

19 Wager about second famous footballer (4)

        BEST - BET (wager) [about] S (second). St. Peter's Organic Best Bitter was my choice.

21 Wine imbibed by friends regularly (3)

        RED - Alternate letters [regularly] of fRiEnDs. The Consett Red Dust was good.