To Alan Sagar there's nothing simple about a bottle of beer.

As the man behind an award-winning off-licence he's got hundreds from all over the world to choose from.

We went to meet him.

MOST people know that certain wines are recommended with different types of foods.

But did you know that the same applies to beer?

If you having a barbecue, how about sampling a Rauchbier from Bavaria?

Fish on the menu? A Budvar from the Czech Republic would be the perfect accompaniment.

For lamb, the beers of Northern France will set your joint off perfectly.

For this information and much more besides, Alan Sagar is the man to ask about beer.

At his family-run off licence, the Rainhall Drinks Company in Barnoldswick, Alan usually has around 300 different beers of the world in stock and he knows something about every single one of them.

"I have been known to call them my children," laughed Alan, picking up a bottle at random from one of the heaving shelves.

Alan and his wife Penny took over the family grocery business in 1995 and five years later decided to start selling a few specialist beers.

"It was partly out of necessity, to do it for commercial reasons," said Alan, "and also because I'd always been interested in beer."

Within two years Alan and Penny won the Booker Prize (not the literary award but the one awarded to the country's best off licence) and they've gone on to win it twice more.

They also beat the major supermarkets to carry of the Beer Retailer of the Year Award from Carlsberg Tetley in 2003.

"We always try to have beers which you won't see anywhere else," said Alan.

"People are becoming much more willing to try different beers now and wine has lost any stigma attached to it."

Both Penny and Alan were novices in the trade when they started.

"I didn't like wine at all," said Penny.

"I'd buy the cheapest bottle I could and add lemonade to it before I'd drink it."

Now she's in charge of around 500 different wines from around the world.

"I've taken wine exams and I can't drink cheap wine now," she said.

When it come to beers, Alan believes there's something for all tastes from organic and fruit flavoured beers to Trappist beer from Belgium.

"It can only be called Trappist beer if it's brewed by monks within the monastery walls," he said.

"There are only six Trappist breweries in the world and I've got beer from five of them. The sixth will only sell it to you in person on certain days of the year so I think we'll have to arrange a trip to Belgium."

Alan also has bottles of the world's strongest beer, Samichlaus from Austria at some 14 per cent.

"We did have some Dogfish Head Stout from America which was 21 per cent," he said.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be but you wouldn't want to drink a lot of it!"

The cellar of the business reveals another surprise - it has got its own bar.

Until last year it was a private members club but now it is open to the public with Alan acting as landlord.

Alan and Penny have also expanded into Oswaldtwistle Mills and they've got plans to remodel their premises in Barnoldswick to start serving food.