Creating a beam of light in cycles ?

Hi guys. I have been trying to recreate the hatch from the TV show Lost. In one of the episodes there is a beam of light that points upwards into the sky from the hatch. I have added a glare node and I am getting the glow. I have tried adding a spot lamp to emulate it but it is not coming up at all. I was wondering how I could create a beam of light and what the best method would be within cycles.

I am relatively new to blender so I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction ?

Thanks

You need light to scatter through a volume to see a beam, Or you could fake it if it’s just for a still shot.