Local brewer, Peter Haydon, has teamed up with the Crafted & Distilled Brewery to produce a crowdfunded, WWI centenary ale. The limited edition beer, called “The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke”, is to be brewed just the once on the 28th July – 100 years to the day that the First World War started.
Interesting name. So what’s the story?
Well, the ale is inspired by a painting of the same name by Richard Dadd. The painting currently hangs in the Tate, where it was received as a gift from the war poet, Siegfried Sassoon, in memory of a friend and two brothers who lost their lives in the Great War.
But Peter, the brewer, has a personal connection to the painting. It was in fact his great grandfather that commissioned it, when he met the artist while he was working at Bethlem Hospital (where the artist was a patient).
True to the painting, the beer contains chestnuts, which provides its prominent nutty characteristics. And it weighs in at 5.5%.
If you’ve sampled any of Peter’s other concoctions (found in various Brixton pubs and shop shelves) you’ll know he likes a tale behind his ale. Peter runs his own A Head in a Hat brewery from the Florence pub on Dulwich Road, and is no stranger to bringing our history to life through beer. He’s also the author of An Inebriated History of Britain.
The crowdfunding campaign ends on 27th July. See here for more details of how to purchase the limited edition ale. And here’s a short vid…
https://vimeo.com/99569267 w=600
