Robin Hood Celebrated in New Beer

Castle Rock Brewery added a new Robin Hood Ale as part of its 35th anniversary celebrations in 2012.

The new beer from Nottingham’s largest full mash independent brewery is the first of four celebratory ales designed for 2012 and is the sixth in a series of Nottinghamian Beers celebrating local heroes. Robin Hood now joins a select few of people honoured by Castle Rock. Included in the list are Alan Sillitoe, the famous writer of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning; George Green, the mathematician who lived at Green’s Windmill; and Frederick Gibson Garton, inventor of HP sauce. Castle Rock Brewery, located at the Vat and Fiddle pub in Nottingham, became famous last year when it released the Kiss Me Kate beer to celebrate the royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.

Its Harvest Pale is a popular cask beer in the region. Charlie Blomeley, Castle Rock’s commercial manager said “Though the name is an obvious one for us, it took a competition organised with Nottingham City Libraries, and won by book lover Helen Marsden, to put the name at the top of our list for 2012.  Helen was only too pleased to come to the brewery and watch ‘her’ brew being made”.  Helen says she was shocked and delighted to be the first to suggest Nottingham’s popular folk hero.  “I’ve only just settled in Nottingham having spent the last ten years in Cuba working as a translator. Robin Hood, and my favourites at the City Ground, were the two main reasons I picked Nottingham as my home city. I’ve been a Forest fan since I was six years old, and now it looks like I’ll have to improve my understanding of real ale.

“Thankfully, this won’t be too difficult as I’m a regular at the Vat and Fiddle pub with members of the Nottingham School of Samba. We unwind there after our evening rehearsals,” she says.  

The Robin Hood beer is on sale in late January and February in pubs across the east midlands and Yorkshire. Brewery tours are available at the Vat and Fiddle pub for over 18’s and groups of 10 or more.