Be BeeWyched by Fairtrade beer

February 26, 2007: BeeWyched, Wychwood Brewery’s first Fairtrade beer, will be launched as beer of the month in Morrison’s stores from March 5, to coincide with National Fairtrade Fortnight (February 26 to March 11), priced at £1.59 per 500ml. BeeWyched will also be listed in Waitrose from the end of March.

The delightfully fragrant 5% ABV honey beer is brewed with Chilean Fairtrade honey from the foothills of the Andes, which combines delicious fruity flavours with a hint of vanilla and a smooth consistency.

BeeWyched’s recipe also includes Fairtrade sugars from Malawi on a bed of English pale ale malts and English Challenger hops. The result is a golden amber-coloured ale combining powerful honey aromas, a crisp blend of citrus grapefruit flavours from the hops, and a subtle honey background.

Wychwood Brewery managing director Rupert Thompson said: "“Innovation is a key part of our Wychwood strategy and we are very excited to have developed this entrancing new beer.

"Beer drinkers are increasingly seeking out speciality beers with ‘natural’ values, and the provenance of ingredients is becoming important in this growing sector.

“As Britain’s leading organic brewer through our own Brakspear Organic and Circle Master brands — and our brewing of Duchy Originals Organic Ales — we see BeeWyched’s Fairtrade values as a logical extension of our support not only for the environment, but also for producers of our raw materials.

"And we hope that our commitment to brew Brakspear’s classic Oxfordshire beers once again in their home county, when the Henley brewing was closed in 2002, mirrors Fairtrade’s respect for local communities and their culture.”

Honey beers are a descendant of mead, the unhopped drink of fermented honey and water, historically the preferred drink of Northern Europe, and of ancient Greece in its heyday. Mentioned in the writings of Aristotle and Pliny, meads and their many spiced or fruit-flavoured derivatives are among the oldest styles of beer; and research indicates that modern barley-based honey beers appeal to both male and female drinkers.

But historically, honeyed brews were more of a ‘man thing’, the honeymoon period referring to the honeyed brews conjured up by the father of the bride for his new son-in-law to slake the latter’s thirst for one lunar month.

Honey beers were popular in Britain until brewers fell foul of the malt tax in the 1690s, which imposed taxes on barley or wheat malts and prohibited other sources of sugars, such as honey.

According to beer historian Martyn Cornell, there was a resurgence of honey beers after the second world war, not just from drinkers but also from hairdressers, who found that honey beer added lustre and body to their coiffure.