The first Preston Guild of the 21
st century will be toasted throughout the North West with its very own Moorhouse’s ale.
Burnley’s award winning brewery is rolling out the Once Every Preston Guild (4%abv) cask-conditioned brew to help along the Guild celebrations from 31 August to 9 September.
The dedicated beer was brewed to an adventurous recipe in collaboration with international beer judge and commentator Melissa Cole*. Melissa is strongly linked to the city through the famous Old Black Bull in Frairgate – a regular outlet for Moorhouse’s celebrated ales run by her father-in-law Stan Eaton.
Once Every Preston Guild features roasted orange peel and orange blossom together with Maris Otter malted barley and malted wheat blended with three hop varieties – American Mount Hood with English Fuggles and First Gold. The result is ‘light coloured beer with a floral orange flavour, lightly hopped with spicy and citrus notes’.
The Preston Guild dates back to 1179 and originally met every twenty years to renew membership. It is the only Guild still celebrated in the UK and this year is the first since Preston was granted city status.
Moorhouse’s managing director David Grant said: “As a leading Lancashire cask ale brewer we felt duty bound to toast this milestone for the Guild with very distinctive real ale. After all, it is not that often you get the chance. Consequently our brewers collaborated with beer writer Melissa Cole to create an impressive innovative brew for the celebrations.”
Melissa added: “Once Every Preston Guild is meant to be bright, cheerful, quaffing ale, designed to please the palates of the Preston drinkers with its floral, orange blossom nose, lightly creamy middle and citrus finish. Early feedback from the fierce ale critics of the Old Black Bull has been very good indeed – 144 pints were despatched in 24 hours.”
Sales are expected to be concentrated around Preston and West Lancashire, while the brew is also available to pubs throughout the North West with direct delivery from the brewery.
Ends/MHPR- Once Every Preston Guild
Notes to editors:
Moorhouse’s has won more awards than any comparable brewer, including Black Cat voted Camra Supreme Champion Beer of Britain 2000. Last year Black Cat also took gold in the Standard Strength Cask-Conditioned Ale category of the Brewing Industry International Awards (BIIA).
The famous brands pay tribute to the legend of the infamous witches who inhabited the wild area around east Lancashire’s landmark Pendle Hill in 1612. Ten were executed at Lancaster after what has been condemned by historians as a sham trial. Moorhouse’s is currently running an online ‘Pardon the Pendle Witches’ campaign in support of the belief that in the 1600s there was a gross miscarriage of justice; that the accused were made an example of because of the harsh social climate of the time and a ‘show trial’ that hinged on the evidence of a nine year old girl. To support the Moorhouse’s campaign for the Pendle Witches pardon visit
www.moorhouses.co.uk
The launch of a new £4.2m brewing complex last year trebled the former production capacity at the North West’s leading dedicated cask brewer to more than 1000 barrels a week – 15 million pints a year.
*Melissa Cole is an author, beer writer and sommAleier and judges at international beer competitions in the UK, Europe and America. She was named one of the Most Powerful Women in the Drinks Industry by Channel4 Food and is the author of
Let me Tell You About Beer. Melissa’s blog is:
girlsguidetobeer.blogspot.com
The first Preston Guild of the 21st century will be toasted throughout the North West with its very own Moorhouse’s ale.