On Thursday, November 18th, Brixton Brewery held a giveaway event with a twist to promote their new Green Hope Ale.
The new beer has been developed in partnership with Vauxhall City Farm, who grew the hops that went into the ale, and those attending the event were given the opportunity to pay for one of the craft beers by making a farm animal noise.
“Last Thursday, we launched it, we had DJs, we had all the farm people down. We also had a keg in the bar, so we were giving away pints. It went in about two hours,” said Beth Kempner, the Brixton Brewery Taproom manager
Despite the beer being free, people were encouraged to donate to Vauxhall City Farm, after it almost shut down during the lockdown.
“In the summer we went and planted some hops and then a couple of months ago we harvested four big bags of them to put into our pale ale,” said Beth
In the first week alone, the bar has had over fifty customers bleating, neighing, and oinking for beers, and almost everyone donated.
Maurie Dee, a London resident, didn’t know about the event, but rushed down when he heard there was free beer that had been produced locally: “I think anything local is best, I definitely think that local community-run schemes are the way forward and I’d much prefer to come to the Brixton Taproom rather than a Wetherspoons,” he said.
Peter Davies, who works in the area, said: “I think it’s a fun idea, and it gets people talking about the brand. It’s just so random, it makes you remember this place because of it.”
People were driven to the event by adverts in the bar and through a social media campaign.
The event ran until this Thursday, November 25, but the brewery will keep selling their new beer and having a donation bucket for Vauxhall City Farm.