The Brass Castle team prepare for the Bigger Picture project
Adventurers and beer drinkers will encounter serpents, sea monsters, dragons and vampires in their search for gold during Brass Castle Brewery’s Bigger Picture project.
Over the next 12 months, the brewery will revive stories through a series of nine canned beers, the labels of which can be pieced together to form a fantasy map of Yorkshire, giving clues to a final treasure spot. The artwork has all been created by Leeds-based Claudia Bowler.
The label for the first beer features the Slingsby Serpent and will be launched this week, almost exactly 400 years on from the earliest surviving account of the local wyvern (or dragon).
In 1619, the antiquary Roger Dodsworth recounted the story of a serpent having lived in a recess near the village of Slingsby. It was said the villagers re-routed the road to avoid its lair, before it was slain by a member of the local Wyville family.
Phil Saltonstall, owner and founder of Brass Castle Brewery, said: “The team came up with the idea of a number of labels that could be combined into a bigger picture. I’m a big map fan so it struck me that a treasure map idea would be fun.
“Because the map builds over nine labels, it’s easier to hide clues that only really come together once all the labels are combined.
“Once I’d begun to think of treasure maps, we started to think of sea monsters and other legendary creatures that cartographers often imagined into their work, and I was absolutely delighted to realise that Yorkshire folklore is awash with legends and mythical creatures that we could recall within this.
Yorkshire food capital
“It has been fascinating to research all the stories and we are also pleased to place Malton prominently within the map, characterised by a Brass Castle. Malton is Yorkshire’s food capital and annually becomes Beertown, after all — that’s why the first beer is called Where’s Malton?”
He added: “The clues hidden in the label designs all point to one staffed location, and staff there know they are the finishing point. The first person to approach the staff there with the combined clues will receive the treasure, which — in-keeping with a treasure map — is solid, genuine gold.
“They can do as they wish with that, or we can donate it to charity on their behalf — it’s entirely up to them. Subsequent claimants will receive a smaller token award.”
Sir Gary Verity DL, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “What a fantastic initiative led by the award-winning Brass Castle Brewery, incorporating Yorkshire folklore with Yorkshire beer!
“Yorkshire pubs are known for being the heart of a community, so I’m certain that this project will add a unique new dimension to conversation over a beer. I’m looking forward to visiting Malton to find one for myself.”
Tom Naylor-Leyland, the driving force behind Malton’s foodie revolution, added: “What a fantastic and creative idea. I can’t wait to see and taste what Brass Castle have got in store for us. New craft beer, sea serpents and all Made In Malton. What’s not to like?”
The first beer, Where’s Malton? — an Ekuanot and Amarillo-hopped DDH pale ale — is launched this week, and others will follow roughly every six weeks for the next year. The game is afoot!
