West Berkshire Brewery has teamed up with 1980s pop synth duo Soft Cell to launch a limited edition beer, Say Hello Wave Goodbye.
The beer is available exclusively in Mitchells & Butlers pubs in cask from today (September 3).
The 4.2% ABV pale ale is inspired by the classic English Bitters enjoyed by the band during their early years in Leeds, with the addition of New World hops to reflect their time in America.
The beer has flavours of digestive biscuit, toffee, grapefruit and orange and will be on tap across the popular M&B brands, Nicholson’s Pubs, Ember Inns and Castle Pubs for three months as part of their Autumn Seasonal Cask Range.
A 5.2% bottled version of the beer will also be available as an extremely limited-edition one-off brew, with a release date yet to be announced.
The pale ale will be available just in time for the band’s final show at the O2 in London on September 30. The show and the beer are both named Say Hello Wave Goodbye as a tribute to one of Soft Cell’s best-known songs from the duo’s 1981 debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
The classic number one, Tainted Love, was also taken from the same album, which remains one of the biggest-selling singles of all time in both the UK and the US.
Mitchells and Butlers’ beer and cider procurement manager, Ben Lockwood, said: “Our guests really engage with collaborations such as this, and having a band as iconic as Soft Cell step in to the beer world will only stimulate more great conversations in our pubs this autumn.”
Ruth Mitchell, national account manager for West Berkshire Brewery, said: “We are so pleased to be working with M&B and Soft Cell on this project and can’t wait to see the beer in fans’ hands!”
And Dave Ball, of Soft Cell, added: “A pint is a game of two halves, and I can confirm that no synthesisers were used in the making of this product.”
The collaboration has been brought together by music marketing consultancy Renegade Music who have successfully delivered several beer and music collaboration projects since 2012.
