A bee hotel installed by Warner’s Gin at Brakspear pub the Frogmill, near Cheltenham
Brakspear has donated £1,080 to Friends of the Earth, generated from sales of its seasonal honey beer, Honey Bee. And 40 of its pubs have installed bee hotels in their gardens.
Honey Bee is a 4.4% ABV golden pale ale with delicate, subtle honey notes. It was first brewed in 2015, and has raised more than £5,000 in total for Friends of the Earth. This year, Brakspear donated 10p to the charity for every pint sold.
The money raised is supporting a campaign to make space for nature, including in cities and towns. A nature-depleted world will be less resilient to the impact of climate breakdown.
The campaign extends the great work achieved by The Bee Cause, the charity’s programme to halt the UK’s declining bee populations, which Honey Bee was initially brewed to support.
This year, Brakspear also launched a partnership with Warner’s Honeybee Gin to support bees. Every pub buying a bottle of gin received a packet of bee-friendly wild flower seeds to plant in their garden. And more than 40 pubs have installed a bee hotel. These encourage solitary bees, who are extremely effective pollinators. One solitary bee does as much pollinating as 120 honey bees.
Brakspear chief executive, Tom Davies, said: “Protecting our bees, and other threatened species, is a cause that’s close to our hearts at Brakspear. Our logo features a bee, and many of our pubs have beautiful gardens that rely on bees to keep them colourful and fragrant, year after year.
“So we’re delighted that Honey Bee was again a popular choice with our customers and raised a healthy sum for Friends of the Earth. Our new partnership with Warner’s has also been a great success, helping to turn more of our pub gardens into bee-friendly spaces.”
Friends of the Earth chief executive, Craig Bennett, said: “As we lose nature, we lose a huge part of what makes us happy and healthy.
“We’re grateful to to Brakspear, their licensees, and customers, for their support and this donation. Every penny raised by sales of Honey Bee will help us do more to raise awareness and encourage action by individuals and government to halt climate breakdown and species decline.”
Created by Brakspear head brewer, Malcolm Mayo, Honey Bee uses Maris Otter and Crystal malts, as well as malted oats, and First Gold and Willamette hops. It has delicate, subtle honey notes, with a bracing delivery of hops on the follow through.
