It's a beer fit for a mayor!
New brewer on the block, Ryan Stoppard, made good on his promise to make Mayor of Kirklees Clr Jim Dodds a beer worthy to be sipped by the district’s leading citizen.
The 25-year-old who has managed a craft beer bar in New York made the pledge a few months ago to Clr Dodds at a beer tasting event.
Earlier this year he took over Hand Drawn Monkey’s premises after the brewery went into liquidation and Ryan’s company, Beer Ink, opened complete with its own tap room in Plover Road, Lindley.
Clr Dodds, a former military man who served in the Royal Signals for more than 30 years, said: “I met Ryan two to three months ago at this beer event when I was deputy mayor and he promised to make a mayor’s brew for my year as mayor and he said he would donate half the profits to the Royal British Legion.
“I spent a lot of time in Germany so, to be honest, I tend to be more of a lager man but it’s certainly a decent beer and tastes a little bit like Newcastle Brown ale.”
The beer, inveitably named Legion, is a 5.5% red ale that is brewed with red crystal malt and American hops.
It has a subtle balance between sweet malts and fruity bitterness and is available in keg, cask, and at Ryan’s tap room.
Ryan said: “We we’re first approached by Jim at a charity bottle tasting event lead by The Beer Shack, Scissett.
“He seemed to like the taste of our core range and we talked about how he would like to help his chosen charity and that he thought that making a beer would be a unique way of doing so. I agreed and the wheels were set in motion.
“I thought of making a red ale as the colour red is tied closely in with their main appeal, the Poppy Appeal.
“The artwork is designed by my 15-year-old sister India and incorporates a lot of aspects of the Royal British Legion, such as the lion – the emblem of the Royal British Legion – wearing an army helmet with a poppy tucked into the band.
“The mayor tried the beer and he loved it, so I will be dropping him off a case of bottles in the near future!
“I feel privileged to have made this beer for both the mayor and the Royal British Legion. I feel that the cause is such a worthy one and does a lot to help servicemen and women around the country. Half of all profits from the sale of the beer are given to the Royal British Legion.”
