Chancellor first to taste ‘Pennies from 11’
Chancellor George Osborne; SIBA chairman Keith Bott; Tatton Brewery founder Gregg Sawyer and Andrew Griffiths, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, enjoy ‘Pennies from 11’ in the Strangers’ Bar
Chancellor George Osborne yesterday enjoyed a pint of ‘Pennies From 11’, a beer created by his local brewer, Tatton Brewery, to commemorate the historic beer duty cut announced in this year’s Budget.
A cask of ‘Pennies From 11’ was delivered earlier this week from Tatton to the Strangers’ Bar in the House of Commons, where Mr Osborne was one of the first to sample it. The 5.2% ale is brewed using classic all-British ingredients including Fuggles and Goldings hops and has a rich copper colour – just like the penny that has been ‘saved’.
Tatton Brewery founder Gregg Sawyer, who travelled to London to drink a pint of his beer with the Chancellor, said, “Britain has a long tradition of brewing beers to celebrate special occasions and we felt that the first cut in beer duty since 1959 deserved to be marked in this way. Our brewery’s location in the Chancellor’s constituency made us the obvious candidate to thank him with beer and we’re delighted that he was able to join us for one of the first pints in the Strangers’ Bar.”
Keith Bott, chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), of which Tatton Brewery is a member, said, “It seems most fitting to commemorate the beer duty cut with beer and we are grateful to Tatton for stepping up and creating the excellent Pennies From 11.
“The lobbying efforts of the 650 local brewers belonging to SIBA played a crucial role in bringing about the end of the beer duty escalator. We are grateful to them and also to the many others involved in the campaign, including the British Beer & Pub Association, the Campaign for Real Ale and the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, led by Andrew Griffiths.”
Pennies From 11 will remain on sale in the Strangers’ Bar for one week, after which it will be replaced by ‘Sajid’s Choice’, a beer from Bird’s Brewery in the Bromsgrove constituency of Sajid Javid, Economic Secretary to the Treasury who was one of the key figures in the decision to ‘give beer a break’.
