Brewery toasts Iron Maiden ale success with special edition
THE success of a beer developed in collaboration with real-ale loving Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson and Stockport-based Robinsons brewery is being marked with a special limited edition bottled brew.
In celebration of Trooper Premium British Beer smashing through the 10 million pint barrier in just over two years, Trooper 666 will be made available to fans fans in many countries around the world from October.
Dickinson said: “Our fans have been asking for a stronger brew and it seemed only right to do this at 6.6% ABV. Despite the links with our song ‘The Number of The Beast’, the name Trooper 666 has actually come about as a result of some detailed research by historian Terry Brighton, who has shown that there were in fact 666 soldiers that rode in The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava in 1854, and not just the 600 of Tennyson’s famous poem.”
Brighton, author of ‘Hell Riders: The Truth About the Charge of the Light Brigade’ asserts, “A nominal roll was made at the time listing the cavalrymen present at Balaclava – I then used other contemporary records, of those killed and wounded, taken prisoner, assigned to other duties and so on, to prove who did and did not charge, and amazingly it added up to 666! Remarkably one of the extras was the hungover Regimental butcher, who charged wearing his butcher’s overall in place of his uniform, and wielding a butcher’s axe instead of a sabre.”
“Trooper 666 is the same award-winning Trooper recipe but brewed to a higher gravity,” says Trooper brand manager John Robinson. “The result is another wonderfully authentic beer that is packed with malt but slightly sweeter than the original. It has a dry finish and is remarkably moreish.”
Launched in May 2013, the original Trooper has proved to be a global success story. The Premium British Beer is now being exported to 42 countries.
