In 1999, our founder, Paul Theakston, was approached by the team at Monty Python to create a beer to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the famous comedy troupe. Being a huge fan of the Python’s, Paul was more than happy to take on the quest and seek the Holy Grail!
The result of this collaboration was the creation of a Golden Ale called, well, Holy Grail of course. We continue to brew Holy Grail today and as well as being a permanently available bottled ale, we now brew the beer in cask too which is available all year round here in the UK.
As you can imagine, our Holy Grail gets a lot of attention across the world, so much so that it is is widely available in the U.S.A. where it has an amazing following. If you’re based in the United States and interested in getting hold of Holy Grail, please do get in touch and we can point you in the right direction to distributors and importers.
Our work with the Python’s doesn’t stop there! Following the popularity of Holy Grail, we have since created two additional beers in collaboration with the Pythons.
In 2016, we launched a new Christmas beer with the Python’s and a campaign to name the beer went live in the months prior. Various names were suggested and following a poll on Facebook to over 1.2 million Python fans, Brian was chosen as the new name for our Christmas beer – a nod to the cult classic film ‘Life of Brian’. At 3.9%, this very naughty pale ale is always a huge hit when released in cask. It will return in December 2018! He’s not the messiah though, he’s a very naughty boy!
Following the success of Holy Grail and Brian, it seemed only fitting to join forces for a third beer to complete the trilogy. As a result, in 2018 we launched Flying Circus, a limited edition 4.5% IPA available in cask and bottle. Taking inspiration from the Python TV series, Flying Circus was initially available over Easter but following the huge success, it will return on cask in 2019 in time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Monty Python.
For more info on our Monty Python range click here, or learn more about our wacky friends here.