How do you distinguish yourself in a field where hundreds of emerging craft beers are vying for public attention?
Two years ago the British brewers Robinson's teamed up with the heavy metal group Iron Maiden to collaborate on a beer called The Trooper, named after one of the band's best known songs.
Robinson’s had previously done a successful collaboration with the band Elbow.
The hops were chosen after a blind testing by the band's lead singer Bruce Dickinson who counts himself as something of a beer aficionado.
Trooper beer has been a runaway success, according to Robinson's director of marketing David Bremner who told a beer summit in the UK today that the product has sold 3.5 million pints to date without a penny being spent on marketing.
He also said that pubs which stocked the beer in the brewery’s own pub chain in the UK have shown an 8 per cent footfall increase over those pubs that do not stock it.
The beer is widely available in Ireland and is imported through Premier International based in Enfield.
Premier International owner Dean McGuinness said the beer had gone from nowhere to being the most exported British craft beer.
“Robinson’s are on three shifts a day. They are literally brewing 24 hours a day trying to keep up with demand,” he said.
“We’ve been finding that it has been flying for us. The first order was sold out within two to three weeks and we’ve been ordering on a regular basis ever since.
“We’re going through a pallet a month no bother (1,200 bottles). When it was first introduced into the country there were people travelling 30 or 40 miles to get bottles of the stuff as it went into off-licences.”
Collaborations between musical acts and drinks companies are becoming increasingly common. Sierra Nevada have teamed up with the band Phish, Upright are brewing with The Clash while stoner rockers Borracho have all lent their names to beer.
Motörhead has lent its name to a wine, but Robinson’s turned down a chance to make a Motörhead beer saying it did not fit in with the image of the brewery.
