Mayday Project
We’re incredibly proud to announce that we are involved in this year’s Mayday Project, organised by McColl’s Brewery and sponsored by hop merchants BarthHaas.
The Mayday Project sees seven UK breweries come together to create 6 unique collaboration beers, all of which are due to launch across the country on Friday 26th April in both keg and can. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of men’s mental health, get people talking and reduce the stigma. 15p from each pint or can is donated and split between three Mayday charities.
The beers are:
McColl’s Brewery x Abbeydale Brewery Signal – 5.5% Extra Hoppy Bier
Roosters Brewery Co. x McColl’s Brewery Perfect Circle – 4.3% Session Cold IPA
Moor Beer x McColl’s Brewery Changing Minds – 2.5% Hoppy Table Beer
Brew York x McColl’s Brewery A Problem Shared – 5.8% West Coast IPA
Attic Brew Co. x McColl’s Brewery Life Raft – 3.8% Session Pale
Anspach & Hobday x McColl’s Brewery Parachute Pale – 4.5% Pale Ale
Twenty-five venues will be pouring all six beers simultaneously (head here for full details of where you can find the beers – local to us in Sheffield we have the Wonky Labrador and the Rutland Arms participating), while cans will be available in 6-packs (containing 1 of each beer) from the McColl’s webshop.
We loved our day up in Bishop Auckland with McColl’s and BarthHaas rustling up “Signal”, a dialled up hybrid that is hoppy like an IPA yet co-fermented to sit closer to a Belgian Saison – inspired by McColl’s incredible “Lowlands”, recently described by the Craft Beer Channel as the “UK’s Taras Boulba” and exactly the sort of thing that our Robin, who had the privilege of joining the brewday, really enjoys. Signal is a dry and bitter bier that is light and refreshing, dry hopped with Hallertau Blanc, Huell Melon and Enigma hops that offer notes of lemongrass and ginger, plus a delicate farmhouse character in the finish.
The three charities involved were chosen for their practical, proactive and genuinely effective means of encouraging men to tackle the issues they face, often feelings of isolation, loneliness, guilt or a loss of pride and community. They are: Men’s Pie Club from Newcastle who work to combat social isolation and a lack of belonging in men, and the associated mental health issues. They do this in a simple way by providing a time and a space (and all the equipment) to make pies, maybe have a cuppa and a natter as well.
Second up is ManUp? from Ipswich who are on a mission to challenge the adapted term ‘Man up’ – don’t just brush yourself down and get on with it! Beyond that they want to abolish the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and have a great number of resources to achieve this.
And finally we have Bristol based Grieving Pint, who provide regular and accessible sessions for young men to speak about their mental health, over a pint, actively promoting collective and responsible drinking.
A huge thank you to McColl’s for inviting us to be involved, and to BarthHaas for their support. Please join us in raising a glass in support of this amazing project on Friday 26th April.
