- Queen has launched two bitters using Laureate Spring Barley from Sandringham
- Bottles are on sale at Sandringham gift shop for £3.99 for 500ml
- Best Bitter is a ‘cold filtered traditionally brewed beer’
- Golden IPA is a ‘cold filtered amber coloured Ale’ with three types of hop
The Queen has launched her first beer made with plants grown on her Royal Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Her Majesty has moved into home brewing with two new bitters produced using organic Laureate Spring Barley harvested from her gardens and crystal clear water drawn from a nearby bore hole.
Sandringham Best Bitter is priced at £3.99 for a 500ml bottle and is made locally by Barsham Brewery in North Norfolk. There are two types of brew available, a 4.3% Best Bitter and a stronger 5% Golden IPA.
The Best Bitter is a ‘cold filtered traditionally brewed beer’ made using three different varieties of hops, which create a ‘characteristic full flavoured beer, according to the label.
The Golden IPA is a ‘cold filtered amber coloured Ale’ which uses three different types of hop to create ‘the subtle flavour’ of the ‘strong beer.’
Bottles, which have the name Sandringham on the front and pictures of a pheasant and a hare, are being sold at the estate’s gift shop, which has now re-opened following Covid restrictions.
A sign in the shop states: ‘Sandringham Best Bitter is a cold filtered traditionally brewed beer. This uniquely natural beer is produced locally by Barsham Brewery using Organic Laureate Spring Barley harvested from the Royal estate, and crystal clear water drawn from a nearby bore hole.’
The label on the bottles states the beer has been ‘Made in the UK for the Sandringham Estate’ and adds: ‘The Sandringham Estate is a wildlife haven for Pheasants, Hares, Owls and many other species thrive in the wood and farmland habitats.’
Sandringham already sells its own Celebration Gin, which is made in a distillery on the estate. Prince Charles launched his own organic Highgrove gin just months after the Royal Collection Trust started selling a Buckingham Palace variety, which sold out online within eight hours.
The official Buckingham Palace gin launched by the Royal Collection Trust in July last year sold out online within eight hours.
In November last year, the royal launched a new gin made with plants grown in her Sandringham estate.
The batch of Sandringham Celebration Gin is priced at £50 for a 50cl bottle and was made in a distillery on the estate in north Norfolk.
The Queen is known to be a gin lover and is said to enjoy it as a pre-dinner tipple mixed with Dubonnet.
The Sandringham gin is flavoured with leaves from myrtle plants grown on the estate and exotic Sharon fruit, known as Chinese persimmon, from its walled garden.
Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, the Queen’s Northern Ireland residence, also launched its own variety of gin in February this year, made using rose petals from the gardens and blended with apples and pears from the castle’s Walled Garden.