A Tower Hill pub has collaborated with a brewery to create a beer honouring the manager’s late stepbrother and fundraising for the wheelchair charity that supported him.
Despite being told he would only live to 20 years of age, Tom Hall, who had cerebral palsy, was 46 when he died in January.
James Barnes-Smith, general manager of Seething Lane Tap, has partnered with Friendship Adventure Brewery and Taproom, based in Brixton, to produce ‘Tropical Tom’ and raise money for the wheelchair charity WheelPower.
The charity provided Tom with a wheelchair to allow him to go on hikes or to the park.
James said: “He mainly used the chair to get to the pub!
“WheelPower fought for about two months to raise money so he could get what could only be described as an off-road wheelchair.
“When I found that out I thought, ‘why not do this?’.”
James explained why the project felt like the right way to remember Tom: “He could only drink Budweiser, but he loved his beer!
“I even bought him a Budweiser t-shirt for one of his birthdays.”
‘Tropical Tom’ is a 4% pale ale, made from an experimental new hop for a fruity flavour profile that’s balanced by a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Stuart Brown, head brewer at Friendship Adventure, explained that Seething Lane Tap told Friendship’s sales manager, James Pettefar, about Tom’s story.
Stuart said: “Straight away it just seemed like something we might want to get involved with.
“The idea of the beer is that it’s super accessible, not a fancy craft beer – something that everyone in their family can have a pint of and go ‘ah, that’s nice’.”
On the day ‘Tropical Tom’ was brewed, the family went to Friendship Adventure to get involved, and all took turns to stir the barley grains that make the malt.
James said: “[Tom’s dad] said it’s the best day he’s had in a long time, which is lovely to hear.”
The process of making ‘Tropical Tom’ was different from most collaborative beers Stuart had made in the past.
He said: “Usually you try and learn from each other, or it’s your mates that you want to make a beer with.
“I think this was more to do a nice thing for the family: they made it really clear this was something they wanted to do for Tom that they could all do together to honour his memory.”
James approached several breweries before settling on Friendship.
He said: “Nobody is stupid enough to say they don’t want to be a part of that; they had to pitch and win.
“I accidentally booked [two breweries] at the same time, so they came and they were battling off – I ended up with about 20 cans in front of me.
“It was brilliant!”
He explained why Friendship Adventure eventually won the bid: “The whole idea is to have an affordable beer, cost per barrel, so we don’t have to charge a stupid amount to customers, so more people will buy it, and to have a crafty flavour profile that can fit most palettes.”
For every keg of Tropical Tom bought, Brewdog, who own Seething Lane Tap, are donating £10 to WheelPower.
James has also set up a JustGiving page.
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