There are countless beers out
there named bird species, fighter planes, famous historical persons, iconic
films and popular songs. Yet more elusive is the connection between the brewing
industry and television, which tends to be harder to find. For several decades, there have been a slew of beers released that have been inspired
by notable TV shows, characters and catchphrases. Some shows are more commonly
used than others like 'Dad’s Army', 'Only Fools & Horses' and 'Peaky
Blinders' for instance. Occasionally a release has featured an iconic
catchphrase from a character in a TV show like Cupid Stunt (in 'The Kenny
Everett Television Show') best remembered for the line “it’s all done in the
best possible taste”. Moreover, memorable episode titles and scenes have also been
the subject of attention such as the legendary Goodies episode 'Kitten Kong' for instance. The inspiration is not
just limited to British TV shows, a number of US TV shows have frequented in
beer titles as well, the likes of 'Star Trek' has particularly been a regular
source of attention, appearing in several releases. And yet whilst most of
these beers tend to be limited one-off releases and are seldom known outside
their locality, some breweries have gone even further and have released entire ranges
of beers dedicated to the television shows, such as Falstaff Brewery’s series
of beers released under the Catchphrase banner, or the more recent slew of
monthly releases from Hydes Brewery during the 2024 season. The range of beers
named after or influenced by TV shows is vast.
When it comes to beer names, a sizeable
number of TV shows have been utilized for inspiration. Yet some are more borrowed
from than others. Rather surprisingly, 'Dad’s Army' comes out at the top of the
list with the most examples linked to show, some of these are named after
characters from the show like Mainwaring’s Mild (4.3%) – Firehouse, and
a good deal more take after many of the show’s iconic catchphrases like Don’t
Panic! (4.6%) – Hydes, uttered on a number of occasions by Lance Corporal
Jones, or Don’t
Tell Him Pike (4.2%) – Vale, which comes from the memorable line uttered by
Captain Mainwaring in the episode ‘The Deadly Attachment’ when he accidentally reveals Pike's name to the U-Boat captain. Uniquely for a British
TV show, one brewery has gone to even the lengths of producing a range of beers
inspired by the show. In 2018, Drenchfoot Brewery was launched by Paul Foot in
Thetford, the town is notable as most of the exteriors for 'Dad’s Army' were
filmed there. Sensing a potential marketing opportunity, he went onto produce a range of
beers inspired by the town’s most famous claim to fame, including the likes of Don’t
Panic (4%), Stupid Boy (4.4%), Home Guard Bitter (3.7%) and Captain
Stout (4.1%) for instance, markedly since their release, beers like Stupid
Boy (4.4%) have even been sold at the town’s Dad’s Army Museum. Another
TV show that has frequently fallen under the brewer’s radar is 'Only Fools and
Horses', frequently rated highly in a number of polls, it is easy to see why it
is so popular among the general public. There are a host of well-known catchphrases commonly
spoken by Del Boy that have featured in beers including This Time Next Year
Rodney (4.1%) – VOG, You Plonker (4.2%) – Morgan’s Ales, and Lovely
Jubbly (3.8%) – Bowman Ales, the latter example being a collaboration with Mr Whitehead’s
Cider Company, sold on limited edition at 60,000 bottles. As well as memorable scenes like One More
Turn (3.9%) – Hydes, as uttered by Del in the episode 'A Touch of Glass' prior to dropping the wrong chandelier, to Trigger’s Broom (4.4%) when Trigger
announces in the episode 'Heroes and Villains' that’s he’s been given an award
for using the same broom for 20 years, despite it having 17 new heads and 14
replacement handles. Whilst many of these examples tend to be one-off releases,
Diamond Geezer (4.9%) – By the Horns Brewing Co., bucks this trend, since
the Wimbledon based brewery launched operations in 2011, this hoppy red ale
with flavours as bold as Del Boy’s fruity character has become one of their most
popular semi-regular releases. In more recent times, the likes of 'Peaky
Blinders' have become a popular subject for brewers, in 2019 Dancing Duck Brewery
produced Beaky Blinder (4.5%) a wry take on the show’s name that also
plays reference to the brewery’s range of Duck themed beers. The former Saldler’s
Brewery developed a range of ales dedicated to the show including Peaky
Blinder Pale Ale (4.3%), Peaky Blinder Black IPA (4.4%) and Peaky
Blinder Christmas Pudding (6%) for instance. Such was the popularity of the
show, the show’s producers even approached Thornbridge Brewery and commissioned
them to create a beer. After a period of development, in February 2020 they
released Shelby (5%), a traditional English style IPA, it was produced in
a style that would have been drunk in the 1920’s, (where the series is set) and
would have likely being supped by the infamous Shelby brothers which the beer
is named after. At the time of its release, the show’s creator Steve Knight proclaimed
it as “the first and only legitimate Peaky endorsed beer,” perhaps to put it more
clearly, it is the only British beer (as of 2025) with direct involvement from the makers
of a television show.
Another area of interest for brewers is catchphrase, those memorable lines that stream into the nation’s subconsciousness like flypaper. The sitcom 'Gavin & Stacey' has a number of iconic catchphrases including “oh” and “what’s occurring?” as commonly stated by Nessa for instance, both of these phrases have featured in beers like Oh! What’s Occurring (4.1%) – VOG Brewery, which is incidentally based in Barry where much of the show was set and filmed, along with Wat’s Occurring? (3.9%) – Great Oakley, the latter is a session level golden ale that is regularly produced by the brewery, notably since it release, it has become one of their flagship products, winning a slew of awards including Silver in 2013 from the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), 2010, 2012 CAMRA champion beer of Britain finalists and a Gold in 2011 at the Derby City Charter Festival. Well known quotes from other TV shows have also made appearances in beers like Survey Says (4.2%) – Hydes, which comes from the quiz show 'Family Fortunes', Beam Me Up (4.2%) – Bristol Beer Factory, derived from a frequent phrase uttered in the original 'Star Trek' series, Rock On Tommy (3.8%) – Morgan’s Ales, a line frequently uttered by Bobby Ball in 'Cannon and Ball', Boom! Boom! (4.3%) – Vale, a phrase commonly used by Basil Brush and Best Possible Taste (3.9%) – Vale, derived from a quote commonly spoken by the character Cupid Stunt in 'The Kenny Everett Television Show'. Falstaff Brewery went a step further and launched a series of beers under their catchphrase brand, featuring notable characters from television shows who are known for their catchphrases, including the likes of Meldrew (4.3%) derived from the central character of ‘One Foot in the Grave’ known for his frequent outburst “I don’t believe it”, Peggy (4%), based on the former landlord of the Queen Vic in 'Eastenders' who frequently uttered the line “get out my pub”, Blakey (4%) derived from the bus inspector from 'On the Buses' whom commonly shouts “I’ll get you Butler!” and even examples from US shows like Sheldon (4%) from 'The Big Bang Theory', a character well known for his tagline “Bazinga!” The brewery has even featured real life personalities like Cooper (4.3%) that pays tribute to Tommy Cooper with his trademark phrase “Just Like That”, to Bowen (4.3%) based on the common line uttered by Jim Bowen, presenter of the darts based quiz show 'Bullseye' who would often state “let’s see what you could have won.”
Various breweries have reguarly got into the act and named beers after well known television characters and real life personalities, such as Greengrass Old Rogue Ale (4.5%) – Daleside, based on the Claude Greengrass, the roguish farmer from 'Heartbeat'. This notable golden ale is made from four different hops and has gone onto become one of the brewery’s flagship core-brand products. Moreover, Mighty Oak Brewery have a habit on pun-filled names for their beers, when it came to the Christmas season, they named one of their seasonal offerings Elf Garnett (4.1%) based on Alf Garnett, the irascible protagonist of 'Till Death Us Do Part' and 'In Sickness and in Health'. Likewise, Muswell Hill based brewery Muswell Hillbilly Brewers whose name is based on a song by The Kinks, have produced a number of beers with connections to Kinks songs and hillbilly culture. On one of their releases, they unveiled was called Uncle Jed’s Best Bitter (3.8%), its name is based on the family patriarch Jed Clampitt from the US sitcom 'The Beverly Hillbillies'. Likewise, Salamander Brewery once used the likeliness of former TV fitness instructor Diane Morgan, whom used to grace our screens on 'BBC Breakfast' between 1983-7, she featured in the pump clip design for Green Goddess (4%) which features a salamander dressed in her trademark green leotard costume. Manchester based brewer, Robinsons have also got into the act, with Magnum IPA (4.1%) a golden ale based on the titular protagonist in 'Magnum P.I.', even the pump clip featured the likeness of the character, replete with bushy moustache. Titles from TV shows seem to a popular draw among brewers, such as The Man From D.U.N.K.E.L (5%) by Nine Elms based brewery Mondo Brewing; a traditional dunkelweizen made authentically with Hallertau & Saaz hops and a Bavarian yeast strain for added flavour, its name is a reference to the 60’s spy series 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'. This name has proved so popular, several other breweries have also utilized its namesake, including Battersea Brewery, Ayr Brewing and Bowland Brewery to name a few. Likewise, VOG Brewery produced Barrywatch (4.5%) a wry take on 'Baywatch', quite appropriate given the brewery’s seaside location. A number of other TV show titles have also featured in beer names including 'Black Mirror' an anthology series set in a dystopian future, in October 2018, Kent Brewery released a beer under the name, Black Mirror (4.5%) a stout dry hopped with US and NZ hops. More recently, Siren Craft Brew marked their 11th anniversary with a series of celebratory releasees. These included another beer featuring the name-sake Black Mirror (8%), an imperial pastry stout flavoured with cocoanut, cocoa and Belgian chocolate, based on their early release Candour (7.8%). Moreover, in 2010, J.W. Lees (one of Manchester’s largest brewers) developed Coronation Street (4.2%) in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the soap set in nearby Salford, sticking to the local theme likewise earlier in 2003, Black Sheep Brewery released Emmerdale (4.2%), notably when its ABV was reduced in 2006, the brewery invited Chris Chittel (who played Eric Pollard in the progam) to pull the first pint. Indeed, the brewery have produced a number of beers with names derived from TV shows including All Creatures (4%) and their long running series based on the Monty Python franchise which began in 1999, when the brewery was approached by Python to produce a beer to mark their 30th anniversary, where they subsequently developed Monty Python’s Holy Grail (4.7%), subsequently they have produced a mixture of titles based on their films and TV show including Flying Circus (4.5%) which was initially released in Easter 2018 and brought back the following year due to popular demand, and Monty Python’s Dead Parrot (4.1%) that debuted in October 2021 and is based on the iconic sketch, involving a recently deceased Norwegian blue parrot A number of other episode titles have appeared on beer names, including Kitten Kong (4.1%) – Vale, which was based on the award-winning Goodies episode involving a gigantic kitten rampaging across London, and more obliquely May Day May (4.3%) – Burton Bridge, it was sold as part of their Gold Medal Series featuring historic persons, this release celebrated the career of Tony Hancock, and recreates the scene from the 'Hancock's Half Hour' episode 'The Radio Ham' (1961), when the lad acquires a ham radio set.
From looking at this selection,
there are enough TV themed beer names out there to fill nearly a week’s worth
of networked programs. Whilst many borrow from iconic catchphrases, a vast
number of fictional characters and real-life television personalities have also
been under the radar of the brewery’s marketing division such as Falstaff’s extensive
range of limited-edition cask ales under their catchphrase brand.
And although the worlds of television and brewing are normally separate,
occasionally there have been spillovers such as Shelby (5%) when the makers
of 'Peaky Blinder’s' directly commissioned Thornbridge to produce an official beer
for the show, and most notably the ongoing collaboration between Monty Python
and Black Sheep Brewery that has been going strong since they first collaborated
in 1999. A number of TV titles have also featured in beer names although some
brewers like VOG Brewery have bended the boundaries and gone for the likes of the
pun-filled titles like Barrywatch (4.5%). Although breweries across the UK tend to concentrate
on British made TV shows, occasionally US produced shows have also frequented attention.
Common examples include the likes of 'Star Trek', and more curiously Fonzie from 'Happy
Days' who has featured in several releases including Fonzie (4.5%) – The Goodness Brewing
Co. and Three Little Fonzie’s (7.2%) – Siren Craft Brew,
respectively. Relating to the subject of
TV show that frequently influence breweries, the likes of 'Only Fools and
Horses' and 'Dad’s Army' rule the roost on this matter, indeed likes of
Thetford based brewer Dredgefoot have devoted part of their range towards celebrating
the town’s famous claim to fame. Yet the most of these TV themed beers were predominately
limited-edition one-offs, and in the words of John Cleese, they have ceased to
be. However, there are few regularly produced examples still avaialble out there like Greengrass
Old Rogue Ale (4.5%) - Daleside and Wat’s Occuring (3.9%) – Great Oakley
that have been appeared in both cask and bottle. The roll sheet of TV themed
beers developed by breweries over the years has been an intriguing and fascinating
one full of illustrious and imaginative titles that honour their erstwhile
influences, hopefully in the years to come there will be more exciting beer
names that will take influence from our extensive television landscape.
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