Three Cheers for Screech
Monday 27th October
Nottinghamshirew Wildlife Trust and Castle Rock Brewery win gold as Natural Selection ale takes the Supreme Champion award at this year’s Robin Hood Beer Festival.
The new beer, called Screech Owl, marks the first anniversary of the ‘Adopt a Species’ programme – which has raised more than £1,000 towards habitat conservation for six threatened British species in Notts.
And due to its popularity, Castle Rock has decided to break the habits of a lifetime and brew a supposedly ‘one off’ real ale twice. The decision follows the remarkable success of the Screech Owl at the Robin Hood Beer Festival competition, but only a few people have had a chance to find out why.
Now, brewers at Castle Rock are to brew a further 7,500 pints to make it available at pubs across Nottingham including the Vat and Fiddle, Bread and Bitter, Kean’s Head and Stratford Haven.
Plans are also in hand for Screech Owl I.P.A. to be permanently available in the New Year.
Castle Rock has produced a new Natural Selection beer for every month in 2008. Previous favourites include Great Crested Newt, Mole, Bumblebee and Ratty, and each has helped to publicise a key species and raise the profile of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
The Adopt a Species campaign is asking people to pay a small amount to “adopt” a species and safeguard its future. The money is used to fund conservation work at the Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves, and educate landowners to help make sure barn owls, water vole, brown hare, brown long-eared bats, otters and great crested newts continue to survive in Britain.
Screech Owl highlights the plight of the barn owl, which has suffered a big decline in numbers in recent years due to changes in farming practices and the loss of their nesting sites.
Castle Rock is also contributing directly to the Wildlife Trust, which, through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, helps to release around £30,000 each year for vital projects, like the recent habitat creation work and visitor access improvements at the Attenborough Nature Reserve.
Erin McDaid, communications manager at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Our partnership with Castle Rock has proved to be a real boost for wildlife in the county, and we’re delighted that Screech is proving to be so popular. Each unique ale highlights a different species and the money raised has funded vital work to help these creatures.
“Over the past few years, The Natural Selection has also been used to highlight successful projects, such as the Wildlife Trust’s ‘Farmland Birds Bed & Breakfast Project,’ which enables us to work with farmers to encourage more species such as tree sparrows on their land, and our ‘Blue Butterfly Scheme’ which helps to create new meadows and improve the management of key wild flower grasslands.”
Find out more about Adopt a Species.
