Skinners Hops ‘n’ Honey

Hello, I’m Bob the Bearded Bee! That’s me, just below the logo of Skinner’s Hops ‘n’ Honey. You think I’m looking a bit forlorn? You’re not wrong – I’m the hardest working bee in the whole of the hive. And yet, despite all my efforts, no one’s ever heard of me. The Very Hungry Caterpillar gets all the glory…

What’s the axe for? Harvesting hops. I have to fly all the way to Slovenia for their floral Aurora and Celeia varieties. Then it’s back to the UK for the Northdown hops. It’s exhausting!

What about the spanner? That’s for tightening the bolts on the brewery equipment. We don’t want any beer leaks!

Then there’s making the honey under the watchful eye of the queen bee (top left; yes, she’s got a beard too). She’s a real slave driver! But we need to balance all those grassy, bitter hops with some lovely sweetness. Unless there’s a tingly, treacly aftertaste on the roof of your mouth after drinking this beer, then we haven’t done our job properly.

Bottle conditioning? No, that’s one job too many for me. And besides, we don’t really need it. Give Hops ‘n’ Honey a try and you’ll see.

Despite all this hard work, I still find a little time at the end of the day to have a waggle dance with my fellow bees. After all: Bob by name, bob by nature!

Written by Richard Salsbury