Fuller, Smith & Turner, London’s only traditional brewer, has created a special golden ale to help Ascot Racecourse celebrate its 300th birthday in style.
Ascot Tercentenary Ale is a brand new, limited edition ale which will be available nationally in Budgens, regionally in selected supermarkets including Waitrose, and Ascot Racecourse itself from late April. The beer will also be available in selected Fuller’s pubs in cask during June. Only 30,000 bottles will be produced so they are sure to be hot property once they go on sale.
Crafted in partnership with the historic horse racing venue, and brewed to 5% ABV, Ascot Tercentenary Ale is bottle conditioned, meaning a small amount of yeast remains to enable extra fermentation in the bottle. It is this fermentation which gives the beer a wonderful zing.
Combined with unmistakable tropical fruit notes, provided in part by the hedgerow Sovereign hops, this will make Ascot Tercentenary Ale a perfect summertime beer.
Richard Fuller, sales director for Fuller’s, said: “There are not many racecourses that could celebrate a 300th birthday, so we are delighted to help Ascot Racecourse mark theirs.
“We have a worldwide reputation as a brewer of some of the best beers around, so we thought it very fitting to create a new one just for Ascot. We are very proud of our heritage and would like to think of this partnership as a bit of a nod from one truly English icon to another.
“Ascot Racecourse is a place full of majesty and history, and we like to think that our Ascot Tercentenary Ale will quickly become part of that rich history too.”
About Fuller’s
Fuller’s remains on its original site at the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, London. The company has two trading divisions – The Fuller’s Beer Company and Fuller’s Inns.
The Fuller’s Beer Company brews London Pride, the UK’s leading premium cask ale, as well as a portfolio of award-winning ales such as Chiswick Bitter, ESB and 1845. Three of Fuller’s beers – London Pride, ESB and Chiswick Bitter – have been named as CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain, a record unmatched by any other brewer.
Fuller’s Inns runs 360 quality pubs, bars and hotels across the south of England.
In 2005, Fuller’s acquired George Gale & Co., of Horndean, Hampshire. The purchase included 111 pubs, which were added to the Fuller’s estate, together with the Gales portfolio of excellent beers, including Seafarers and HSB which are now brewed to Fuller’s exacting standards in Chiswick.
Fuller’s aims to be the benchmark in retailing and brewing by delivering quality, service and pride in everything it does.
A Short History of Ascot
There are few sporting venues that can match the rich heritage and history of Ascot Racecourse. Over the past 300 years Royal Ascot has established itself as a national institution and the centrepiece of the British social calendar as well as being the ultimate stage for the best racehorses in the world.
It was Queen Anne who first saw the potential for a racecourse at Ascot, which in those days was called East Cote. Whilst out riding in 1711, she came upon an area of open heath, not far from Windsor Castle, that looked an ideal place for “horses to gallop at full stretch”.
The first race meeting ever held at Ascot took place on Saturday 11 August 1711. Her Majesty’s Plate, worth 100 guineas and open to any horse, mare or gelding over the age of six, was the inaugural event. Each horse was required to carry a weight of 12st and seven runners took part. This contest bore little resemblance to racing seen at Ascot today. The seven horses were all English Hunters, quite different to the speedy thoroughbreds that race on the flat now. The race consisted of three separate heats which were four miles long (each heat was about the length of the Grand National course), so the winner would have been a horse with tremendous stamina. Sadly, there is no record of the winner of the first Plate.