The ’38 year itch’ brew has been named after the number of years since Scotland won the Calcutta Cup against England at the rivals’ home ground, until Saturday’s triumph. The aim of the beer is to raise money for the Doddie Weir Foundation.
A new beer has been launched by St Andrews Brewing Company to celebrate the Scotland rugby team’s historic win at Twickenham at the start of this year’s Six Nations championship.
Named ’38 Year Itch’ after the number of years since the Scotland team won against England on their rival’s home turf, the 3.8% Scotch ale is available for pre-order now, with all profits going to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
Tim Butler, of St Andrews Brewing Co., said: “The idea came from Doddie AID raising £1 million in January. We wanted to help and the timing was perfect as that came to an end at the beginning of the Six Nations. We were really moved by how much was raised, and we are huge rugby fans.
“We already had the beer brewed – we were that cunning – and we were hoping for something to happen in the Six Nations. It’s a beer that we had brewed before so if they hadn’t won, it would’ve been something else on the label. We know the recipe and actually what we’ve done is create a new label for a beer and an opportunity to go out and raise some funds for the Doddie MND foundation.
“It could continue beyond the Six Nations – we know the recipe and the labels are easy to do. Though we are creating an impact by saying we are donating all profits, we’re still a business going forward, so it’s not something that will be regular for us at the expense of making profit from other beers.”
Having only launched the beer yesterday afternoon, major support for the idea came from former Scotland international player Jim Hamilton, who Tim approached about being on the label.
All profits go to @MNDoddie5 https://t.co/S8iTIa6jEb
— Jim (@jimhamilton4) February 10, 2021
“It only launched yesterday afternoon and we’ve already sold 200 cases,” Tim said.
“We have 300 overall but are keeping 50 aside. We’ve sold almost all that we wanted to on the first batch. It is likely that we are going to have to quickly rush through another brew and continue it during the rest of the Six Nations, while it’s most relevant, but we’ll play that by ear.
“I follow Jim Hamilton on Twitter and he’s part of a really funny podcast that I listen to. It was just on Saturday, the day of the match, he posted a Tweet with the main image that we’ve used on the front of the can.
“It’s a picture of him with a glass of whisky and he’s wearing a fisherman’s hat and his Arran sweater. We screenshotted that and did a bit of design stuff on it then sent it off to him and asked if he fancied supporting it. He came back to us and said he was 100% behind it.”
The beer is described as being a rich amber colour with lots of dried fruits, toasted nuts and “the sweet, sweet aftertaste of victory”.
It is available from the website and is priced £24 for 12 cans of 330mls.
