London Pride is the flagship beer of

Fuller's Brewery Fuller's Brewery in Chiswick in the west of London was a family-run business from its foundation in 1845 until 2019. In that year, the brewing division of Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC was sold to the Japanese international beverage giant Asahi. J ...

. It is sold both cask-conditioned and bottled. It has been brewed at the Griffin Brewery since 1958.

History

London Pride takes its name from a common name for the ''

Saxifraga × urbium ''Saxifraga ''×'' urbium'', London pride, is an evergreen perennial garden flowering plant. Alternative names for it include St. Patrick's cabbage, whimsey, prattling Parnell, and look up and kiss me. Before 1700 the “London pride” appellati ...

'' flower, in use by the 19th century. The flower provided shoots of recovery on the bombed sites left by the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

of the early 1940s, and as such held symbolism for Londoners, celebrated in " London Pride", a patriotic song written in 1941 by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

Awards

London Pride was named Champion Beer of Britain in the Best Bitter Class at the

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...

awards in 1979 and 1995. It was named Supreme Champion at the 2000 International Beer and Cider competition.

Characteristics

London Pride is known for its balance of malt and hops, giving rise to a well-rounded flavour. It is brewed with

Pale malt Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor co ...

, plus Target,

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 1979 ...

and Northdown hops. In the UK, draught London Pride is brewed to 4.1% ABV (cask and keg), while in bottles and cans it has a strength of 4.7% ABV. Internationally, a keg version is often available at 4.7% ABV. In February 2017, Fuller's launched London Pride Unfiltered - an unfiltered variant - which is brewed using the original recipe, then dry hopped with Target hops and centrifuged but not filtered or pasteurised.

Marketing

The London Pride brand has been promoted with the slogan "Made of London". The brand has a social media presence across ''Facebook'', ''Twitter'' and ''Instagram'', with social-first campaigns such as "Tweet At 12", "Empty Pint" and "Drop Of Pride". London Pride sponsors initiatives and events including an annual 10 kilometre walk in aid of

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

. Since 2007, it has been the official beer of the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

. London Pride partnered with the weatherman

Michael Fish Michael Fish, (born 27 April 1944 in Eastbourne, Sussex) is a British weather forecaster. From 1974 to 2004, he was a television presenter for BBC Weather. Career Educated at Eastbourne College and City University London, Fish was the longe ...

to offer ''Twitter'' followers a free pint each time it rained in London in February 2017. The campaign was called "#Whenitrainsitpours".

References

{{Reflist Beer brands of the United Kingdom