Will Calvert, who grew up in Langholm and attended the school, is now a director of Windsor & Eton Brewery.
He tells the E&L Advertiser about his company’s relationship with the Duke of Edinburgh and their joint passion for beer.
PRINCE Philip founded the Windsor Farm Shop and oversaw the Royal Farm.
We brew beer with barley grown on the Royal Farm.
The husk left behind in the mash tun, which we call spent grain, goes back to the farm for cattle feed.
We then serve some steak from the farm in our pub below the castle.
The Duke, being an environmentalist, seemed to appreciate the sustainable aspects of that.
I also know, from when I’ve been able to meet him, that he’s knowledgeable and discerning about beer.
We once brewed a special beer just for the Farm Shop which we called Duke’s Ale.
We know he tasted it and that he preferred beer to wine so I expect he enjoyed it.
The label featured his ship and Greek emblems; it was just our way of having a little fun with his personality.
Of our own pubs, only the Swan reopened last Monday. The rest will open in May or June.
The Swan is a community-run pub in Windsor which the brewery supports.
Its bar top is made from a 300-year-old piece of cedar from Windsor Great Park, of which Prince Philip is the ranger, and it was donated by the Crown Estate. It gives the bar real character.
Last year the pub won a national pub award for entertaining the community during lockdown.
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