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Limited Edition Ales

No restrictions, no compromise. These beers are the pinnacle of our brewers’ art. In celebration of once-in-a-lifetime occasions such as the signing of the Magna Carta and HM The Queen’s 90th birthday, these beers are something to collect and savour.

Please note: limited edition Celebration Ale, brewed to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, will be available exclusively as a cask ale.

Celebration Ale

To mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, our Master Brewers have created the limited edition Celebration Ale (4.8% ABV), which will be available exclusively on draught at a selection of our pubs throughout Kent, London and the South East during the extended Jubilee bank holiday weekend (Thursday, 2 June – Sunday, 5 June 2022). 

Crafted using the best of British barley, Celebration Ale boasts light caramel notes and a deep golden hue. Local East Kent Goldings hops add a spiciness to the citrus and fruit aromas, balanced with subtle bitterness from a generous hopping of Kentish Challenger.
 

HMQ Celebration Ale

Brewed to mark the celebration of the official 90th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.
 

HMQ Celebration Ale is a full-bodied, traditional beer, using only the finest English ingredients. It combines Pale Ale and Crystal malts with Challenger and Goldings hops, and Bramling Cross hops are then added as a dry hop during maturation, to impart fruity, blackcurrant notes to the beer’s aroma.

HMQ Celebration Ale was launched in June 2016, in a traditional amber 750ml bottle (6.5% ABV). Only 900 bottle-conditioned beers were released, each encased within a purple presentation box.

1215 Ale

Brewed to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, 1215 is named after the year in which the historic document was sealed, which established the rule of law and also defined the traditional pint of ale: “There shall be but one Measure throughout the Realm”.

Between 1215 and 1300 the Magna Carta was reissued on several occasions, with copies sent to the most important towns in the realm. As an associate Cinque Port, Faversham was granted special privileges in return for its contribution towards the defence of the kingdom and was consequently granted one of the last copies under the seal of King Edward I.

A traditional strong English ale, 1215 (8% abv) is infused with medieval ale ingredients such as Mugwort, Yarrow, Woodruff and Fennel, which were used before hops became proliferant.

Only 1,215 bottle-conditioned beers were released, each encased within a presentation box bearing the signature approval of brewery president Robert Neame.

Mash Tun No.1

2014 marked 100 years since the oldest of the Mash Tuns was first installed in Shepherd Neame’s brewhouse, and to mark the anniversary, its team of master brewers created Mash Tun No.1.

Mash Tun No.1 comprises a traditional British grist mix of six malts: Pale, Crystal, Amber, Brown, Chocolate, and malted wheat. Their rich sweetness is balanced by the robust bitterness of some of the most popular hops from Kent and North America: First Gold, Centennial and Amarillo. The resulting beer is a full-bodied, malty brew with hints of toffee and dried fruits, lightened by top notes of spice and citrus.

Head brewer Richard Frost said: “Mash Tun No.1 has brewed over a billion pints of Kentish ale since being introduced to the brewery in 1914. We think that’s something worth celebrating, much like this remarkable beer. In honour of its role in the brewing process, this beer has a touch more malt character than the typical Kentish ale you would expect from Shepherd Neame.”

Generation Ale

Generation Ale launched in 2011 as a limited edition ale hand-crafted to commemorate five generations of Shepherd Neame as an independent family brewery.

With only 3,000 bottles released, Generation Ale boasts a 12-month ageing process resulting in a rich, full-bodied ale to be savoured and enjoyed.  Beautifully packaged in a wooden presentation box, Generation is a collectors’ item and the ultimate gift for ale lovers.

To signify the five generations of the Neame family that have run the brewery, this burnished gold ale combines five classic roasted malts with five of the choicest varieties of traditional Kentish hops. The ingredients are combined with natural chalk-filtered mineral water, drawn from the artesian well deep beneath the Shepherd Neame brewhouse, and then brewed in the UK’s last remaining wooden mash tuns. Finally, the beer is aged in a deep maturation process lasting 12 months. As one of the few ales in the UK to undergo this lengthy ageing process, Generation Ale boasts a rich character, impeccably balanced flavour and a long warming finish.

Generation Ale is presented in a traditional amber bottle, embossed with the Shepherd Neame crook. Each bottle is hand-wrapped in paper and encased within a wooden box bearing the signature approval of chief executive Jonathan Neame.

The perfect ale to sip, share and savour with friends, Generation is the ultimate beer from Britain’s oldest brewer.